Elizabeth Oakes Smith

thumb|The measure of capacity is the measure of sphere for either man or woman. Elizabeth Oakes Smith (née Prince; August 12, 1806 – November 16, 1893) was an American poet, fiction writer, editor, lecturer, and women's rights activist whose career spanned six decades, from the 1830s to the 1880s. thumb|The tender violet bent in smiles    To elves that sported nigh, Tossing the drops of fragrant dew    To scent the evening sky. Quotes 'Tis the summer prime, when the noiseless air    In perfumed chalice lies, And the bee goes by with a lazy hum    Beneath the sleeping skies. "The Sinless Child", pt. 6; Southern Literary Messenger, vol. 8, no. 2 (February 1842), p. 126 Yes, this is Life; and everywhere we meet, Not victor crowns, but wailings of defeat. "The Unattained", ll. 10–11; The Sinless Child, and Other Poems (1843), p. 163 'Tis rushing now adown the spout    And gushing out below, Half frantic in its joyousness,    And wild in eager flow. The earth is dried and parch’d with heat,    And it hath longed to be Released from out the selfish cloud,    To cool the thirsty tree. "The Water", st. 2 How beautiful the water is!    To me 'tis wondrous fair— No spot can ever lonely be    If water sparkle there— It hath a thousand tongues of mirth,    Of grandeur, or delight; And every heart is gladder made    When water greets the sight. "The Water", st. 7; The Rover, vol. 1, no. 26 (1843), p. 401          Faith is the subtle chain, Which binds us to the Infinite: the voice Of a deep life within, that will remain Until we crowd it thence. "Faith", ll. 1–4; Poetical Writings, 2nd ed. (New York, 1846), p. 122 White-winged angels meet the child    On the vestibule of life, And they offer to his lips    All that cup of mingled strife. "Ministering Spirits", st. 1; Poetical Writings, 2nd ed. (New York, 1846), p. 167 My friends, do we realize for what purpose we are convened? Do we fully understand that we aim at nothing less than an entire subversion of the present order of society, a dissolution of the whole existing compact? Do we see that it is not an error of today, nor of yesterday against which we are lifting up the voice of dissent but that it is against the ... error of all times — error borne onward from the footprints of the first pair ejected from Paradise, down to our own time? ... Bitterness is the child of wrong; if any of our number has become embittered ... it is because social wrong has so penetrated to the inner life that we are crucified today. Address to the National Women's Rights Convention, Syracuse, New York (September 8, 1852); Proceedings (J. E. Masters, 1852), p. 16 The measure of capacity is the measure of sphere for either man or woman. Bertha and Lily; or, The Happy Village (London: Ward & Lock, 1855), ch. 9 How few women have any history after the age of thirty! Journal entry (October 26, 1861); reported in Signs, vol. 9, no. 3 (Spring 1984), p. 537 The tender violet bent in smiles    To elves that sported nigh, Tossing the drops of fragrant dew    To scent the evening sky. "Field Elves"; reported in Hoyt's, 4th ed. (1882), p. 160 External links J. K. Hoyt and Anna L. Ward (eds.) The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations, 4th ed. (London: Richard D. Dickinson, 1882), p. 160 Anna L. Ward (ed.) A Dictionary of Quotations from English and American Poets (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1883), p. 535 Category:1806 births Category:1893 deaths Category:19th-century poets from the United States Category:Women born in the 19th century Category:Feminists from the United States Category:People from Maine Category:People from North Carolina Category:Activists from New York (state) Category:Women authors from the United States Category:Women activists from the United States Category:Women's rights activists Category:Editors from the United States