Acme Library of Standard Biography: Second Series |
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Page 9
Second Series. poet's old age , " which dulleth him in his spirit , " in the Complaint of Venus , generally ascribed to the last decennium of Chaucer's life . If we reject the evidence of a further passage , in the Cuckoo and the ...
Second Series. poet's old age , " which dulleth him in his spirit , " in the Complaint of Venus , generally ascribed to the last decennium of Chaucer's life . If we reject the evidence of a further passage , in the Cuckoo and the ...
Page 12
... spirit of the English nation , at a time when the decline in its fortunes was already near at hand ( 1366 ) , is evident from the answer given to the application from Rome for the arrears of thirty - three years of the tribute promised ...
... spirit of the English nation , at a time when the decline in its fortunes was already near at hand ( 1366 ) , is evident from the answer given to the application from Rome for the arrears of thirty - three years of the tribute promised ...
Page 19
... spirit of chivalry : before the century closed , lawyers were rolling parchments in the halls of the Templars by the Thames . Thus , though the age of chivalry had not yet ended , its supremacy was already on the wane , and its ideal ...
... spirit of chivalry : before the century closed , lawyers were rolling parchments in the halls of the Templars by the Thames . Thus , though the age of chivalry had not yet ended , its supremacy was already on the wane , and its ideal ...
Page 27
... spirit of the words which Dante puts into the mouth of St. Francis of Assisi was being verified by his degenerate children : — " So soft is flesh of mortals , that on earth A good beginning doth no longer last Than while an oak may ...
... spirit of the words which Dante puts into the mouth of St. Francis of Assisi was being verified by his degenerate children : — " So soft is flesh of mortals , that on earth A good beginning doth no longer last Than while an oak may ...
Page 33
... spirit of enterprise was not dead in any class , from knight to shipman ; and faithfulness and chastity in woman were still esteemed the highest though not the universal virtues of her sex . The value of such evi- dence as the mind of a ...
... spirit of enterprise was not dead in any class , from knight to shipman ; and faithfulness and chastity in woman were still esteemed the highest though not the universal virtues of her sex . The value of such evi- dence as the mind of a ...
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Common terms and phrases
admiration already Areopagitica beauty called Canterbury Tales century character Chaucer Church Coleridge Cowper death delight England English epic eyes Faerie Queene fancy father feeling French Gabriel Harvey genius hand happy heart House of Fame human imagination Ireland Irish John Keswick King Lady language Latin learning less letters literary literature lived London look Lord Lord Grey matter ment Milton mind moral nature never Olney once pamphlets Pantisocracy Paradise Lost Paradise Regained passage passion perhaps Petrarch poem poet poet's poetical poetry political prose Puritan Ralegh reader religion religious Robert Southey Salmasius Samson Agonistes says seems sentiment sonnets soul Southey Southey's Spenser spirit story style Tale thee things thou thought tion translation truth Unwin verse Westminster wife words write written wrote young
Popular passages
Page 279 - I was confirmed in this opinion, that he, who would not be frustrate of his hope to write well hereafter in laudable things, ought himself to be a true poem...
Page 241 - How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stolen on his wing my three-and-twentieth year! My hasting days fly on with full career, But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.
Page 432 - Twas my distress that brought thee low, My Mary ! Thy needles, once a shining store, For my sake restless heretofore, Now rust disused, and shine no more ; My Mary ! For though thou gladly wouldst fulfil The same kind office for me still, Thy sight now seconds not thy will, - My Mary ! But well thou play'dst the housewife's part; And all thy threads with magic art, Have wound themselves about this heart, My Mary...
Page 328 - Memory and her siren daughters ; but by devout prayer to that Eternal Spirit who can enrich with all utterance and knowledge, and sends out his seraphim with the hallowed fire of his altar to touch and purify the lips of whom He pleases.
Page 185 - If music and sweet poetry agree, As they must needs, the sister and the brother, Then must the love be great "twixt thee and me, Because thou lov'st the one, and I the other. Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly touch Upon the lute doth ravish human sense ; Spenser to me, whose deep conceit is such As, passing all conceit, needs no defence. Thou lov'st to hear the sweet melodious sound That Phoebus...
Page 407 - I would not enter on my list of friends (Though graced with polished manners and fine sense Yet wanting sensibility) the man Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
Page 240 - ... coming to some maturity of years, and perceiving what tyranny had invaded the church, that he who would take orders must subscribe slave, and take an oath withal, which, unless he took with a conscience that would retch, he must either straight perjure, or split his faith ; I thought it better to prefer a blameless silence before the sacred office of speaking, bought and begun with servitude and forswearing.
Page 355 - To hoarse or mute, though fall'n on evil days, On evil days though fall'n, and evil tongues...
Page 399 - Tis pleasant, through the loopholes of retreat, To peep at such a world ; to see the stir Of the great Babel, and not feel the crowd ; To hear the roar she sends through all her gates At a safe distance, where the dying sound Falls a soft murmur on the uninjured ear.
Page 435 - Adieu !" At length, his transient respite past. His comrades, who before Had heard his voice in every blast, Could catch the sound no more ; For then, by toil subdued, he drank The stifling wave, and then he sank. No poet wept him : but the page Of narrative sincere, That tells his name, his worth, his age. Is wet with Anson's tear i And tears by bards or heroes shed, Alike immortalize the dead.