The Age of Dryden

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G. Bell and sons, 1916 - 292 pages
 

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Page 88 - tis all a cheat; Yet, fooled with hope, men favour the deceit; Trust on, and think to-morrow will repay: To-morrow's falser than the former day; Lies worse, and, while it says, we shall be blest With some new joys, cuts off what we possest.
Page 160 - What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? 275 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Page 27 - True wit is nature to advantage drest; What oft was thought, but ne'er so well exprest.
Page 47 - Some Passages of the Life and Death of John, Earl of Rochester," which the critic ought to read for its elegance, the philosopher for its arguments, and the saint for its piety.
Page 72 - Y/"E living lamps, by whose dear light The nightingale does sit so late, And studying all the summer night, Her matchless songs does meditate; Ye country comets, that portend No war nor prince's funeral, Shining unto no higher end Than to presage the grass's fall...
Page 249 - I sat down, when I was last this way a-fishing, and the birds in the adjoining grove seemed to have a friendly contention with an echo, whose dead voice seemed to live in a hollow tree, near to the brow of that primrose-hill...
Page 27 - Was lent, not to assure our doubtful way, But guide us upward to a better day. And as those nightly tapers disappear, When day's bright lord ascends our hemisphere ; So pale grows Reason at Religion's sight ; So dies, and so dissolves in supernatural light.
Page 51 - Ripe Apples drop about my head; The Luscious Clusters of the Vine Upon my Mouth do crush their Wine; The Nectaren, and curious Peach, Into my hands themselves do reach; Stumbling on Melons, as I pass, Insnar'd with Flow'rs, I fall on Grass.
Page 21 - Promiscuous use of concubine and bride, Then Israel's monarch after Heaven's own heart His vigorous warmth did variously impart To wives and slaves, and, wide as his command, Scattered his Maker's image through the land.
Page 25 - Fit for thy bulk, do anything but write. Thou art of lasting make like thoughtless men ; A strong nativity - but for the pen ! Eat opium, mingle arsenic in thy drink, Still thou may'st live avoiding pen and ink.

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