John Hassall — The Conspiracy — ca 1900
Famous lines that the Cardinal intones in Act II, scene II:
True, This!—
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it!
In 1870, literary critic Edward Sherman Gould wrote that Bulwer "had the good fortune to do, what few men can hope to do: he wrote a line that is likely to live for ages."
4 comments:
Interesting. Not in the least because what I most associate Bulwer-Lytton with is "It was a dark and stormy night" and the contest that bears his name. He's so tied to bad writing that I never knew he had good quotes as well, much less such a famous line.
And... Briliant painting art!!
Thank you!
that is a brilliant picture. straight up, that's made my day, that has.
Poor Bulwer-Lytton. Literary history has not been kind, but he was actually better than his reputation.
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