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Vita Sackville-West Quotes (1892-1962)
Writer, Poet, Novelist
About Vita Sackville-West
Victoria Mary Sackville-West, The Hon Lady Nicolson, CH (9 March 1892 β 2 June 1962), most famous as Vita Sackville-West, was an English poet, novelist and writer on gardening. She is sometimes considered part of the Bloomsbury group, and well known as the inspiration for Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando: A Biography.
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βAll craftsmen share a knowledge. They have held
Reality down fluttering to a bench.β
Reality down fluttering to a bench.β
βIt is quite true that you have had infinitely more influence on me intellectually than anyone, and for this alone I love you.β
βI have come to the conclusion, after many years of sometimes sad experience, that you cannot come to any conclusion at all.β
βRemembrance clamoured in him: 'She was wild and free,
Magnificent in giving; she was blind
To gain or loss, and, loving, loved but me, β but me!β
Magnificent in giving; she was blind
To gain or loss, and, loving, loved but me, β but me!β
βYes, they were kind exceedingly; most mild
Even in indignation, taking by the hand
One that obeyed them mutely, as a child
Submissive to a law he does not understand.β
Even in indignation, taking by the hand
One that obeyed them mutely, as a child
Submissive to a law he does not understand.β
βOften on the painted stair,
As I passed abstractedly,
Velvet footsteps, two and three,
Padded gravely after me.
β There was nothing, nothing there,
Nothing there to see.β
As I passed abstractedly,
Velvet footsteps, two and three,
Padded gravely after me.
β There was nothing, nothing there,
Nothing there to see.β
βLeopards on the gable-ends,
Leopards on the painted stair,
Stiff the blazoned shield they bear,
Or and gules, a bend of vair,
Leopards on the gable-ends,
Leopards everywhere.β
Leopards on the painted stair,
Stiff the blazoned shield they bear,
Or and gules, a bend of vair,
Leopards on the gable-ends,
Leopards everywhere.β
βShe walks among the loveliness she made,
Between the apple-blossom and the waterβ
She walks among the patterned pied brocade,
Each flower her son, and every tree her daughter.β
Between the apple-blossom and the waterβ
She walks among the patterned pied brocade,
Each flower her son, and every tree her daughter.β
βAnd so it ends,
We who were lovers may be friends.
I have some weeks in which to steel
My heart and teach myself to feel
Only a sober tenderness
Where once was passion's loveliness.β
We who were lovers may be friends.
I have some weeks in which to steel
My heart and teach myself to feel
Only a sober tenderness
Where once was passion's loveliness.β
βYou took me weak and unprepared.
I had not thought that you who shared
My days, my nights, my heart, my life,
Would slash me with a naked knife
And gently tell me not to bleed
But to accept your crazy creed.β
I had not thought that you who shared
My days, my nights, my heart, my life,
Would slash me with a naked knife
And gently tell me not to bleed
But to accept your crazy creed.β
βI sing the cycle of my country's year,
I sing the tillage, and the reaping sing,
Classic monotony, that modes and wars
Leave undisturbed, unbettered, for their best
Was born immediate, of expediency.β
I sing the tillage, and the reaping sing,
Classic monotony, that modes and wars
Leave undisturbed, unbettered, for their best
Was born immediate, of expediency.β
βAnd what have I to give my friends in the last resort?
An awkwardness, a shyness, and a scrap,
No thing that's truly me, a bootless waste,
A waste of myself and them, for my life is mine
And theirs presumably theirs, and cannot touch.β
An awkwardness, a shyness, and a scrap,
No thing that's truly me, a bootless waste,
A waste of myself and them, for my life is mine
And theirs presumably theirs, and cannot touch.β
Vita Sackville-West Quotes by Topic
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Vita Sackville-West on Bees
Vita Sackville-West on Leopards
βLeopards on the gable-ends, Leopards on the painted stair, Stiff the blazoned shield they bear, Or and gules, a bend of vair, Leopards on the gable-ends, Leopards everywhere.β
Vita Sackville-West on Writing
Vita Sackville-West on Growth
βGrowth is exciting; growth is dynamic and alarming. Growth of the soul, growth of the mind; how the observation of last year seems childish, superficial; how this year β even this week β even with this new phrase β it seems to us that we have grown to a new maturity. It may be a fallacious persuasion, but at least it is stimulating, and so long as it persists, one does not stagnate.β
Quotes About Vita Sackville-West
Gain deeper perspective through quotes about Vita Sackville-West from others.
Lord Curzon on Vita Sackville-West
Peter Quennell on Vita Sackville-West
βHer appearance was indeed remarkable β strange almost beyond the reach of adjectives β¦ She resembled a puissant blend of both sexes β Lady Chatterley and her lover rolled into one.β
Virginia Woolf on Vita Sackville-West 2 quotes
βInstantly the usual exciting devices enter my mind: a biography beginning in the year 1500 & continuing to the present day, called Orlando: Vita; only with a change about from one sex to the other.β
About Vita Sackville-West
Victoria Mary Sackville-West, The Hon Lady Nicolson, CH (9 March 1892 β 2 June 1962), most famous as Vita Sackville-West, was an English poet, novelist and writer on gardening. She is sometimes considered part of the Bloomsbury group, and well known as the inspiration for Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando: A Biography.