“Set me down as a fool if you like, but never doubt the friendship which makes me subscribe myself, yours always.”

Putting personal loyalty above pride or reputation · Letter to George R. Sims

• Friendship
• Humility
• Trust

“Actual life, independent of accessories, is the true material for poetic art.”

Stating his commitment to making contemporary lived experience the substance of poetry · Essay, On My Own Tentatives

• Art
• Life
• Poetry

“Good & true enthusiasts must always succeed, even when they must fail; for they are the salt of the earth, & keep it from putrescence.”

Valuing committed idealism even when its immediate aims fail · Letter to George Bernard Shaw, 1891

• Hope
• Perseverance
• Principle