The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (122 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Online
Authors: Elizabeth Knowles
1731–1800
We perished, each alone:
But I beneath a rougher sea,
And whelmed in deeper gulfs than he.
"The Castaway" (written 1799) l. 61
His wit invites you by his looks to come,
But when you knock it never is at home.
"Conversation" (1782) l. 303
Damned below Judas; more abhorred than he was.
"Hatred and vengeance, my eternal portion" (written
c.
1774)
John Gilpin was a citizen
Of credit and renown,
A train-band captain eke was he
Of famous London town.
"John Gilpin" (1785) l. 1
My sister and my sister's child,
Myself and children three,
Will fill the chaise; so you must ride
On horseback after we.
"John Gilpin" (1785) l. 13
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Olney Hymns
(1779) "Light Shining out of Darkness"
Oh! for a closer walk with God,
A calm and heav'nly frame;
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!
Olney Hymns
(1779) "Walking with God"
Toll for the brave—
The brave! that are no more:
All sunk beneath the wave,
Fast by their native shore.
"On the Loss of the Royal George" (written 1782)
Remorse, the fatal egg by pleasure laid.
"The Progress of Error" (1782) l. 239
Thou god of our idolatry, the press…
Thou ever-bubbling spring of endless lies.
"The Progress of Error" (1782) l. 461
God made the country, and man made the town.
The Task
(1785) bk. 1 "The Sofa" l. 749.
Slaves cannot breathe in England, if their lungs
Receive our air, that moment they are free;
They touch our country, and their shackles fall.
The Task
(1785) bk. 2 "The Timepiece" l. 40.
England, with all thy faults, I love thee still—
My country!
The Task
(1785) bk. 2 "The Timepiece" l. 206.
Variety's the very spice of life,
That gives it all its flavour.
The Task
(1785) bk. 2 "The Timepiece" l. 606.
I was a stricken deer, that left the herd
Long since.
The Task
(1785) bk. 3 "The Garden" l. 108.
Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,
And, while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn
Throws up a steamy column, and the cups,
That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful evening in.
The Task
(1785) bk. 4 "The Winter Evening" l. 34.
I crown thee king of intimate delights,
Fire-side enjoyments, home-born happiness.
The Task
(1785) bk. 4 "The Winter Evening" l. 139
A Roman meal…
…a radish and an egg.
The Task
(1785) bk. 4 "The Winter Evening" l. 168
The slope of faces, from the floor to th' roof,
(As if one master-spring controlled them all),
Relaxed into a universal grin.
of the theatre
The Task
(1785) bk. 4 "The Winter Evening" l. 202
I would not enter on my list of friends
(Tho' graced with polished manners and fine sense,
Yet wanting sensibility) the man
Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
The Task
(1785) bk. 6 "The Winter Walk at Noon" l. 560
As a priest,
A piece of mere church furniture at best.
"Tirocinium" (1785) l. 425
I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the sea
I am lord of the foul and the brute.
"Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk" (1782)
Our severest winter, commonly called the spring.
letter to the Revd William Unwin, 8 June 1783
1754–1832
Habit with him was all the test of truth,
"It must be right: I've done it from my youth."
The Borough
(1810) Letter 3 "The Vicar" l. 138
With awe, around these silent walks I tread;
These are the lasting mansions of the dead.
"The Library" (1808) l. 105
The murmuring poor, who will not fast in peace.
"The Newspaper" (1785) l. 158
A master passion is the love of news.
"The Newspaper" (1785) l. 279
"The game," said he, "is never lost till won."
Tales of the Hall
(1819) "Gretna Green" l. 334
The face the index of a feeling mind.
Tales of the Hall
(1819) "Lady Barbara" l. 124
The cold charities of man to man.
The Village
(1783) bk. 1, l. 245
1919–
O the bricks they will bleed and the rain it will weep
And the damp Lagan fog lull the city to sleep;
It's to hell with the future and live on the past:
May the Lord in His mercy be kind to Belfast
.
based on the traditional refrain "May God in His mercy look down on Belfast"
"Ballad to a Traditional Refrain" (1974)
1899–1932
Stars scribble on our eyes the frosty sagas,
The gleaming cantos of unvanquished space.
"Cape Hatteras" (1930)
So the 20th Century—so
whizzed the Limited—roared by and left
three men, still hungry on the tracks, ploddingly
watching the tail lights wizen and converge, slipping
gimleted and neatly out of sight.
"The River" (1930)
Being, of all, least sought for: Emily, hear!
"To Emily Dickinson" (1927)
