Chapter 15

It was not by vile loitering in ease That Greece obtained the brighter palm of art, That soft yet ardent Athens learnt to please, To keen the wit, and to sublime the heart, In all supreme! complete in every part! It was not thence majestic Rome arose, And o'er the nations shook her conquering dart: For sluggard's brow the laurel never grows; Renown is not the child of indolent repose. * * * * * Toil, and be glad! let Industry inspire Into your quickened limbs her buoyant breath! Who does not act is dead; absorpt entire In miry sloth, no pride, no joy he hath: O leaden-hearted men to be in love with death! _The Castle of Indolence, Canto II_. J. THOMSON.

My nature is subdued To what it works in, like the dyer's hand. _Sonnet CXI_. SHAKESPEARE.

Mechanic slaves With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers. _Antony and Cleopatra, Act v. Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.

How many a rustic Milton has passed by, Stifling the speechless longings of his heart, In unremitting drudgery and care! How many a vulgar Cato has compelled His energies, no longer tameless then, To mould a pin, or fabricate a nail! _Queen Mab, Pt. V_. P.B. SHELLEY.

If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work. _King Henry, Pt. I. Act i. Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.

MACDUFF. I know this is a joyful trouble to you, But yet, 'tis one.

MACBETH. The labor we delight in physics pain. _Macbeth. Act ii. Sc. 3_. SHAKESPEARE.

Cheered with the view, man went to till the ground From, whence he rose; sentenced indeed to toil, As to a punishment, yet (even in wrath, So merciful is heaven) this toil became The solace of his woes, the sweet employ Of many a livelong hour, and surest guard Against disease and death. _Death_. B. PORTEUS.

Like a lackey, from the rise to set, Sweats in the eye of Phoebus, and all night Sleeps in Elysium; next day after dawn Doth rise and help Hyperion to his horse, And follows so the ever-running year With profitable labor to his grave. And, but for ceremony, such a wretch, Winding up days with toil and nights with sleep, Hath the forehand and vantage of a king. _King Henry V., Act iv. Sc_. 1. SHAKESPEARE.

When Adam dolve, and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman? [A] J. BALL.

[Footnote A: Lines used by John Ball, to encourage the rebels in Wat Tyler's rebellion. Hume's _History of England_, Vol. i.]

Joy to the Toiler!--him that tills The fields with Plenty crowned; Him with the woodman's axe that thrills The wilderness profound. _Songs of the Toiler_. B. HATHAWAY.

LAW.

In the corrupted currents of this world Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice, And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself Buys out the law: but 'tis not so above; There is no shuffling, there the action lies In his true nature; and we ourselves compelled, Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults, To give in evidence. _Hamlet, Act iii. Sc. 3_. SHAKESPEARE.

Press not a falling man too far! 'tis virtue: His faults lie open to the laws; let them, Not you, correct him. _Henry VIII., Act iii. Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.

Still you keep o' the windy side of the law. _Twelfth Night, Act iii. Sc. 4_. SHAKESPEARE.

Between two hawks, which flies the higher pitch, Between two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth, Between two horses, which doth bear him best. Between two girls, which hath the merriest eye, I have, perhaps, some shallow spirit of judgment; But in these nice sharp quillets of the law, Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw. _King Henry VI., Pt. I. Act ii. Sc_. 4. SHAKESPEARE.

Mastering the lawless science of our law, That codeless myriad of precedent, That wilderness of single instances. _Aylmer's Field_. A. TENNYSON.

The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, And wretches hang, that jurymen may dine. _Rape of the Lock, Canto III_. A. POPE.

In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt But, being seasoned with a gracious voice, Obscures the show of evil? _Merchant of Venice, Act iii. Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.

So wise, so grave, of so perplexed a tongue And loud withal, that could not wag, nor scarce Lie still, without a fee. _Valpone_. B. JONSON.

While lawyers have more sober sense Than t' argue at their own expense, But make their best advantages Of others' quarrels, like the Swiss. _Hudibras_. BUTLER.

All, all look up with reverential awe, At crimes that 'scape, or triumph o'er the law. _Epilogue to Satire, Dialogue I_. A. POPE.

Once (says an Author; where, I need not say) Two Trav'lers found an Oyster in their way: Both fierce, both hungry; the dispute grew strong, While Scale in hand Dame Justice passed along. Before her each with clamor pleads the Laws. Explained the matter, and would win the cause, Dame Justice weighing long the doubtful Right, Takes, opens, swallows it, before their sight. The cause of strife removed so rarely well, "There take" (says Justice), "take ye each a shell. We thrive at Westminster on Fools like you: 'Twas a fat oyster--live in peace--Adieu." _Verbatim from Boileau_. A. POPE. 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. _Measure for Measure, Act ii. Sc. 1_. SHAKESPEARE.

No man e'er felt the halter draw, With good opinion of the law. _McFingal, Canto III_. J. TRUMBULL.

Who to himself is law, no law doth need, Offends no law, and is a king indeed. _Bussy D'Ambois, Act ii. Sc 1_. G. CHAPMAN.

LEARNING.

A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again. _Essay on Criticism, Pt. II_. A. POPE.

When night hath set her silver lamp on high, Then is the time for study. _Festus, Sc. A Village Feast_. P.J. BAILEY.

BIRON.--What is the end of Study? let me know. KING.--Why, that to know, which else we should not know. BIRON.--Things hid and barred, you mean, from common sense? KING.--Ay, that is study's godlike recompense. _Love's Labor's Lost, Act i. Sc. 1_. SHAKESPEARE.

No profit grows where is no pleasure ta'en; In brief, sir, study what you most affect. _Taming of the Shrew, Act i. Sc. 1_. SHAKESPEARE.

Some, for renown, on scraps of learning dote, And think they grow immortal as they quote. _Love of Fame, Satire I_. DR. E. YOUNG.

With just enough of learning to misquote. _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_. LORD BYRON.

Whence is thy learning? Hath thy toil O'er books consumed the midnight oil? _Fables: The Shepherd and the Philosopher_. J. GAY.

And thou art worthy; full of power; As gentle; liberal-minded, great, Consistent; wearing all that weight Of learning lightly like a flower. _In Memoriam: Conclusion_. A. TENNYSON.

Small have continual plodders ever won, Save base authority from others' books. These earthly godfathers of heaven's lights, That give a name to every fixed star, Have no more profit of their shining nights Than those that walk, and wot not what they are. _Love's Labor's Lost, Act i. Sc. 1_. SHAKESPEARE.

Love seldom haunts the breast where learning lies, And Venus sets ere Mercury can rise. _The Wife of Bath: Her Prologue._ A. POPE.

Here the heart May give a useful lesson to the head, And learning wiser grow without his books. _The Task, Bk. VI. Winter Walk at Noon_. W. COWPER.

Learning by study must be won; 'Twas ne'er entailed from son to son. _The Pack Horse and Carrier_. J. GAY.

Much learning shows how little mortals know; Much wealth, how little worldlings can enjoy. _Night Thoughts, Night VI_. DR. E. YOUNG.

Were man to live coeval with the sun. The patriarch-pupil would be learning still. _Night Thoughts, Night VII_. DR. E. YOUNG.

LETTERS.

Kind messages, that pass from land to land; Kind letters, that betray the heart's deep history, In which we feel the pressure of a hand,-- One touch of fire,--and all the rest is mystery! _The Seaside and the Fireside: Dedication_. H.W. LONGFELLOW.

Every day brings a ship, Every ship brings a word: Well for those who have no fear, Looking seaward well assured That the word the vessel brings Is the word they wish to hear. _Letters_. R.W. EMERSON.

And oft the pangs of absence to remove By letters, soft interpreters of love. _Henry and Emma_. M. PRIOR.

Here are a few of the unpleasant'st words That ever blotted paper! _Merchant of Venice, Act iii. Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.

I will touch My mouth unto the leaves, caressingly; And so wilt thou. Thus from these lips of mine My message will go kissingly to thine. With more than Fancy's load of luxury, And prove a true love-letter. _Sonnet (With a Letter)_. J.G. SAXE.

Jove and my stars be praised! Here is yet a postscript. _Twelfth Night, Act ii. Sc_. 5. SHAKESPEARE.

Go, little letter, apace, apace, Fly; Fly to the light in the valley below-- Tell my wish to her dewy blue eye. _The Letter_. A. TENNYSON.

LIFE.

Let observation, with extensive view, Survey mankind from China to Peru; Remark each anxious toil, each eager strife, And watch the busy scenes of crowded life. _The Vanity of Human Wishes_. DR. S. JOHNSON.

It matters not how long we live, but how. _Festus, Sc. Wood and Water_. P.J. BAILEY.

Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou liv'st Live well; how long or short permit to heaven. _Paradise Lost, Bk, XI_. MILTON.

All is concentred in a life intense, Where not a beam, nor air, nor leaf is lost, But hath a part of being. _Childe Harold, Canto III_. LORD BYRON.

Life for delays and doubts no time does give, None ever yet made haste enough to live. _Martial, Liber II_. A. COWLEY.

Learn to live well, that thou may'st die so too; To live and die is all we have to do. _Of Prudence_. SIR J. DENHAM.

"Live, while you live," the epicure would say, "And seize the pleasures of the present day;" "Live while you live," the sacred preacher cries, "And give to God each moment as it flies." "Lord, in my views let both united be; I live in _pleasure_, when I live to _Thee_." _"Dum vivimus vivamus." (Motto of his Family Arms.)_ P. DODDRIDGE.

A man's ingress into the world is naked and bare, His progress through the world is trouble and care; And lastly, his egress out of the world, is nobody knows where. If we do well here, we shall do well there; I can tell you no more if I preach a whole year. _Eccentricities, Vol. I_. J. EDWIN.

A little rule, a little sway, A sunbeam in a winter's day, Is all the proud and mighty have Between the cradle and the grave. _Grongar Hill_. J. DYER.

So may'st thou live, till like ripe fruit thou drop Into thy mother's lap _Paradise Lost, Bk. XI_. MILTON.

Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife! To all the sensual world proclaim, One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name. _Old Mortality: Chapter Head_. SIR W. SCOTT.

Let us (since life can little more supply Than just to look about us, and to die) Expatiate free o'er all this scene of man; A mighty maze! but not without a plan. _Essay on Man, Epistle I_. A. POPE.

The world's a theatre, the earth a stage Which God and nature do with actors fill. _Apology for Actors_. T. HEYWOOD.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life is but a walking shadow; a poor player. That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. _Macbeth, Act v. Sc. 5_ SHAKESPEARE.

The web of our life is of a mingled Yarn, good and ill together. _All's Well that Ends Well, Act iv. Sc. 3_. SHAKESPEARE.

And what's a life?--a weary pilgrimage, Whose glory in one day doth fill the stage With childhood, manhood, and decrepit age. _What is Life_? P. QUARLES.

An elegant sufficiency, content, Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books, Ease and alternate labor, useful life, Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven! _The Seasons: Spring_. J. THOMSON.

On life's vast ocean diversely we sail, Reason the card, but passion is the gale. _Essay on Man, Epistle II_. A. POPE.

I cannot tell what you and other men Think of this life; but, for my single self, I had as lief not be as live to be In awe of such a thing as I myself. _Julius Cæsar, Act i. Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.

Why, what should be the fear? I do not set my life at a pin's fee. _Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 4_. SHAKESPEARE.

"Life is not lost," said she, "for which is bought Endlesse renowne." _Faërie Queene, Bk. III. Canto XI_. E. SPENSER.

Our life is scarce the twinkle of a star In God's eternal day. _Autumnal Vespers_. B. TAYLOR.

There taught us how to live; and (oh, too high The price for knowledge!) taught us how to die. _On the Death of Addison_. T. TICKELL.

Our life contains a thousand springs, And dies if one be gone. Strange! that a harp of thousand strings Should keep in tune so long. _Hymns and Spiritual Songs_. DR. I. WATTS.

LOSS.

For it so falls out That what we have we prize not to the worth, Whiles we enjoy it, but being lacked and lost, Why, then we rack the value, then we find The virtue that possession would not show us Whiles it was ours. _Much Ado about Nothing, Act iv. Sc. 1_. SHAKESPEARE.

But over all things brooding slept The quiet sense of something lost. _In Memoriam, LXXVIII_. A. TENNYSON.

Praising what is lost Makes the remembrance dear. _All's Well that Ends Well, Act v. Sc_. 3. SHAKESPEARE.

Though lost to sight, to memory dear Thou ever wilt remain; One only hope my heart can cheer, The hope to meet again. _Song: Though Lost to Sight_. G. LINLEY.

You take my house when you do take the prop That doth sustain my house; you take my life When you do take the means whereby I live. _Merchant of Venice, Act iv. Sc_. 1. SHAKESPEARE.

The loss of wealth is loss of dirt, As sages in all times assert; The happy man's without a shirt. _Be Merry, Friends_. J. HEYWOOD.

For 'tis a truth well known to most, That whatsoever thing is lost. We seek it, ere it come to light, In every cranny but the right. _The Retired Cat_. W. COWPER.

Wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss. But cheerly seek how to redress their harms. _King Henry VI., Pt. III. Act v. Sc_. 4. SHAKESPEARE.

LOVE.

What thing is love?--for (well I wot) love is a thing It is a prick, it is a sting, It is a pretty, pretty thing; It is a fire, it is a coal, Whose flame creeps in at every hole! _The Hunting of Cupid_. G. PEELE.

O, love, love, love! Love is like a dizziness; It winna let a poor body Gang about his biziness! _Love is Like a Dizziness_. J. HOGG.

With a smile that glowed Celestial rosy red; love's proper hue. _Paradise Lost, Bk. VIII_. MILTON.

Love, like death, Levels all ranks, and lays the shepherd's crook Beside the sceptre. _Lady of Lyons_. E. BULWER-LYTTON.

Didst thou but know the inly touch of love, Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow, As seek to quench the fire of love with words. _Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act ii. Sc_. 7. SHAKESPEARE.

There's a bliss beyond all that the minstrel has told, When two, that are linked in one heavenly tie. With heart never changing, and brow never cold. Love on through all ills, and love on till they die! One hour of a passion so sacred is worth Whole ages of heartless and wandering bliss; And O, if there be an Elysium on earth, It is this, it is this. _Lalla Rookh: Light of the Harem_. T. MOORE.

Love is the tyrant of the heart; it darkens Reason, confounds discretion; deaf to counsel It runs a headlong course to desperate madness. _The Lover's Melancholy, Act iii. Sc_. 3. J. FORD.

Ask not of me. Love, what is love? Ask what is good of God above; Ask of the great sun what is light; Ask what is darkness of the night; Ask sin of what may be forgiven; Ask what is happiness of heaven; Ask what is folly of the crowd; Ask what is fashion of the shroud; Ask what is sweetness of thy kiss; Ask of thyself what beauty is. _Festus, Sc. Party and Entertainment_. P.J. BAILEY.

All love is sweet, Given or returned. Common as light is love, And its familiar voice wearies not ever. _Prometheus Unbound, Act ii. Sc_. 5. P.B. SHELLEY.

Love is a celestial harmony Of likely hearts. _Hymn in Honor of Beauty_. E. SPENSER.

There's beggary in the love that can be reckoned. _Antony and Cleopatra, Act i. Sc_. 1. SHAKESPEARE.

Like Dian's kiss, unasked, unsought, Love gives itself, but is not bought. _Endymion_. H.W. LONGFELLOW.

It is not virtue, wisdom, valor, wit, Strength, comeliness of shape, or amplest merit That woman's love can win, or long inherit. But what it is, hard is to say, Harder to hit. _Samson Agonistes_. MILTON.

Love sought is good, but given unsought is better. _Twelfth Night, Act ii. Sc_. 5. SHAKESPEARE.

Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul. _Rape of the Lock, Canto V_. A. POPE.

Why did she love him? Curious fool!--be still-- Is human love the growth of human will? _Lara, Canto II_. LORD BYRON.

I know not why I love this youth; and I have heard you say, Love's reason's without reason. _Cymbeline, Act iv. Sc_. 2. SHAKESPEARE.

Love goes toward love as school-boys from their books, But love from love, toward school with heavy looks. _Romeo and Juliet, Act ii. Sc_. 2. SHAKESPEARE.

Divine is Love and scorneth worldly pelf, And can be bought with nothing but with self. _Love the Only Price of Love_. SIR W. RALEIGH.

Love like a shadow flies when substance love pursues; Pursuing that that flies, and flying what pursues. _Merry Wives of Windsor, Act ii. Sc_. 2. SHAKESPEARE.

Love, whose month is ever May, Spied a blossom passing fair Playing in the wanton air: Through the velvet leaves the wind, All unseen can passage find; That the lover, sick to death. Wish himself the heaven's breath. _Love's Labor's Lost, Act iv. Sc_. 3. SHAKESPEARE.

Affection is a coal that must be cooled; Else, suffered, it will set the heart on fire. _Venus and Adonis_. SHAKESPEARE.

In all amours a lover burns. With frowns, as well as smiles, by turns; And hearts have been as oft with sullen, As charming looks, surprised and stolen. _Hudibras, Pt. III. Canto I_. S. BUTLER.

Mysterious love, uncertain treasure, Hast thou more of pain or pleasure!

* * * * *

Endless torments dwell about thee: Yet who would live, and live without thee! _Rosamond, Act iii. Sc_. 2. J. ADDISON.

If there's delight in love, 'tis when I see The heart, which others bleed-for, bleed for me. _Way of the World, Act iii Sc_. 3. W. CONGREVE.

Give, you gods, Give to your boy, your Cæsar, The rattle of a globe to play withal, This gewgaw world, and put him cheaply off; I'll not be pleased with less than Cleopatra. _All for Love, Act ii. Sc_. 1. J. DRYDEN.

Much ado there was, God wot; He woold love, and she woold not, She sayd, "Never man was trewe;" He sayes, "None was false to you." _Phillida and Corydon_. N. BRETON.

Forty thousand brothers Could not, with all their quantity of love, Make up my sum. _Hamlet, Act v. Sc_. 1. SHAKESPEARE.

Love, then, hath every bliss in store; 'Tis friendship, and 'tis something more. Each other every wish they give; Not to know love is not to live. _Plutus, Cupid, and Time_. J. GAY.

LOVE'S ARTS.

Sweet to entrance The raptured soul by intermingling glance. _Psyche_. MRS. M. TIGHE.

Our souls sit close and silently within, And their own web from their own entrails spin; And when eyes meet far off, our sense is such, That, spider-like, we feel the tenderest touch. _Marriage à la Mode, Act ii. Sc_. 1. J. DRYDEN.

Of all the paths [that] lead to a woman's love Pity's the straightest. _Knight of Malta, Act i. Sc_. 1. BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER.

So mourned the dame of Ephesus her love; And thus the soldier, armed with resolution, Told his soft tale, and was a thriving wooer. _Shakespeare's King Richard III. (Altered), Act ii. Sc. 1_. C. CIBBER.

The Devil hath not, in all his quiver's choice, An arrow for the heart like a sweet voice. _Don Juan, Canto XV_. LORD BYRON.

If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully; Or, if thou think'st I am too quickly won, I'll frown, and be perverse, and say thee nay, So thou wilt woo; but, else, not for the world. _Romeo and Juliet, Act v. Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.

Read it, sweet maid, though it be done but slightly: Who can show all his love doth love but lightly. _Sonnet_. S. DANIEL.

Love first invented verse, and formed the rhyme, The motion measured, harmonized the chime. _Cymon and Iphigenia_. J. DRYDEN.

And you must love him, ere to you He will seem worthy of your love. _A Poet's Epitaph_. W. WORDSWORTH.

None without hope e'er loved the brightest fair, But love can hope where reason would despair. _Epigram_. GEORGE, LORD LYTTELTON.

LOVE'S BLINDNESS.

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind. _Midsummer Night's Dream, Act i. Sc. 1_. SHAKESPEARE.

None ever loved but at first sight they loved. _Blind Beggar of Alexandria_. G. CHAPMAN.

We only love where fate ordains we should, And, blindly fond, oft slight superior merit. _Fall of Saguntum_. PH. FROWDE.

But love is blind, and lovers cannot see The pretty follies that themselves commit. _Merchant of Venice, Act ii. Sc. 6_. SHAKESPEARE.

LOVE'S DANGERS.

And when once the young heart of a maiden is stolen, The maiden herself will steal after it soon. _Ill Omens_. T. MOORE.

And whispering, "I will ne'er consent,"--consented. _Don Juan, Canto I_. LORD BYRON.

The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweets. _Beggar's Opera, Act ii. Sc. 2_. J. GAY.

There lives within the very flame of love A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it. _Hamlet, Act iv. Sc. 7_. SHAKESPEARE.

My only books Were woman's looks, And folly's all they've taught me. _The time I've lost in wooing_. T. MOORE.

Then fly betimes, for only they Conquer Love that run away. _Conquest by Flight_. T. CAREW.

LOVE'S CAUTIONS.

The rose that all are praising Is not the rose for me; Too many eyes are gazing Upon the costly tree; But there's a rose in yonder glen That shuns the gaze of other men, For me its blossom raising,-- O, that's the rose for me. _The rose that all are praising_. T.H. BAYLY.

But the fruit that can fall without shaking, Indeed is too mellow for me. _The Answer_. LADY MARY W. MONTAGU.

Love in a hut, with water and a crust, Is--Lord forgive us!--cinders, ashes, dust. _Lamia_. J. KEATS.

The cold in clime are cold in blood, Their love can scarce deserve the name. _The Giaour_. LORD BYRON.

Love in your hearts as idly burns As fire in antique Roman urns. _Hudibras, Pt. II. Canto I_. S. BUTLER.

LOVE'S DELIGHT.

All the heart was full of feeling: love had ripened into speech, Like the sap that turns to nectar, in the velvet of the peach. _Adonais_. W.W. HARNEY.

O'er her warm cheek, and rising bosom, move The bloom of young Desire and purple light of Love. _Progress of Poesy_, L 3. T. GRAY.

Still amorous, and fond, and billing. Like Philip and Mary on a shilling. _Hudibras, Pt. III. Canto I_. S. BUTLER.

Then awake!--the heavens look bright, my dear! 'Tis never too late for delight, my dear! And the best of all ways To lengthen our days, Is to steal a few hours from the night, my dear! _Young May Moon_. T. MOORE.

Lovers' hours are long, though seeming short. _Venus and Adonis_. SHAKESPEARE.