| The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. |
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| NUMBER: | 53822 |
| QUOTATION: | It were as wise to cast a violet into a crucible that you might discover the formal principle of its colour and odour, as seek to transfuse from one language into another the creations of a poet. The plant must spring again from its seed, or it will bear no flower—and this is the burthen of the curse of Babel. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), British poet. A Defence of Poetry (written 1821, published 1840). |
| BIOGRAPHY: | Columbia Encyclopedia. |
| WORKS: | Shelley Collection. |
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| | | The Columbia World of Quotations. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. |
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