quote · Legacy record
The card-built house amused our infant age; The child was pleased; but is the man more sage? A breath could level childhood’s tottering toy: See manhood—effort, art, and time employ, To build that brittle name a whisper can destroy! There is a Book where nought our name can spot, If we ourselves refuse to fix the blot; ’Tis kept by One that sets alike at nought The tale with malice or with flatt’ry fraught,— He reads the heart, and sees the whisper in the thought.
The card-built house amused our infant age; The child was pleased; but is the man more sage? A breath could level childhood’s tottering toy: See manhood—effort, art, and time employ, To build that brittle name a whisper can destroy! There is a Book where nought our name can spot, If we ourselves refuse to fix the blot; ’Tis kept by One that sets alike at nought The tale with malice or with flatt’ry fraught,— He reads the heart, and sees the whisper in the thought.
In print by 1888 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- C. C. Colton (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1888 AD · industrial
In print by 1888: recorded in A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Cyclopædia of Sacred Poetical Quotations (catalogued1888) (1888 AD)
Page 414 · printed citation: C. C. Colton · subject: NAME
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.