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John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

Page 416

 
 
William Cowper. (1731–1800) (continued)
 
4478
    Philologists, who chase
A panting syllable through time and space,
Start it at home, and hunt it in the dark
To Gaul, to Greece, and into Noah’s ark.
          Retirement. Line 691.
4479
    I praise the Frenchman, 1 his remark was shrewd,—
How sweet, how passing sweet, is solitude!
But grant me still a friend in my retreat,
Whom I may whisper, Solitude is sweet.
          Retirement. Line 739.
4480
    A kick that scarce would move a horse
  May kill a sound divine.
          The Yearly Distress.
4481
    I am monarch of all I survey,
  My right there is none to dispute.
          Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk.
4482
    O Solitude! where are the charms
  That sages have seen in thy face?
          Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk.
4483
    But the sound of the church-going bell
  These valleys and rocks never heard;
Ne’er sigh’d at the sound of a knell,
  Or smiled when a Sabbath appear’d.
          Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk.
4484
    How fleet is a glance of the mind!
  Compared with the speed of its flight
The tempest itself lags behind,
  And the swift-winged arrows of light.
          Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk.
4485
    There goes the parson, O illustrious spark!
And there, scarce less illustrious, goes the clerk.
          On observing some Names of Little Note.
4486
    But oars alone can ne’er prevail
  To reach the distant coast;
The breath of heaven must swell the sail,
  Or all the toil is lost.
          Human Frailty.
4487
    And the tear that is wiped with a little address,
May be follow’d perhaps by a smile.
          The Rose.
 
Note 1.
La Bruyère. [back]