The Satires of Dryden

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Macmillan & Company, 1893 - Poetry - 137 pages

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Page 19 - Blest madman! who could every hour employ With something new to wish or to enjoy. Railing and praising were his usual themes; And both, to show his judgment, in extremes; So over violent, or over civil, That every man with him was god or devil.
Page 8 - And o'er-informed 2 the tenement of clay. A daring pilot in extremity, Pleased with the danger, when the waves went high He sought the storms; but, for a calm unfit, Would steer too nigh the sands to boast his wit. Great wits are sure to madness near allied And thin partitions do their bounds divide; Else, why should he, with wealth and honour blest, Refuse his age the needful hours of rest?
Page 9 - Resolved to ruin or to rule the state; To compass this the triple bond he broke, The pillars of the public safety shook, And fitted Israel for a foreign yoke; Then, seized with fear, yet still affecting fame, Usurped a patriot's all-atoning name.
Page 9 - With public zeal to cancel private crimes. How safe is treason and how sacred ill, Where none can sin against the people's will...
Page 19 - Gainst form and order they their power employ, Nothing to build, and all things to destroy. But far more numerous was the herd of such Who think too little, and who talk too much : These out of mere instinct, they knew not why, Adored their fathers...
Page 87 - And in his father's right and realm's defence, Ne'er to have peace with wit nor truce with sense. The king himself the sacred unction made, As king by office and as priest by trade. In his sinister hand, instead of ball, He placed a mighty mug of potent ale;
Page 88 - Of his dominion may no end be known, And greater than his father's be his throne; Beyond love's kingdom let him stretch his penl" He paused, and all the people cried,
Page 20 - During his office, treason was no crime. The Sons of Belial had a glorious time...
Page 84 - All human things are subject to decay, And, when Fate summons, monarchs must obey: This Flecknoe found, who, like Augustus, young Was call'd to empire, and had govern'd long: In prose and verse, was own'd, without dispute Through all the realms of Non-sense, absolute. This aged prince now flourishing in peace, And blest with issue of a large increase, Worn out with business, did at length...
Page 31 - Gulled with a patriot's name, whose modern sense Is one that would by law supplant his prince; The people's brave, the politician's tool; Never was patriot yet, but was a fool.

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