Were I so tall to reach the pole,

Or grasp the ocean with my span,

I must be measured by my soul:

The mind's the standard of the man.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748): Horae Lyricae. Book ii. False Greatness.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever;

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness.

John Keats (1795-1821): Endymion. Book i.

When Freedom from her mountain-height

Unfurled her standard to the air,

She tore the azure robe of night,

And set the stars of glory there.

She mingled with its gorgeous dyes

The milky baldric of the skies,

And striped its pure, celestial white

With streakings of the morning light.

Flag of the free heart's hope and home!

By angel hands to valour given!

Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,

And all thy hues were born in heaven.

Forever float that standard sheet!

Where breathes the foe but falls before us,

With Freedom's soil beneath our feet,

And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us?

Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820): The American Flag.