--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fit for kings, formal gardens afford an…" description: "\"Fit for kings, formal gardens afford an earthly Elysium and the odd impression that we mere men might actually control nature for a time.\" — Ezra Pound" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/ezra-pound-1208_earthly_fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-e_1547253.png" --- # Fit for kings, formal gardens afford an earthly Elysium… ![“Fit for kings, formal gardens afford an earthly Elysium and the odd impression that we mere men might actually control nature for a time.” quote by Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/ezra-pound-1208_earthly_fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-e_1547253.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/ezra-pound-1208_earthly_fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-e_1547253.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/ezra-pound-1208_earthly_fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-e_1547253.png) > “Fit for kings, formal gardens afford an earthly Elysium and the odd impression that we mere men might actually control nature for a time.” [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Formal gardens symbolize humanity’s fleeting control over nature, offering a temporary Eden for the elite. **In simple terms:** Gardens represent temporary control over nature. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of human dominance. Themes power nature illusion Mood critical reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - urban planning - landscape design - political discourse Key Concepts environmental philosophy historical critique Questions to Reflect On - How does your environment reflect power? - Can we design spaces that respect nature? A Different Perspective Control is illusionary and temporary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Control Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/control-nature-291037/) [Earthly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earthly/) [Earthly Elysium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earthly-elysium-5774974/) [Elysium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elysium/) [Fit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fit/) [Formal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formal/) [Formal Gardens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formal-gardens-3767115/) [Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garden/) [Impression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impression/) [Kings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kings/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Actually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-actually-2033403/) [Mere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mere/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Odd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/odd/) ## Related quotes > [I don't like formal gardens. 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The nature of my life, the nature of what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariah-carey/i-know-i-can-be-diva-ish-sometimes-but-i-have-to-be-in-control-the/) [Mariah Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariah-carey/) ## More by Ezra Pound > [“I once saw a small child go to an electric light switch as say, "Mamma, can I open the light?" She was using the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/i-once-saw-a-small-child-go-to-an-electric-light-switch-as-say-mamma/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [“Till now they send him dreams and no more deed; So doth he flame again with might for action, Forgetful of the council of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/till-now-they-send-him-dreams-and-no-more-deed-so-doth-he-flame-again/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [A great age of literature is perhaps always a great age of translations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/a-great-age-of-literature-is-perhaps-always-a-great-age-of/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [It would be about as easy for an American to become a Chinaman or a Hindoo as for him to acquire an Englishness or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/it-would-be-about-as-easy-for-an-american-to-become-a-chinaman-or-a/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Poets who are not interested in music are, or become, bad poets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/poets-who-are-not-interested-in-music-are-or-become-bad-poets/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Anyone who is too lazy to master the comparatively small glossary necessary to understand Chaucer deserves to be shut out from the reading of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/anyone-who-is-too-lazy-to-master-the-comparatively-small-glossary/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [where the dead walked and the living were made of cardboard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/where-the-dead-walked-and-the-living-were-made-of-cardboard/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [Liberty is not a right but a duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/liberty-is-not-a-right-but-a-duty/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [The artist is always beginning. Any work of art which is not a beginning, an invention, a discovery is of little worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-artist-is-always-beginning-any-work-of-art-which-is-not-a/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [“Any general statement is like a cheque drawn on a bank. Its value depends on what is there to meet it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/any-general-statement-is-like-a-cheque-drawn-on-a-bank-its-value/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [The author's conviction on this day of New Year is that music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-author-s-conviction-on-this-day-of-new-year-is-that-music-begins/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [In case I conk out, this is provisionally what I have to do: I must clarify obscurities; I must make clearer definite ideas or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/in-case-i-conk-out-this-is-provisionally-what-i-have-to-do-i-must/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [“Adolf Hitler was a Jeanne d'Arc, a saint. He was a martyr.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/adolf-hitler-was-a-jeanne-d-arc-a-saint-he-was-a-martyr/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [I could I trust starve like a gentleman. It's listed as part of the poetic training, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/i-could-i-trust-starve-like-a-gentleman-it-s-listed-as-part-of-the/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) [Explore all 273 Ezra Pound quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) ## More Earthly quotes > [“My earthly body has been a terrible disappointment to me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/my-earthly-body-has-been-a-terrible-disappointment-to-me/) [Frédéric Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [You're so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-cash/you-re-so-heavenly-minded-you-re-no-earthly-good/) [Johnny Cash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-cash/) > [Holy persons draw to themselves all that is earthly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hildegard-of-bingen/holy-persons-draw-to-themselves-all-that-is-earthly/) [Hildegard of Bingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hildegard-of-bingen/) > [An angel; or, if not, An earthly paragon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/an-angel-or-if-not-an-earthly-paragon/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; riches take wings; the only earthly certainty is oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-greeley/fame-is-a-vapor-popularity-an-accident-riches-take-wings-the-only/) [Horace Greeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-greeley/) > [Spirtual does not mean divorced from the physical, earthly realm. The Earth is one of the most divine forms in all creation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-penczak/spirtual-does-not-mean-divorced-from-the-physical-earthly-realm-the/) [Christopher Penczak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-penczak/) > [“Behold,' said the Voice, 'earthly beauty. It is nothing but seeming, for to the uninstructed eye the world appears fruitful and sweet, yet in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-mccann/behold-said-the-voice-earthly-beauty-it-is-nothing-but-seeming-for-to/) [Maria McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-mccann/) > [“The holiness of God makes Him the possessor of all earthly wealth, which belongs to Him forever”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-holiness-of-god-makes-him-the-possessor-of-all-earthly-wealth/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [After that I could never pass a dead man without stopping to gaze on his face, stripped by death of that earthly patina which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-toller/after-that-i-could-never-pass-a-dead-man-without-stopping-to-gaze-on/) [Ernst Toller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-toller/) > [If you give your soul up to anything earthly, whether it be the wealth, or the honours, or the pleasures of this world, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-give-your-soul-up-to-anything-earthly-whether-it-be-the-wealth/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Qur'an not only lacks any earthly punishment for someone who abandons Islam, it even includes verses that imply that such a change of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mustafa-akyol/the-qur-an-not-only-lacks-any-earthly-punishment-for-someone-who/) [Mustafa Akyol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mustafa-akyol/) > [Every thread of creation is held in position by still other strands of things living. In an earthly tapestry hung from the skyline of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-mclean/every-thread-of-creation-is-held-in-position-by-still-other-strands/) [Don McLean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-mclean/) > [“You can't be any earthly good if your head is always in the heavens.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-tawn-bergren/you-can-t-be-any-earthly-good-if-your-head-is-always-in-the-heavens/) [Lisa Tawn Bergren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-tawn-bergren/) > [The first of earthly blessings, independence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-first-of-earthly-blessings-independence/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Earthly riches are like the reed. Its roots are sunk in the swamp, and its exterior is fair to behold; but inside it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-of-padua/earthly-riches-are-like-the-reed-its-roots-are-sunk-in-the-swamp-and/) [Anthony of Padua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-of-padua/) [Browse all 92 Earthly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earthly/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fit for kings, formal gardens afford an earthly Elysium and the odd impression that we mere men might actually control nature for a time.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ezra Pound" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-earthly-elysium-and-the-odd/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Earthly" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-earthly-elysium-and-the-odd/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/ezra-pound-1208_earthly_fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-e_1547253.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/ezra-pound-1208_earthly_fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-e_1547253.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/197/ezra-pound-1208_earthly_fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-e_1547253.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fit for kings, formal gardens afford an earthly Elysium and the odd impression that we mere men might…” — Ezra Pound", "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": "Ezra Pound", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Fit for kings, formal gardens afford...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-earthly-elysium-and-the-odd/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/fit-for-kings-formal-gardens-afford-an-earthly-elysium-and-the-odd/#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 } } ] } ```