--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Swinburne, by the way, when a very young…" description: "\"“Swinburne, by the way, when a very young man, had gone to Walter Savage Landor, then a very old man, and been given the poet’s blessing he asked for; ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/robert-graves-2410_blessing_swinburne-by-the-way-when-a-very-young-m_1720482.jpg" --- # Swinburne, by the way, when a very young man, had gone to… ![“Swinburne, by the way, when a very young man, had gone to Walter Savage Landor, then a very old man, and been given the poet’s blessing he asked for; and Landor when a child had been patted on the head by Dr Samuel Johnson; and Johnson when a child had been taken to London to be touched by Queen…” quote by Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/robert-graves-2410_blessing_swinburne-by-the-way-when-a-very-young-m_1720482.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/robert-graves-2410_blessing_swinburne-by-the-way-when-a-very-young-m_1720482.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da8/robert-graves-2410_blessing_swinburne-by-the-way-when-a-very-young-m_1720482.jpg) > ““Swinburne, by the way, when a very young man, had gone to Walter Savage Landor, then a very old man, and been given the poet’s blessing he asked for; and Landor when a child had been patted on the head by Dr Samuel Johnson; and Johnson when a child had been taken to London to be touched by Queen Anne for scrofula, the King’s evil; and Queen Anne when a child...”” [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The anecdote illustrates how personal connections and patronage historically shaped literary and scientific recognition. **In simple terms:** Patronage linked poets, doctors, and royalty. Key Takeaway Recognize the role of networks. Themes history patronage literature science Mood reflective thoughtful Type historical analytical When to use this quote - academic careers - artistic mentorship - court appointments Key Concepts social capital legacy influence Questions to Reflect On - How do networks affect success today? - Can talent thrive without patronage? A Different Perspective Modern meritocracy still relies on networking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blessing/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Given Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given-poet-1333079/) [Landor Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/landor-child-1333078/) [Old man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-man/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/samuel-johnson/) [Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swinburne-181883/) [Swinburne Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swinburne-way-1333077/) [Young man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-man/) ## Related quotes > [“Nor had I any illusions about Algernon Charles Swinburne, who often used to stop my perambulator when he met it on Nurses’ Walk, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/nor-had-i-any-illusions-about-algernon-charles-swinburne-who-often/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Swinburne was an absurd character. He was a bird of showy strut and plumage. One could not but admire his glorious feathers; but, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson-lynd/swinburne-was-an-absurd-character-he-was-a-bird-of-showy-strut-and/) [Robert Wilson Lynd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson-lynd/) > [“Were the world a just place and given into Poet Eanrin's hands to dictate, he would have written things as they ought to be.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-elisabeth-stengl/were-the-world-a-just-place-and-given-into-poet-eanrin-s-hands-to/) [Anne Elisabeth Stengl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-elisabeth-stengl/) > [Paul Valery speaks of the 'une ligne donnee' of a poem. One line is given to the poet by God or by nature, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-spender/paul-valery-speaks-of-the-une-ligne-donnee-of-a-poem-one-line-is/) [Stephen Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-spender/) > [ “Mr. Langton one day asked him \[Samuel Johnson\] how he had acquired so accurate a knowledge of Latin, in which, I believe, he was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/mr-langton-one-day-asked-him-samuel-johnson-how-he-had-acquired-so/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [Perhaps Samuel Johnson was a great man; he was certainly a drumbling one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-dahlberg/perhaps-samuel-johnson-was-a-great-man-he-was-certainly-a-drumbling/) [Edward Dahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-dahlberg/) > [ In comparing these two writers, he \[Samuel Johnson\] used this expression: "that there was as great a difference between them as between a man… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-boswell/in-comparing-these-two-writers-he-samuel-johnson-used-this-expression/) [James Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-boswell/) > [That's what Samuel Johnson said: "Read over your compositions, and wherever you meet with a passage which you think particularly fine, strike it out."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-laird/that-s-what-samuel-johnson-said-read-over-your-compositions-and/) [Nick Laird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-laird/) > [“Samuel Johnson once said that remarrying (and he’s not talking about marrying the same person here, just remarrying) is the “triumph of hope over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/samuel-johnson-once-said-that-remarrying-and-he-s-not-talking-about/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome. - Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paras/nothing-will-ever-be-attempted-if-all-possible-objections-must-first/) [Paras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paras/) > [“There are few books that set out what a mature person can believe - someone fully grown up, I mean. Aristotle's 'Ethics', Marcus Aurelius's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-nozick/there-are-few-books-that-set-out-what-a-mature-person-can-believe/) [Robert Nozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-nozick/) > [“THE METAPHYSICAL POETS Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime (Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress) While theatre…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-carter/the-metaphysical-poets-had-we-but-world-enough-and-time-this-coyness/) [Ronald Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-carter/) > [“The fact that we had independently decided to sweep our apartments on that Sunday afternoon after spending the weekend together, I took as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/the-fact-that-we-had-independently-decided-to-sweep-our-apartments-on/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [“To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition. —SAMUEL JOHNSON”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/to-be-happy-at-home-is-the-ultimate-result-of-all-ambition-samuel/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [“There are many famous people who could read extremely fast. It was said that England’s Samuel Johnson could read almost as fast as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kump/there-are-many-famous-people-who-could-read-extremely-fast-it-was/) [Peter Kump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kump/) ## More by Robert Graves > [The poet's first rule must be never to bore his readers; and his best way of keeping this rule is never to bore himself-which,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/the-poet-s-first-rule-must-be-never-to-bore-his-readers-and-his-best/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [She told me that all the girls in Annezin prayed every night for the war to end and for the English to go away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/she-told-me-that-all-the-girls-in-annezin-prayed-every-night-for-the/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“As quick as boiled asparagus!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/as-quick-as-boiled-asparagus/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“Children born of fairy stock Never need for shirt or frock Never want for food or fire Always get their heart's desire Jingle pockets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/children-born-of-fairy-stock-never-need-for-shirt-or-frock-never-want/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [To know only one thing well is to have a barbaric mind: civilization implies the graceful relation of all varieties of experience to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/to-know-only-one-thing-well-is-to-have-a-barbaric-mind-civilization/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Before an attack, the platoon pools all its available cash and the survivors divide it up afterwards. Those who are killed can't complain, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/before-an-attack-the-platoon-pools-all-its-available-cash-and-the/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“To resist the social pressure now put even on one's leisure time, requires a tougher upbringing and a more obstinate willfulness about going one's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/to-resist-the-social-pressure-now-put-even-on-one-s-leisure-time/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“The child alone a poet is: Spring and Fairyland are his.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/the-child-alone-a-poet-is-spring-and-fairyland-are-his/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [The art of poetry consists in taking the poem through draft after draft, without losing its inspirational magic: he removes everything irrelevant or distracting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/the-art-of-poetry-consists-in-taking-the-poem-through-draft-after/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Entrance and exit wounds aresilvered clean, The track aches only when the rain reminds. The one-legged man forgets his leg of wood. The one-armed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/entrance-and-exit-wounds-aresilvered-clean-the-track-aches-only-when/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [What we now call "finance" is, I hold, an intellectual perversion of what began as warm human love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/what-we-now-call-finance-is-i-hold-an-intellectual-perversion-of-what/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“Manticor in Arabia (The manticors of the montaines Mighte feed them on thy braines.--Skelton.) Thick and scented daisies spread Where with surface dull like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/manticor-in-arabia-the-manticors-of-the-montaines-mighte-feed-them-on/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [As you are woman, so be lovely: As you are lovely, so be various, Merciful as constant, constant as various, So be mine, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/as-you-are-woman-so-be-lovely-as-you-are-lovely-so-be-various/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Philosophy is antipoetic. Philosophize about mankind and you brush aside individual uniqueness, which a poet cannot do without self-damage. Unless, for a start, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/philosophy-is-antipoetic-philosophize-about-mankind-and-you-brush/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Abstract reason, formerly the servant of practical human reasons, has everywhere become its master, and denies poetry any excuse for existence. Though philosophers like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/abstract-reason-formerly-the-servant-of-practical-human-reasons-has/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) [Explore all 166 Robert Graves quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) ## More Blessing quotes > [Being a new mother is a blessing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phaedra-parks/being-a-new-mother-is-a-blessing/) [Phaedra Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phaedra-parks/) > [God loves to glorify himself by suspending his gifts and blessings on our asking him for them. We should never presume to receive from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-storms/god-loves-to-glorify-himself-by-suspending-his-gifts-and-blessings-on/) [Sam Storms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-storms/) > [When Allah puts barakah (His blessings) in something, it will come beyond your expectations- never underestimate the power of one good deed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nouman-ali-khan/when-allah-puts-barakah-his-blessings-in-something-it-will-come/) [Nouman Ali Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nouman-ali-khan/) > [Life is all about experiences and being able to work with good people is a blessing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhumika-chawla/life-is-all-about-experiences-and-being-able-to-work-with-good-people/) [Bhumika Chawla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhumika-chawla/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [“When Jesus finished teaching in a synagogue one day, a woman called out from the audience, 'God bless your mother—the womb from which you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-bessey/when-jesus-finished-teaching-in-a-synagogue-one-day-a-woman-called/) [Sarah Bessey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-bessey/) > [“I've never felt a pain that didn't bear a blessing. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-knudsen-hoffman/i-ve-never-felt-a-pain-that-didn-t-bear-a-blessing/) [Gene Knudsen Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-knudsen-hoffman/) > [Mechanical instruments, potentially a vehicle of rational human purposes, are scarcely a blessing when they enable the gossip of the village idiot and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/mechanical-instruments-potentially-a-vehicle-of-rational-human/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [One of the noblest words in our language is "grace," defined as "unearned blessing." We live by grace far more than by anything else.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-elton-trueblood/one-of-the-noblest-words-in-our-language-is-grace-defined-as-unearned/) [D. Elton Trueblood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-elton-trueblood/) > [The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy. Others attain unto a glory and may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/the-only-men-who-become-gods-even-the-sons-of-god-are-those-who-enter/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [Being of Indian heritage is a challenge - and it's a blessing as well sometimes - because being good isn't good enough. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sacha-dhawan/being-of-indian-heritage-is-a-challenge-and-it-s-a-blessing-as-well/) [Sacha Dhawan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sacha-dhawan/) > [“Time wasted can never be compensated”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/time-wasted-can-never-be-compensated/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [The Louvre! The Louvre has me in its clutches. Every time I'm there rich blessings rain down upon me. 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