quote · Legacy record
The sculptor moulds his clay with reverent hand, That clay thro' which his fancy flashes free— Quick with an answer to his soul's demand, And pliant to his fingers' minstrelsy! Could ever bronze or marble so respond In wordless echo of the being's will? Naught but the clay, as to a rapture fond Could he with fire of genius thus infill! And so the common people are the clay, Swift moulded by Divine Deific hand, Until transfigured, in the glorious day, The statue of humanity shall stand! It knows no tinsel crown, this masterpiece. But all the sovereignty of God's release!
The sculptor moulds his clay with reverent hand, That clay thro' which his fancy flashes free— Quick with an answer to his soul's demand, And pliant to his fingers' minstrelsy! Could ever bronze or marble so respond In wordless echo of the being's will? Naught but the clay, as to a rapture fond Could he with fire of genius thus infill! And so the common people are the clay, Swift moulded by Divine Deific hand, Until transfigured, in the glorious day, The statue of humanity shall stand! It knows no tinsel crown, this masterpiece. But all the sovereignty of God's release!
In print by 1911 AD · modern
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
- Mary Hanaford Ford
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1911 AD · modern
In print by 1911: recorded in The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911). 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
- The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911) (1911 AD)
Complete signed selection 6; printed byline: Mary Hanaford Ford; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.