But pleasures are like poppies spread,
You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed,
Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white - then melts for ever.

Robert Burns

Tam o' Shanter

More information about this quote

Topic

Pleasure The ephemeral

Author

Robert Burns

Source

Tam o' Shanter

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1791 1790s 18th century

Occupation

Poet Writer

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Burns, Robert. "Tam O'Shanter." Edinburgh Herald/Edinburgh Magazine, Mar. 1791.

Current Citation

Burns, Robert. "Tam O'Shanter." Robert Burns: Selected Poems, edited by Carol Mcguirk. Penguin Classics, 1994.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Robert Burns about pleasure: “But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed…”
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A quote by Robert Burns about pleasure: “But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed…”
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A quote by Robert Burns about pleasure: “But pleasures are like poppies spread, You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' lang syne?

Robert Burns

Auld Lang Syne

Read Auld Lang Syne at poets.org
More information about this quote
Topic
Remembering the past

Author

Robert Burns
Source
Auld Lang Syne
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1796 1790s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Burns, Robert. Quoted in "Auld Lang Syne." Scots Musical Museum. Written by James Johnson. 1796, st. 1.

Current Citation

Burns, Robert. "Auld Lang Syne." Robert Burns: Selected Poems, edited by Carol Mcguirk. Penguin Classics, 1994.

Another quote from the 1790s

Would it be too bold to imagine, that in the great length of time, since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the comencement of the history of mankind, would it be too bold to imagine, that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament which the Great First Cause endured with animality... And thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down those improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end!

Erasmus Darwin

Zoonomia

More information about this quote
Topic
Evolution

Author

Erasmus Darwin
Source
Zoonomia
Genre
Scientific literature
Language
English
Time
1794 1790s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Darwin, Erasmus. Zoonomia; or the Laws of Organic Life. Vol. 1, London: Joseph Johnson, 1794, sec. 39.