The seeds and pregnant forms in essence lie,

That make all worlds. Great Poet, ’twas thy art

To know thyself, and in thyself to be

Whate’er love, hate, ambition, destiny,

Or the firm, fatal purpose of the heart,

Can make of Man. Yet thou wert still the same,

Serene of thought, unhurt by thy own flame.

Poems. Sonnet XXVIII. 1833, p. 28.

THOMAS DE QUINCEY, 1838
(1785-1859)