Cyclopaedia of English Literature: First period, from the earliest times to 1400Robert Chambers Gould, Kendall and Lincoln, 1847 - Authors, English |
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Page 9
... spirit : it was the age of chivalry and of the crusades , when men saw such deeds of heroism and self - devotion daily per- formed before their eyes , that nothing which could be imagined of the past was too extravagant to ap- pear ...
... spirit : it was the age of chivalry and of the crusades , when men saw such deeds of heroism and self - devotion daily per- formed before their eyes , that nothing which could be imagined of the past was too extravagant to ap- pear ...
Page 23
... Spirit . * It is always to be kept in mind that the language employed in literary composition is apt to be different from that used by the bulk of the people in ordinary discourse . The literary lan- guage of these early times was ...
... Spirit . * It is always to be kept in mind that the language employed in literary composition is apt to be different from that used by the bulk of the people in ordinary discourse . The literary lan- guage of these early times was ...
Page 38
... spirit , a command of phra- seology , and a fertility of imagination , not to be found in any English poet since Chaucer and Lyd- gate . ' Perhaps the explanation of this seeming mystery is , that the influences which operated upon ...
... spirit , a command of phra- seology , and a fertility of imagination , not to be found in any English poet since Chaucer and Lyd- gate . ' Perhaps the explanation of this seeming mystery is , that the influences which operated upon ...
Page 40
... spirit , that his life was not , as far as we can judge , a happy one . He ap- pears to have repined greatly at the servile court- life which he was condemned to lead , and to have longed anxiously for some independent source of in ...
... spirit , that his life was not , as far as we can judge , a happy one . He ap- pears to have repined greatly at the servile court- life which he was condemned to lead , and to have longed anxiously for some independent source of in ...
Page 55
... spirit of pro- phecy . For on a time , he , with other men of Peruse , was taken prisoner , and were put in a cruel prison , where all the other wailed and sorrowed , and he only was glad and enjoyed . And when they had repreved him ...
... spirit of pro- phecy . For on a time , he , with other men of Peruse , was taken prisoner , and were put in a cruel prison , where all the other wailed and sorrowed , and he only was glad and enjoyed . And when they had repreved him ...
Common terms and phrases
afterwards beauty Ben Jonson body breast breath Cædmon Cæsar called Charles II church court death delight divine doth Dryden Earl earth England English eyes Faery Queen fair fancy fear fire flowers gentle give grace hand happy hast hath hear heart heaven Henry Henry VIII holy honour Hudibras Izaak Walton Jeremy Taylor John Lesley Jonson king labour lady language learning light live look Lord Macbeth marriage mind muse nature never night noble nymph o'er passion play pleasure poem poet poetical poetry poor praise prince published Queen racter reign rich Scotland Shakspeare sing sleep song soul speak Spenser spirit St Serf style sweet taste tell thee thine things thou thought tion tongue truth unto verse virtue wind wine wise words write youth
Popular passages
Page 108 - Fear no more the frown o' the great: Thou art past the tyrant's stroke. Care no more to clothe and eat; To thee the reed is as the oak: The sceptre, learning, physic, must All follow this, and come to dust.
Page 106 - Desiring this man's art and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least ; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate; For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Page 335 - To hear the lark begin his flight, And singing startle the dull Night, From his watch-tower in the skies, Till the dappled Dawn doth rise...
Page 84 - Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies, Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,— In folly ripe, in reason rotten. Thy belt of straw and ivy buds, Thy coral clasps and amber studs,— All these in me no means can move To come to thee and be thy love.
Page 108 - Under the greenwood tree, Who loves to lie with me, And tune his merry note Unto the sweet bird's throat — Come hither, come hither, come hither ! Here shall we see No enemy But winter and rough weather. Who doth ambition shun, And loves to live i...
Page 184 - How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music Creep in our ears: soft stillness and the night Become the touches of sweet harmony. Sit, Jessica. Look, how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold; There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins: Such harmony is in immortal souls; But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close it in, we...
Page 186 - She is the fairies' midwife; and she comes In shape no bigger than an agate-stone On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomies Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep : Her wagon-spokes made of long spinners...
Page 119 - What things have we seen Done at the Mermaid! Heard words that have been So nimble and so full of subtle flame As if that every one from whence they came Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest, And had resolved to live a fool the rest Of his dull life.
Page 366 - A present deity! the vaulted roofs rebound! With ravish'd ears The monarch hears, Assumes the god; Aflects to nod And seems to shake the spheres. The praise of Bacchus then the sweet musician sung : Of Bacchus ever fair and ever young: The jolly god in triumph comes ! Sound the trumpets, beat the drums!
Page 172 - And then thou must be damn'd perpetually! Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of Heaven, That time may cease, and midnight never come; Fair Nature's eye, rise, rise again and make Perpetual day; or let this hour be but A year, a month, a week, a natural day, That Faustus may repent and save his soul! O lente, lente, currite noctis equi!