Quotation Q&A

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

J.P. Akins requests the complete text of a poem he remembers from his youth about the Harvard-Yale game and the way it “releases us, changed and changeless, into the November evening. ” He thinks it may be the work of the late David McCord ’21, L.H.D. ’56.

 

From our archives, here are more as-yet-unsourced phrases and aphorisms, in hopes that a reappearance, in print and online, will yield identifications.

“Whereas the music of Beethoven as-pires to heaven, the music of Mozart was written from there.”
“…and rain, that graybeard sing….”
“…easier to imagine the weather putting something off because of Miss ….”
“…like one of the seven deadly sins wrapped up in the cloak of the other six.”
“Alas, we would no longer be able to listen to the music of Mozart.”
“Cynicism is the fruit of disappointed hopes that were never well justified to begin with.”
“Lust is the lamp that lifts the gloom./ Lust is the light that fills the room.”


Send inquiries and answers to Chapter and Verse, Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138, or via e-mail to chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

Most popular

Harvard New Rules for Campus Use

At Harvard, no chalking, camping, or excessive noise-making without permission

“AI Anxiety”

The Undergraduate on the uneasy collision of technology and writing

Explore More From Current Issue

A busy hallway with diverse people carrying items, engaging in conversation and activities.

Yesterday’s News

A co-ed experiment that changed dorm life forever

Anne Neal Petri in a navy suit leans on a wooden chair against an exterior wall of Mount Vernon..

Mount Vernon, Historic Preservation, and American Politics

Anne Neal Petri promotes George Washington and historic literacy.

A jubilant graduate shouts into a megaphone, surrounded by a cheering crowd.

For Campus Speech, Civility is a Cultural Practice

A former Harvard College dean reviews Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber’s book Terms of Respect.