--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poets may boast (as safely-vain) Their…" description: "\"Poets may boast (as safely-vain) Their work shall with the world remain: Both bound together, live, or die, The verses and the prophecy. But who can ho..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/edmund-waller-11162_boast_poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-wor_1889581.png" --- # Poets may boast (as safely-vain) Their work shall with the… ![“Poets may boast (as safely-vain) Their work shall with the world remain: Both bound together, live, or die, The verses and the prophecy. But who can hope his lines shou'd long Last, in a daily changing tongue? While they are new, envy prevails, And as that dies, our language fails.” quote by Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/edmund-waller-11162_boast_poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-wor_1889581.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/edmund-waller-11162_boast_poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-wor_1889581.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/edmund-waller-11162_boast_poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-wor_1889581.png) > “Poets may boast (as safely-vain) Their work shall with the world remain: Both bound together, live, or die, The verses and the prophecy. But who can hope his lines shou'd long Last, in a daily changing tongue? While they are new, envy prevails, And as that dies, our language fails.” [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poets hope their work endures, but language evolves and may outlive their verses. **In simple terms:** Poets fear their words won’t last as language changes. Key Takeaway Accept impermanence of fame. Themes legacy language mortality Mood reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - teaching literature - writing workshops - preserving archives Key Concepts ephemerality cultural shift literary fame Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure your ideas survive? - What role does language play in lasting impact? A Different Perspective Language change can erase intended meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) [Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bounds/) [Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets/) [Prophecy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophecy/) [Vain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vain/) [Verses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/verses/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [It has, therefore, been a favorite boast of the people of Wales and Cornwall, that the original British stock flourishes in its unmixed purity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bulfinch/it-has-therefore-been-a-favorite-boast-of-the-people-of-wales-and/) [Thomas Bulfinch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bulfinch/) > [Science appears but what in truth she is, Not as our glory and our absolute boast, But as a succedaneum, and a prop To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/science-appears-but-what-in-truth-she-is-not-as-our-glory-and-our/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy, Nature and Fortune join'd to make thee great: Of Nature's gifts thou mayst with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/but-thou-art-fair-and-at-thy-birth-dear-boy-nature-and-fortune-join-d/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Wisdom can boast no higher attainment than happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-radcliffe/wisdom-can-boast-no-higher-attainment-than-happiness/) [Ann Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-radcliffe/) > [Buonaparte has often made his boast that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea and that his was kept in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/buonaparte-has-often-made-his-boast-that-our-fleet-would-be-worn-out/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [“A classic is read not to enjoy but only to be boast about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aman-jassal/a-classic-is-read-not-to-enjoy-but-only-to-be-boast-about-it/) [Aman Jassal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aman-jassal/) > [Boast is always a cry of despair, except in the young it is a cry of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/boast-is-always-a-cry-of-despair-except-in-the-young-it-is-a-cry-of/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) > [We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-saints-but-we-have-kept-our-appointment-how-many-people/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“in other words, his story was part boast, part confession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-mezrich/in-other-words-his-story-was-part-boast-part-confession/) [Ben Mezrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-mezrich/) > [“In general, poor is polite and rich is rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/in-general-poor-is-polite-and-rich-is-rude/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Boasting and bravado may exist in the breast even of the coward, if he is successful through a mere lucky hit; but a just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/boasting-and-bravado-may-exist-in-the-breast-even-of-the-coward-if-he/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Win without boasting. Lose without excuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-payson-terhune/win-without-boasting-lose-without-excuse/) [Albert Payson Terhune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-payson-terhune/) > [Boasting is only a masked shame; it does not truly believe in itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/boasting-is-only-a-masked-shame-it-does-not-truly-believe-in-itself/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) ## More by Edmund Waller > [Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view, That stand upon the threshold of the new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/leaving-the-old-both-worlds-at-once-they-view-that-stand-upon-the/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [Could we forbear dispute, and practice love, We should agree as angels do above. Where love presides, not vice alone does find, No entrance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/could-we-forbear-dispute-and-practice-love-we-should-agree-as-angels/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [Soft words, with nothing in them, make a song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/soft-words-with-nothing-in-them-make-a-song/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [Music so softens and disarms the mind That not an arrow does resistance find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/music-so-softens-and-disarms-the-mind-that-not-an-arrow-does/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [Lampoons, like squibs, may make a present blaze; but time and thunder pay respect to bays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/lampoons-like-squibs-may-make-a-present-blaze-but-time-and-thunder/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [The fear of Hell, or aiming to be blest, Savors too much of private interest. This moved not Moses, nor the zealous Paul, Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/the-fear-of-hell-or-aiming-to-be-blest-savors-too-much-of-private/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [All things but one you can restore; the heart you get returns no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/all-things-but-one-you-can-restore-the-heart-you-get-returns-no-more/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [To man, that was in th' evening made, Stars gave the first delight; Admiring, in the gloomy shade, Those little drops of light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/to-man-that-was-in-th-evening-made-stars-gave-the-first-delight/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [What use of oaths, of promise, or of test, where men regard no God but interest?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/what-use-of-oaths-of-promise-or-of-test-where-men-regard-no-god-but/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [And as pale sickness does invade, Your frailer part, the breaches made, In that fair lodging still more clear, Make the bright guest, your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/and-as-pale-sickness-does-invade-your-frailer-part-the-breaches-made/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [Fade, flowers, fade! Nature will have it so; 'tis but what we in our autumn do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/fade-flowers-fade-nature-will-have-it-so-tis-but-what-we-in-our/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [For all we know Of what the blessed do above Is, that they sing, and that they love. While I listen to thy Voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/for-all-we-know-of-what-the-blessed-do-above-is-that-they-sing-and/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [Virtue's a stronger guard than brass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/virtue-s-a-stronger-guard-than-brass/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [Others may use the ocean as their road; Only the English make it their abode.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/others-may-use-the-ocean-as-their-road-only-the-english-make-it-their/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) > [Could we forbear dispute, and practise love, We should agree as angels do above.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/could-we-forbear-dispute-and-practise-love-we-should-agree-as-angels/) [Edmund Waller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) [Explore all 61 Edmund Waller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/) ## More Boast quotes > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Win without boasting. Lose without excuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-payson-terhune/win-without-boasting-lose-without-excuse/) [Albert Payson Terhune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-payson-terhune/) > [Further conceive, I beg, that a stone, while continuing in motion, should be capable of thinking and knowing, that it is endeavoring, as far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/further-conceive-i-beg-that-a-stone-while-continuing-in-motion-should/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boasting and bravado may exist in the breast even of the coward, if he is successful through a mere lucky hit; but a just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/boasting-and-bravado-may-exist-in-the-breast-even-of-the-coward-if-he/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [“In general, poor is polite and rich is rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/in-general-poor-is-polite-and-rich-is-rude/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“in other words, his story was part boast, part confession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-mezrich/in-other-words-his-story-was-part-boast-part-confession/) [Ben Mezrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-mezrich/) > [We are not saints, but we have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/we-are-not-saints-but-we-have-kept-our-appointment-how-many-people/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Boast is always a cry of despair, except in the young it is a cry of hope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/boast-is-always-a-cry-of-despair-except-in-the-young-it-is-a-cry-of/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) > [“A classic is read not to enjoy but only to be boast about it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aman-jassal/a-classic-is-read-not-to-enjoy-but-only-to-be-boast-about-it/) [Aman Jassal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aman-jassal/) > [Buonaparte has often made his boast that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea and that his was kept in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/buonaparte-has-often-made-his-boast-that-our-fleet-would-be-worn-out/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [Wisdom can boast no higher attainment than happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-radcliffe/wisdom-can-boast-no-higher-attainment-than-happiness/) [Ann Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-radcliffe/) > [But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy, Nature and Fortune join'd to make thee great: Of Nature's gifts thou mayst with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/but-thou-art-fair-and-at-thy-birth-dear-boy-nature-and-fortune-join-d/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Science appears but what in truth she is, Not as our glory and our absolute boast, But as a succedaneum, and a prop To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/science-appears-but-what-in-truth-she-is-not-as-our-glory-and-our/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [It has, therefore, been a favorite boast of the people of Wales and Cornwall, that the original British stock flourishes in its unmixed purity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bulfinch/it-has-therefore-been-a-favorite-boast-of-the-people-of-wales-and/) [Thomas Bulfinch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bulfinch/) > [Boasting is only a masked shame; it does not truly believe in itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/boasting-is-only-a-masked-shame-it-does-not-truly-believe-in-itself/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) [Browse all 567 Boast quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boast/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poets may boast (as safely-vain) Their work shall with the world remain: Both bound together, live, or die, The verses and the prophecy. But who can hope his lines shou'd long Last, in a daily changing tongue? While they are new, envy prevails, And as that dies, our language fails.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edmund Waller" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-work-shall-with-the-world-remain/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boast" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-work-shall-with-the-world-remain/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/edmund-waller-11162_boast_poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-wor_1889581.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/edmund-waller-11162_boast_poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-wor_1889581.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a83/edmund-waller-11162_boast_poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-wor_1889581.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poets may boast (as safely-vain) Their work shall with the world remain: Both bound together, live, or die…” — Edmund Waller", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edmund Waller", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-waller/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poets may boast (as safely-vain) Their...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-work-shall-with-the-world-remain/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-waller/poets-may-boast-as-safely-vain-their-work-shall-with-the-world-remain/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```