William Shenstone
William Shenstone
William Shenstonewas an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth18 November 1714
opportunity garden epic
In designing a house and gardens, it is happy when there is an opportunity of maintaining a subordination of parts; the house so luckily place as to exhibit a view of the whole design. I have sometimes thought that there was room for it to resemble a epic or dramatic poem.
hate writing garden
I hate a style, as I do a garden, that is wholly flat and regular; that slides along like an eel, and never rises to what one can call an inequality.
heart men garden
Prudent men lock up their motives, letting familiars have a key to their hearts, as to their garden.
garden design landscape
A statue in a garden is to be considered as one part of a scene or landscape.
reads thy verses
Thy verses are eternal, O my friend, For he who reads them, reads them to no end
hear seldom shall
For seldom shall she hear a taleSo sad, so tender, and so true.
hear seldom shall tale
For seldom shall she hear a tale So sad, so tender, and so true.
found gift
I have found out a gift for my fair;I have found where the wood-pigeons breed.
found gift
I have found out a gift for my fair; I have found where the wood-pigeons breed.
birth claims gives politeness source surest
Of all that gives politeness birth,Of all that claims to please,In motion, manners, or in mirth,The surest source is ease.
claims gives politeness source surest
Of all that gives politeness birth, Of all that claims to please, In motion, manners, or in mirth, The surest source is ease.
art fair found humble low thou
To thee, fair Freedom! I retireFrom flattery, cards, and dice, and din:Nor art thou found in mansions higherThan the low cot, or humble inn.
essence bears virtue
Virtues, like essences, lose their fragrance when exposed. They are sensitive plants, which will not bear too familiar approaches.
imagination perfection tree
The works of a person that begin immediately to decay, while those of him who plants begin directly to improve. In this, planting promises a more lasting pleasure than building; which, were it to remain in equal perfection, would at best begin to moulder and want repairs in imagination. Now trees have a circumstance that suits our taste, and that is annual variety.