What do you think is the most beautiful line of poetry of all time?

Question

Right now I am very much liking this excerpt from Le Petit Prince:
""And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.""

Not exactly "poetry" but an accumulation of words put together to create the beauty of knowledge and realization of what really matters in life.

Answer 1

For me that is such a difficult question to answer. I have so many favorites.

The whole poem Desiderata is beautiful and profound. Every line is special so I will quote only the last ones:

"Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy. "

Then from High Flight by John Gillespie Magee we have:

"Up, up the long delirious, burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God."

Finally, I would refer you to a poem called Little Bateese by william Henry Drummond. It is deceptively simple, but again profound. It speaks of the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, one of the things that really matter in life for sure. There is nothing as special as the love of a grandparent and grandchild for each other. The last lines of the poem are:

"But leetle Bateese! please don't forget
We rader you 're stayin' de small boy yet,
So chase de chicken an' mak' dem scare
An' do w'at you lak wit' your ole gran'pere
For w'en you 're beeg feller he won't be dere--
Leetle Bateese!"

Translation:
But little Bateese! Please don't forget
We'd rather you stayed a small boy yet
So chase the chickens and make them scared
And do what you like with your old grandpere
For when you're a big fellow he won't be there -
Little Bateese!

I get carried away with poetry!

Answer 2

"There is no hunting like the the hunting of man and those who have have hunted armed men long enough and liked it never cared for anything else thereafter."

Ernest Hemingway


Best quote from a book:

"Loss is a fiercer more uncompromising reality: cold-hearted yet clear eyed in its understanding that life is more dilemma than game and more trial than free pass."

- Pat Conroy "My Losing Season"

Answer 3

'Life can only be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forwards.'
Soren Kirkegaard

'Call me but love, and I'll die happy'
Shakespeare (Romeo & Julliet)

Answer 4

the woods are lovely dark and deep, but i have promises to keep, and many roads before i sleep, many roads before i sleep

Answer 5

Not really poetry but

"I think, therefor I am"

Answer 6

"To be or not be."