FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88  
89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   >>   >|  
To whose white robe the gleam of bliss is given, And by the breath of mercy made to roll Right onward to the golden gate of heaven, While to the eye of faith it peaceful lies, And tells to man his glorious destinies. --John Wilson II. MY MIND. My mind to me a kingdom is; Such perfect joy therein I find, As far exceeds all earthly bliss That God or nature hath assigned; Though much I want that most would have, Yet still my mind forbids to crave. NOTE.--This is the first stanza of a poem by William Byrd (b, 1543, d. 1623), an English composer of music. III. A GOOD NAME. (95) Good name, in man or woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls. Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing; 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed. Shakespeare.--Othello, Act III, Scene III. IV. SUNRISE. But yonder comes the powerful king of day, Rejoicing in the east. The lessening cloud, The kindling azure, and the mountain's brow Illumed with liquid gold, his near approach Betoken glad. Lo! now apparent all, Aslant the dew-bright earth and colored air He looks in boundless majesty abroad, And sheds the shining day that, burnished, plays On rocks, and hills, and towers, and wandering streams, High gleaming from afar. Thomson. V. OLD AGE AND DEATH. (95) Edmund Waller, 1605-1687, an English poet, was a cousin of John Hampden, and related to Oliver Cromwell. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge. Waller was for many years a member of Parliament. He took part in the civil war, and was detected in a treasonable plot. Several years of his life were spent in exile in France. After the Restoration he came into favor at court. His poetry is celebrated for smoothness and sweetness, but is disfigured by affected conceits. ### The seas are quiet when the winds give o'er; So calm are we when passions are no more. For then we know how vain it was to boast Of fleeting things, too certain to be lost. Clouds of affection from our younger eyes Conceal that emptiness which age descries. The soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed, Lets in new light through chinks that time has made: Stronger by weakness, wiser m
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88  
89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

English

 

steals

 

Waller

 

member

 

abroad

 

Parliament

 
Cambridge
 

burnished

 

shining

 

Several


colored
 

treasonable

 

detected

 

boundless

 

majesty

 

Edmund

 

Thomson

 

gleaming

 
cousin
 

educated


wandering

 
towers
 

Cromwell

 

Oliver

 

Hampden

 
related
 

streams

 
affection
 

Clouds

 

younger


emptiness

 

Conceal

 

fleeting

 

things

 

descries

 

chinks

 

Stronger

 
weakness
 

cottage

 

battered


decayed
 
poetry
 

bright

 
celebrated
 
smoothness
 
sweetness
 

France

 

Restoration

 

disfigured

 

affected