--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To delight the ear and the eye is a mere…" description: "\"To delight the ear and the eye is a mere sensual indulgence;—true poetry strikes at the soul.\" — Egerton Brydges" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/egerton-brydges-59383_delight_to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere_814483.jpg" --- # To delight the ear and the eye is a mere sensual… ![“To delight the ear and the eye is a mere sensual indulgence;—true poetry strikes at the soul.” quote by Egerton Brydges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/egerton-brydges-59383_delight_to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere_814483.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/egerton-brydges-59383_delight_to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere_814483.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/egerton-brydges-59383_delight_to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere_814483.jpg) > “To delight the ear and the eye is a mere sensual indulgence;—true poetry strikes at the soul.” [Egerton Brydges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egerton-brydges/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True poetry goes beyond surface pleasure, aiming to touch the inner self rather than just pleasing senses. **In simple terms:** Real poetry moves the soul, not just the senses. Key Takeaway Seek depth over mere aesthetic. Themes art poetry spirituality Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - writing workshops - literary criticism - personal reflection - teaching poetry Key Concepts aestheticism transcendence emotional resonance Questions to Reflect On - How does a poem reach your inner self? - What makes a work feel merely decorative? A Different Perspective Pure sensory appeal may lack lasting impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Ears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ears/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Indulgence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indulgence/) [Indulgence True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indulgence-true-300377/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Mere Sensual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere-sensual-300380/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Sensual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensual/) [Sensual Indulgence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensual-indulgence-300378/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Strikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strikes/) [True Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-poetry-300379/) ## Related quotes > [“Sensual indulgence weakens the mind and debases the soul. The moral and intellectual powers are benumbed and paralyzed by the gratification of the animal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/sensual-indulgence-weakens-the-mind-and-debases-the-soul-the-moral/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [The spark of true poetry flashes when ideas are juxtaposed that no one has yet thought of bringing together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee-2/the-spark-of-true-poetry-flashes-when-ideas-are-juxtaposed-that-no/) [J. M. Coetzee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-coetzee-2/) > [Nowhere probably is there more true feeling, and nowhere worse taste, than in a churchyard - both as regards the monuments and the inscriptions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-jowett/nowhere-probably-is-there-more-true-feeling-and-nowhere-worse-taste-2/) [Benjamin Jowett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-jowett/) > [True poetry is born of scrutiny, Scrutiny, the son of meditation, Meditation, the son of lore, Lore, the son of inquiry, Inquiry, the son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-lawhead/true-poetry-is-born-of-scrutiny-scrutiny-the-son-of-meditation/) [Stephen R. Lawhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-lawhead/) > [The great modern heresy in poetry is to confuse the use we make of words in a poem with modalities of speech...For true poetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/the-great-modern-heresy-in-poetry-is-to-confuse-the-use-we-make-of/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > [True poetry is truer than science, because it is synthetic, and seizes at once what the combination of all the sciences is able, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-frederic-amiel/true-poetry-is-truer-than-science-because-it-is-synthetic-and-seizes/) [Henri Frederic Amiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-frederic-amiel/) > [Nothing will sustain you more potently than the power to recognize in your humdrum routine, as perhaps it may be thought, the true poetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/nothing-will-sustain-you-more-potently-than-the-power-to-recognize-in/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [True poetry ought to be secret and clandestine, concealed like a prohibited voice of dissent, while at the same time it should speak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudio-magris/true-poetry-ought-to-be-secret-and-clandestine-concealed-like-a/) [Claudio Magris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudio-magris/) > [There is but one poetry,--true poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/there-is-but-one-poetry-true-poetry/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [That metre itself forms an essential part of all true poetry is a principle which not even the assertions of an Aristotle or the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/that-metre-itself-forms-an-essential-part-of-all-true-poetry-is-a/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [True poetry is a function of awakening. It awakens us, but it must retain the memory of previous dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-bachelard/true-poetry-is-a-function-of-awakening-it-awakens-us-but-it-must/) [Gaston Bachelard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-bachelard/) > [“We may feel bitterly how little our poems can do in the face of seemingly out of control technological power and seemingly limitless corporate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/we-may-feel-bitterly-how-little-our-poems-can-do-in-the-face-of/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Yet, it is true, poetry is delicious; the best prose is that which is most full of poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/yet-it-is-true-poetry-is-delicious-the-best-prose-is-that-which-is/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [True poetry is not of earth, 'T is more of Heaven by its birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/true-poetry-is-not-of-earth-t-is-more-of-heaven-by-its-birth/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [“True poetry is the fragrance of the heart in the house of peace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-kristian-goldmund-aumann/true-poetry-is-the-fragrance-of-the-heart-in-the-house-of-peace/) [sir kristian goldmund aumann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-kristian-goldmund-aumann/) ## More by Egerton Brydges > [There is this value in books, that they enable us to converse with the dead. There is something in this beyond the mere intrinsic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egerton-brydges/there-is-this-value-in-books-that-they-enable-us-to-converse-with-the/) [Egerton Brydges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egerton-brydges/) > [He who is lord of himself, and exists upon his own resources, is a noble but a rare being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egerton-brydges/he-who-is-lord-of-himself-and-exists-upon-his-own-resources-is-a/) [Egerton Brydges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egerton-brydges/) > [The glory dies not, and the grief is past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egerton-brydges/the-glory-dies-not-and-the-grief-is-past/) [Egerton Brydges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egerton-brydges/) > [I have observed that vulgar readers almost always lose their veneration for the writings of the genius with whom they have had personal intercourse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egerton-brydges/i-have-observed-that-vulgar-readers-almost-always-lose-their/) [Egerton Brydges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egerton-brydges/) [Explore all 5 Egerton Brydges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egerton-brydges/) ## More Delight quotes > [She smiled with all the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said, "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die." -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/she-smiled-with-all-the-delight-of-a-kid-on-christmas-morning-and/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Shhh.” He put a finger to her lips. “Hear me out. I cannot deny that I would've liked to have made babies with you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hoyt/shhh-he-put-a-finger-to-her-lips-hear-me-out-i-cannot-deny-that-i/) [Elizabeth Hoyt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hoyt/) > [There is a spirit which I feel that delights to do no evil, nor to revenge any wrong, but delights to endure all things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nayler/there-is-a-spirit-which-i-feel-that-delights-to-do-no-evil-nor-to/) [James Nayler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nayler/) > [There was an Old Man of Messina, Whose daughter was named Opsibeena; She wore a small wig, and rode out on a pig, To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-lear/there-was-an-old-man-of-messina-whose-daughter-was-named-opsibeena/) [Edward Lear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-lear/) > [A real flame of love is a subtle thing. It burns as a will-o'-the-wisp, dancing onward to fairy lands of delight. It roars as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dreiser/a-real-flame-of-love-is-a-subtle-thing-it-burns-as-a-will-o-the-wisp/) [Theodore Dreiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dreiser/) > [“The gift of words, the source of enjoyment, the source of delight that comes within and the unfading beauty and energy of words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euginia-herlihy/the-gift-of-words-the-source-of-enjoyment-the-source-of-delight-that/) [Euginia Herlihy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euginia-herlihy/) > [Benefits received are a delight to us as long as we think we can requite them; when that possibility is far exceeded, they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/benefits-received-are-a-delight-to-us-as-long-as-we-think-we-can/) [Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/) > [All the world's bravery that delights our eyes is but thy several liveries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-cowley/all-the-world-s-bravery-that-delights-our-eyes-is-but-thy-several/) [Abraham Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-cowley/) > [It might be lonelier Without the Loneliness - I’m so accustomed to my Fate - Perhaps the Other - Peace - Would interrupt the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/it-might-be-lonelier-without-the-loneliness-i-m-so-accustomed-to-my/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [Design should do the same thing in everyday life that art does when encountered: amaze us, scare us or delight us, but certainly open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-betsky/design-should-do-the-same-thing-in-everyday-life-that-art-does-when/) [Aaron Betsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-betsky/) > [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Every natural power exhilarates; a true talent delights the possessor first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-natural-power-exhilarates-a-true-talent-delights-the-possessor/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If we are to define science, ... it does not consist so much in knowing, nor even in "organized knowledge," as it does in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-sanders-peirce/if-we-are-to-define-science-it-does-not-consist-so-much-in-knowing/) [Charles Sanders Peirce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-sanders-peirce/) > [Significantly, God in Genesis 1 pronounces the rest of creation "good" before humanity is created. The psalmist and the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-clapp/significantly-god-in-genesis-1-pronounces-the-rest-of-creation-good/) [Rodney Clapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-clapp/) > [Being asked to play 'The Doctor' is an amazing privilege. Like the Doctor himself I find myself in a state of utter terror and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-capaldi/being-asked-to-play-the-doctor-is-an-amazing-privilege-like-the/) [Peter Capaldi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-capaldi/) [Browse all 2,212 Delight quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To delight the ear and the eye is a mere sensual indulgence;—true poetry strikes at the soul.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Egerton Brydges" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egerton-brydges/to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere-sensual-indulgence-true/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Delight" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egerton-brydges/to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere-sensual-indulgence-true/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/egerton-brydges-59383_delight_to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere_814483.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/egerton-brydges-59383_delight_to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere_814483.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/009/egerton-brydges-59383_delight_to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere_814483.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To delight the ear and the eye is a mere sensual indulgence;—true poetry strikes at the soul.” — Egerton Brydges", "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": "Egerton Brydges", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/egerton-brydges/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To delight the ear and the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egerton-brydges/to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere-sensual-indulgence-true/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/egerton-brydges/to-delight-the-ear-and-the-eye-is-a-mere-sensual-indulgence-true/#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 } } ] } ```