“The more I see of the vanity and wickedness of the world, the more I am inclined to that sacred office.”

Written while still considering a clerical vocation · Letter to Dr Cranstoun, 1725

• Religion
• Vocation
• World

“How gay looks the Spring! how glorious the Summer! how pleasing the Autumn! and how venerable the Winter!”

Each season given a distinct moral and aesthetic character · Preface to Winter, 1726

• Nature
• Time
• Wonder

“I know no subject more elevating, more amusing, more ready to awake the poetical enthusiasm, the philosophical reflection, and the moral sentiment than the works of Nature.”

A defence of nature as the highest subject for poetry, philosophy, and moral feeling · Preface to the second edition of Winter, 1726

• Inspiration
• Nature
• Poetry