Chapter & Verse

A correspondence for not-so-famous lost words

Mike Kempson requests a source for the following exchange, possibly from an old poem: “It was just the other day that the Gray Swan sailed away.” “The other day? ’Twas 20 years ago!”

“die a little each day” (May-June). Thomas Finucane suggests as a possible source “a prominent subtext in geriatric medicine,” the following excerpt from Shakespeare’s King Lear: “O, our lives’ sweetness!/That we the pain of death would hourly die/Rather than die at once!” (5.3.184-6).

“heights of joy, depths of sorrow” (May-June). John Hostage and Helmuth Joel both suggested in reply Clara’s song, from the second scene of the third act of Goethe’s play Egmont.



Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138.

Click here for the July-August 2005 issue table of contents

Most popular

Trump Administration Threatens Harvard’s Accreditation, Subpoenas Student Records

The federal government mounts pressure amid negotiations with Harvard.

Intellectual Entrepreneurs

Three Harvard Advocate alumni helped found a highbrow literary periodical.

Is Noncitizens’ Speech Protected?

A federal lawsuit accuses the Trump administration of violating the First Amendment.

Explore More From Current Issue

Will the U.S. Dollar Always Be So Powerful?

The preeminence of U.S. currency at risk

Harvard’s Plant Collection Meets Space Science

Light-based analysis of botanical collections link plants to Earth’s changing climate.

Harvard Medalists

Four people honored for exceptional service to the University