Handy Dictionary of Poetical Quotations

Excerpt

HANDY DICTIONARY OF POETICAL

A.

Abashed.

Abash'd the devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is, and saw
Virtue in her shape how lovely.
1
MILTON:Par. Lost,Bk. iv., Line 846.


Abbots.

To happy convents bosom'd deep in vines,
Where slumber abbots purple as their wines.

POPE:Dunciad,Bk. iv., Line 301.


Abdication.

I give this heavy weight from off my head,
And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand,
The pride of kingly sway from out my heart;
With mine own tears I wash away my balm,
With mine own hands I give away my crown,
With mine own tongue deny my sacred state,
With mine own breath release all duteous oaths.
3
SHAKS.:Richard II.,Act iv., Sc. 1.


Abdiel.

So spake the seraph Abdiel, faithful found;
Among the faithless, faithful only he.
4
MILTON:Par. Lost,Bk. v., Line 896.


Ability.

I profess not talking; only this,
Let each man do his best.

SHAKS.:1 Henry IV.,Act v., Sc. 2.


Absence.

What! keep a week away! Seven days and nights?
Eight score eight hours? and lovers' absent hours,
More tedious than the dial eight score times?
O weary reckoning!
6
SHAKS.:Othello,Act iii., Sc. 1.

Though lost to sight, to memory dear
Thou ever wilt remain.
7
GEORGE LINLEY:Song, Though Lost to Sight.

Condemn'd whole years in absence to deplore,
And image charms he must behold no more.
8
POPE:Eloisa to A.,Line 361.

O last love! O first love!
My love with the true heart,
To think I have come to this your home,
And yet—we are apart!
9
JEAN INGELOW:Sailing Beyond Seas.

'Tis said that absence conquers love;
But oh believe it not!
I've tried, alas! its power to prove,
But thou art not forgot.
10
FREDERICK W. THOMAS:Absence Conquers Love.


Abstinence.

Against diseases here the strongest fence
Is the defensive virtue abstinence.
11
HERRICK:Aph. Abstinence.


Abuse.

Thou thread, thou thimble,
Thou yard, three quarters, half-yard, quarter, nail,
Thou flea, thou nit, thou winter cricket thou:
Away thou rag, thou quantity, thou remnant.
12
SHAKS.:Tam. of the S.,Act iv., Sc. 3.


Accident.

As the unthought-on accident is guilty
Of what we wildly do, so we profess
Ourselves to be the slaves of chance, and flies
Of every wind that blows.
13
SHAKS.:Wint. Tale,Act iv., Sc. 3.

Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances,
Of moving accidents by flood and field.
14
SHAKS.:Othello,Act i., Sc. 3.

Our wanton accidents take root, and grow
To vaunt themselves God's laws.
15
CHARLES KINGSLEY:Saints' Tragedy,Act ii., Sc. 4.

By many a happy accident.
16
MIDDLETON:No Wit, No Help, Like a Woman's,Act ii., Sc. 2.


Account.

No reckoning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head.
17
SHAKS.:Hamlet,Act i., Sc. 5.


Accusation.

Accuse not Nature: she hath done her part;
Do thou but thine.
18
MILTON:Par. Lost,Bk. viii., Line 561.


Achievements.

Great things thro' greatest hazards are achiev'd,
And then they shine.
19
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER:Loyal Subject,Act i., Sc. 5.


Acquaintance.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind...?