The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (316 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Online
Authors: Elizabeth Knowles
1887–1972
Imaginary gardens with real toads in them.
"Poetry" (1935)
My father used to say,
"Superior people never make long visits,
have to be shown Longfellow's grave
or the glass flowers at Harvard."
"Silence" (1935)
I am troubled, I'm dissatisfied, I'm Irish.
"Spenser's Ireland" (1941)
1779–1852
Though an angel should write, still 'tis
devils
must print.
The Fudges in England
(1835) Letter 3, l. 65
Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,
Which I gaze on so fondly today,
Were to change by tomorrow, and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy gifts fading away!
Irish Melodies
(1807) "Believe me, if all those endearing young charms"
'Twas from Kathleen's eyes he flew,
Eyes of most unholy blue!
Irish Melodies
(1807) "By that Lake"
The harp that once through Tara's halls
The soul of music shed,
Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls
As if that soul were fled.
Irish Melodies
(1807) "The harp that once through Tara's halls"
No, there's nothing half so sweet in life
As love's young dream.
Irish Melodies
(1807) "Love's Young Dream"
The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you'll find him;
His father's sword he has girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him.
Irish Melodies
(1807) "The Minstrel Boy"
'Tis the last rose of summer
Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone.
Irish Melodies
(1807) "'Tis the last rose of summer"
I never nursed a dear gazelle,
To glad me with its soft black eye,
But when it came to know me well,
And love me, it was sure to die!
Lalla Rookh
(1817) "The Fire-Worshippers" pt. 1, l. 283.
Oft, in the stilly night,
Ere Slumber's chain has bound me,
Fond Memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
National Airs
(1815) "Oft in the Stilly Night"
1730–1809
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name.
"A Poem, said to be written by Major Mordaunt during the last German War", in
The Bee, or Literary Weekly Intelligencer
12 October 1791
1745–1833
For you'll ne'er mend your fortunes, nor help the just cause,
By breaking of windows, or breaking of laws.
"An Address to the Meeting in Spa Fields" (1817).
He liked those literary cooks
Who skim the cream of others' books;
And ruin half an author's graces
By plucking bon-mots from their places.
Florio
(1786) pt. 1, l. 123
1478–1535
Your sheep, that were wont to be so meek and tame, and so small eaters, now, as I hear say, be become so great devourers, and so wild, that they eat up and swallow down the very men themselves.
Utopia
(1516) bk. 1
If the parties will at my hands call for justice, then, all were it my father stood on the one side, and the Devil on the other, his cause being good, the Devil should have right.
William Roper
Life of Sir Thomas More
Is not this house as nigh heaven as my own?
of the Tower of London
William Roper
Life of Sir Thomas More
Fare well my dear child and pray for me, and I shall for you and all your friends that we may merrily meet in heaven.
last letter to his daughter Margaret Roper, 5 July 1535, on the eve of his execution
I pray you, master Lieutenant, see me safe up, and my coming down let me shift for my self.
of mounting the scaffold
William Roper
Life of Sir Thomas More
This hath not offended the king.
lifting his beard aside after laying his head on the block
Francis Bacon
Apophthegms New and Old
(1625) no. 22