William Jay Smith (born 22 April 1918) is an American poet. He was appointed the nineteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1968 to 1970.
Famous quotes containing the words william, jay and/or smith:
“Grant me an old man’s frenzy.
Myself must I remake
Till I am Timon and Lear
Or that William Blake
Who beats upon the wall
Till truth obeyed his call....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Ask every person if he’s heard the story,
And tell it strong and clear if he has not,
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot ...
Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one brief shining moment that was known
As Camelot.”
—Alan Jay Lerner (1918–1986)
“When they come downstairs from their Ivory Towers, idealists are very apt to walk straight into the gutter.”
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946)