Specimens of the Poets and Poetry of Greece and Rome

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William Peter
Carey and Hart, 1847 - English poetry - 530 pages

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Page 17 - As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night, O'er Heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light, When not a breath disturbs the deep serene, And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene ; Around her throne the vivid planets roll, And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole, O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed, And tip with silver every mountain's head...
Page 212 - Lycidas? For neither were ye playing on the steep Where your old bards, the famous druids, lie, Nor on the shaggy top of Mona high, Nor yet where Deva spreads her wizard stream. Ay me, I fondly dream! Had ye been there — for what could that have done?
Page 51 - Tis filled wherever thou dost tread Nature's self's thy Ganymede. Thou dost drink, and dance, and sing, Happier than the happiest king! All the fields which thou dost see, All the plants belong to thee; All that summer hours produce, Fertile made with early juice. Man for thee does sow and plough; Farmer he, and landlord thou!
Page 9 - Like leaves on trees the race of man is found, Now green in youth, now withering on the ground; Another race the following spring supplies; They fall successive, and successive rise: So generations in their course decay; So flourish these, when those are pass'd away.
Page 465 - WHAT slender Youth bedew'd with liquid odours Courts thee on Roses in some pleasant Cave, Pyrrha for whom bind'st thou In wreaths thy golden Hair, Plain in thy neatness? O how oft shall he On Faith and changed Gods complain : and Seas Rough with black winds and storms Unwonted shall admire : Who now enjoys thee credulous, all Gold, Who always vacant, always amiable Hopes thee ; of flattering gales Unmindful. Hapless they To whom thou untried seem'st fair. Me in my vow'd Picture the sacred wall declares...
Page 17 - O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed, And tip with silver every mountain's head ; Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise, A flood of glory bursts from all the skies; The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight. Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light.
Page 43 - Twas this deprived my soul of rest, And rais'd such tumults in my breast ; For while I gaz'd, in transport tost, My breath was gone, my voice was lost : My bosom glow'd ; the subtle flame Ran quick through all my vital frame ; O'er my dim eyes a darkness hung ; My ears with hollow murmurs rung. In dewy damps my limbs were chill'd ; My blood with gentle horrors thrill'd ; My feeble pulse forgot to play ; I fainted, sunk, and died away.
Page 137 - THIS is true liberty, when freeborn men, Having to advise the public, may speak free ; Which he who can, and will, deserves high praise ; Who neither can, nor will, may hold his peace ; What can be juster in a state than this ? FROM HORACE.
Page 10 - ... earth, And such the hard condition of our birth. No force can then resist, no flight can save; All sink alike, the fearful and the brave. No more — but hasten to thy tasks at home, There guide the spindle, and direct the loom : Me glory summons to the martial scene, The field of combat is the sphere for men. Where heroes war, the foremost place I claim, The first in danger as the first in fame.
Page 10 - And Hector hasted to relieve his child, The glittering terrors from his brows unbound, And placed the beaming helmet on the ground; Then kiss'd the child, and, lifting high in air, Thus to the gods preferr'da father's prayer: "O thou!

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