The lost hunter: A tale of early times

_Lorenzo_.--Go in, Sirrah; bid them prepare for dinner. _Launcelot_.--That is done, sir; they have all stomachs. _Lorenzo_.--Goodly lord, what a wit-snapper are you! then bid th...

"O nymph, with loosely flowing hair, With buskined leg, and bosom bare, Thy waist with myrtle girdle bound, Thy brow with Indian feathers crowned, Waving in thy snowy hand An al...

"If it please your honor, I am the poor duke's constable, and my name is Elbow. I do lean upon justice, sir, and do bring in here before your good honor two notorious benefactors."

But love itself could never pant For all that beauty sighs to grant, With half the fervor hate bestows Upon the last embrace of foes, When grappling in the fight, they fold Thos...

Man is a harp, whose cords elude the sight, Each yielding harmony disposed aright; The screws reversed (a task which if he please, God in a moment executes with ease), Ten thous...

Mr. Armstrong was disposed to gratify his daughter, and to follow the advice of Holden. That very morning, soon after the departure of the Solitary, he accepted an invitation fr...

The charming poet depicted truthfully, doubtless, as well as poetically, the English winter, but such is not the character of the season in New England. Clouds and storms, indee...

Impelled with steps unceasing to pursue Some fleeting good that mocks me with the view; That, like the circle, bounding earth and skies, Allures from far, and, as I follow, flies.

The season had now advanced to within a few days of that joyous period of the year, when the Governors of the several New England States are wont to call the people to a public...

_Angelo_.--We must not make a scarecrow of the law, Setting it up to fear the birds of prey, And let it keep one shape, till custom make it Their perch, and not their terror.

The next morning was beautiful, like most June mornings. Armstrong, who had not closed his eyes during the whole night, rose with the dawn to wander through his garden, which wa...

At last the golden orientall gate Of greatest heaven gan to open fayre, And Phoebus fresh as brydegrome to his mate, Came dauncing forth, shaking his deawie hayre, And hurld his...

We talk of love and pleasure--but 'tis all A tale of falsehood. Life's made up of gloom: The fairest scenes are clad in ruin's pall, The loveliest pathway leads but to the tomb.

Whose part in all the pomp that fills, The circuit of the summer hills. Is that his grave is green. And deeply would their hearts rejoice, To hear again his living voice.

"Who called you forth from night and utter death, From dark and icy caverns, called you forth, Down those precipitous black-jagged rocks, For ever shattered, and the same for ev...

Oh, how this tyrant, doubt, torments my breast! My thoughts, like birds, who're frighten'd from their nest, Around the place where all was hush'd before, Flutter, and hardly nes...

Oh my soul's joy! If after every tempest come such calms, May the winds blow till they have wakened death! And let the laboring bark climb hills of seas Olympus-high, and duck a...

"Here come that strange old man," said Felix, the next morning, looking out of the kitchen window, which commanded a view of the road. "I do believe he's bewitched the boss."

I met with scoffs, I met with scorns From youth, and babe, and hoary hairs, They called me in the public squares, The fool that wears a crown of thorns.

He was a man Whom no one could have passed without remark, Active and nervous was his gait; his limbs And his whole figure breathed intelligence. Time had compressed the freshne...

Mr. Armstrong escaped, to all appearance, with a cold, from the accident. But although this seemed the only effect produced upon his bodily health, his mind had suffered a sever...

"All these tales told in that dreamy undertone with which men talk in the dark, the countenances of the listeners only now and then receiving a casual gleam from the glare of a...

"I was larned to do one, and t'other come natural," said Tom, laughing; "but I didn't lay it on a bit too hard. You see I had to bring him a pretty good polt, so as to lay him f...

Cities humming with a restless crowd Sordid as active, ignorant as loud, Whose highest praise is that they live in vain, The dupes of pleasure, or the slaves of gain.

And with him thousand phantoms joined Who prompt to deeds accursed the mind, And those the fiends who, near allied, O'er Nature's wounds and wrecks preside; While Vengeance, in...

_Dogberry_.--You are thought here to be the most senseless and fit man for the constable of the watch; therefore, bear you the lantern. This is your charge; you shall comprehend...

From yon blue heavens, above us bent, The gard'ner Adam and his wife Smile at the claims of long descent: Howe'er it be, it seems to me, 'Tis only noble to be good; Kind hearts...

Wide o'er the brim with many a torrent swelled, And the mixed ruin of its banks o'erspread, At last the roused up river pours along: Resistless, roaring, dreadful, down it comes...

"Groves freshened, as he looked, and flowers Showed bright on rocky bank, And fountains welled beneath the bowers, Where deer and pheasant drank; He saw the glittering streams,...

"Then lock thee fast Alone within thy chamber, there fall down On both thy knees, and grovel on the ground: Cry to thy heart: wash every word thou utter'st In tears (and if't be...

We have seen that when the constable left the shop he felt some anxiety about the proper course to be pursued. On the one hand were his duty and avarice, on the other his fears....

A week after the events narrated in the preceding chapters, a small company was collected in a parlor of one of the houses of Hillsdale. It consisted of a gentleman, of some fif...

As soon as they reached the house of Armstrong, Dr. Elmer was sent for, and to him Holden communicated the events of the morning, not concealing his own relationship. This last...

He knew the cause of every malady, Were it of cold, or hot, or moist, or dry, And where engendered, and of what humor: He was a very perfect practiser. The cause y know, and of...

But is there yet no other way besides Those painful passages, how we may come To death, and mix with our connatural dust? "There is," said Michael, "if thou will observe The rul...

Welcome pure thoughts, welcome ye silent groves. These guests, these courts my soul most dearly loves: Now the winged people of the sky shall sing My cheerful anthems to the gla...

When Holden was left alone in his chamber, he sank into a seat and covered his face with both hands. He remained in this position for some time, and when he removed them, it was...

By the time the court had concluded its session it was eight o'clock in the evening. It was quite dark, and the snow was falling heavily. When, therefore, the constable stepped...

I will pursue to death this spiteful knight: Not earth's low centre, nor sea's deepest part, Nor heaven, nor hell, can shield him from my might: I will o'ertake him, take him, c...

The period of time which has elapsed since the occurring of the events detailed in the preceding chapters, enables us to give a tolerably full account of the destiny of the acto...

Thus as he spake, his visage waxed pale, And chaunge of hew great passion did bewray, Yett still he strove to cloke his inward bale, And hide the smoke that did his fire display.

After the expiration of a fortnight, Pownal could find no excuses to satisfy even himself with remaining longer at Judge Bernard's. The visit had been, indeed, one of great enjo...

Bright and beautiful broke the morning after that night of storm. The weather had cleared up towards midnight, and when the rejoicing sun surveyed the scene, his golden glances...