zlacker

  In the elder days of Art,
    Builders wrought with greatest care
  Each minute and unseen part;
    For the Gods see everywhere.

(from Longfellow, The Builders, 1850)

I’m not sure to which extent I agree with this piece’s medieval outlook of seeking and expecting perfection in the past, not in the future, but it doesn’t detract from the quality of this piece of writing. (Same for Tolkien, for example.) (And the poem actually talks about improving on the past, not venerating it; citing this part in isolation is a bit misleading.) (Now that I’m comparing these two quotes, the difference between “because the gods will see” and “because you’ll know it’s there” is... probably not worth overanalyzing, but at the same time intensely amusing.)