It is with words as with sunbeams. The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.

Southey likens language to sunlight focused through a lens: diffuse rays warm, but concentrated rays scorch. The comparison argues for compression and precision in expression—few, well-chosen words can carry more force than many loose ones. It also hints at rhetoric’s moral and emotional power: language can illuminate, persuade, or wound depending on how intensely it is “condensed.” In a literary context, the line champions aphorism, poetic economy, and the disciplined revision that distills thought to its most potent form. The image remains a durable defense of brevity as a source of clarity and impact rather than mere stylistic minimalism.