The Heir of Redclyffe

But nature to its inmost part Faith had refined; and to her heart A peaceful cradle given, Calm as the dew drops free to rest Within a breeze-fanned rose’s breast Till it exhale...

A cloud was o’er my childhood’s dream, I sat in solitude; I know not how--I know not why, But round my soul all drearily There was a silent shroud. --THOUGHTS IN PAST YEARS

‘I wish you could see the Shag stone,--a great island mass, sloping on one side, precipitous on the other, with the spray dashing on it. If you see it from ever so far off, ther...

Leonora. Yet often with respect he speaks of thee. Tasso. Thou meanest with forbearance, prudent, subtle, ‘Tis that annoys me, for he knows to use Language so smooth and so cond...

The gentleman having come on foot, with nothing but his knapsack, had not made much sensation. There was a vague idea that he had gone on to the St. Gothard; but the guide who w...

Laura understood without being told. She, too, had thought Guy and Amy were a great deal together, and combining various observations, she perceived that her mother must have gi...

Philip, according to promise, appeared at Hollywell, and a volume of awful justice seemed written on his brow. Charles, though ignorant of its cause, perceived this at a glance,...

--Pray, good shepherd, what Fair swain is this that dances with your daughter? * * * * * He sings several times faster than you’ll tell money; he utters them as he had eaten bal...

Hark, how the birds do sing, And woods do ring! All creatures have their joy, and man hath his; Yet if we rightly measure, Man’s joy and pleasure Rather hereafter than in presen...

‘Yes; the little creature was lying by her, and she put her hand on it, and gave one of those smiles that are so terribly like his; but I could not have spoken about it for the...

They hadna sailed a league, a league, A league, but barely three, When the lift grew dark, and the wind grew loud, And gurly grew the sea. --SIR PATRICK SPENS.--(Old Ballad.)

Mr. Ashford was a connection of Lady Thorndale’s, and it was about a year since the living of Redclyffe had been presented to him. Mr. and Mrs. Ashford were of course anxious to...

Sir, It is your fault I have loved Posthumus; You bred him as my playfellow; and he is A man worth any woman, over-buys me Almost the sum he pays. --CYMBELINE

‘If ever there was a meddlesome coxcomb on this earth!’ Such was the exclamation that greeted the ears of Guy as he supported Charles into the breakfast-room; and, at the same t...

Her playful smile, her buoyance wild, Bespeak the gentle, mirthful child; But in her forehead’s broad expanse, Her chastened tones, her thoughtful glance, Is mingled, with the c...

They went to the strangers’ corner of the grave-yard, for, of course the church did not open to a member of another communion of the visible church; but around them were the hil...

And see If aught of sprightly, fresh, or free, With the calm sweetness may compare Of the pale form half slumbering there. Therefore this one dear couch about We linger hour by...

Already in thy spirit thus divine, Whatever weal or woe betide, Be that high sense of duty still thy guide, And all good powers will aid a soul like thine. --SOUTHEY

Kilcoran was about twenty miles from Cork, and Captain Morville was engaged to go and spend a day or two there. Maurice de Courcy drove him thither, wishing all the way for some...

It must not be supposed that such a history of Guy’s mind was expressed by himself, or understood by Mrs. Edmonstone; but she saw enough to guess at his character, perceive the...

Ah! county Guy, the hour is nigh, The sun has left the lea, The orange flower perfumes the bower, The breeze is on the sea. The lark, his lay, who thrilled all day, Sits hushed,...

‘Tis not unknown to you, Antonio, How much I have disabled mine estate, By something showing a more swelling port Than my faint means would grant continuance. --Merchant of Venice

From that time there was little more cause for anxiety. Philip was, indeed, exceedingly reduced, unable to turn in bed, to lift his head, or to speak except now and then a feebl...

On Saturday afternoon, about half-past five, Philip Morville found himself driving up to the well-known front door of Hollywell. At the door he heard that every one was out exce...

In the meantime the days passed at Recoara without much change for the better or worse. After the first week, Guy’s fever had diminished; his pulse was lower, the drowsiness cea...

He had the unformed look of a growing boy, and was so slender as to appear taller than he really was. He had an air of great activity; and though he sat leaning back, there was...

Among the persons who spent a forlorn autumn was Mr. Ross, though his troubles were not quite of the same description as those of his young parishioners. He missed his daughter...

In another week Mr. Edmonstone and his eldest daughter were to depart on their Irish journey. Laura, besides the natural pain in leaving home, was sorry to be no longer near Phi...

After his last interview with Philip, Guy returned to his rooms to force himself into occupation till his cousin should come to acknowledge that here, at least, there was nothin...

The drawing-room of Hollywell House was one of the favoured apartments, where a peculiar air of home seems to reside, whether seen in the middle of summer, all its large windows...

After his week at Thorndale Park, Captain Morville returned to make his farewell visit at Hollywell, before joining his regiment at Cork, whence it was to sail for the Mediterra...

Amabel’s one anxiety was for Philip. For a long time nothing was heard of him at Hollywell, and she began to fear that he might have been less fit to take care of himself than h...

It was about three weeks after the rendezvous at Bellagio, that Sir Guy and Lady Morville arrived at Vicenza, on their way from Venice. They were in the midst of breakfast when...

One Afternoon, late in April, Charles opened the dressing-room door, and paused a moment, smiling. There sat Amabel on the floor before the fire, her hand stretched out, playful...

‘ATHENAEUM TERRACE, ST MILDRED’S, August 4th, ‘MY DEAR PHILIP,--Thank you for returning the books, which were brought safely by Sir Guy. I am sorry you do not agree in my estima...

Most delicately, hour by hour, He canvassed human mysteries, And stood aloof from other minds. Himself unto himself he sold, Upon himself, himself did feed, Quiet, dispassionate...

It seemed as if the fatigue which Guy had undergone was going to make itself felt at last, for he had a slight headache the next morning, and seemed dull and weary. Both he and...

Like Alexander, I will reign, And I will reign alone, My thoughts shall ever more disdain A rival near my throne. But I must rule and govern still, And always give the law, And...

Philip’s marriage could not take place at once. No one said, but every one felt, that it must not be talked of till the end of Amabel’s first year of widowhood; and in the meant...

Amabel awoke to such a sense of relief and repose that she scarcely liked to ask herself the cause, lest it might ruffle her complete peace. Those words ‘all right,’ seemed to b...

One of the pleasantest rooms at Hollywell was Mrs. Edmonstone’s dressing-room--large and bay-windowed, over the drawing-room, having little of the dressing-room but the name, an...

Mary Ross was eager for the first report from Hollywell the next morning, and had some difficulty in keeping her attention fixed on her class at school. Laura and Charlotte came...

The matron who alone has stood When not a prop seemed left below, The first lorn hour of widowhood, Yet, cheered and cheering all the while, With sad but unaffected, smile. --CH...

This just decree alone I know, Man must be disciplined by woe, To me, whate’er of good or ill The future brings, since come it will, I’ll bow my spirit, and be still. --AESCHYLU...

Yet burns the sun on high beyond the cloud; Each in his southern cave, The warm winds linger, but to be allowed One breathing o’er the wave, One flight across the unquiet sky; S...