The Essays of Elia |
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Page 3
... thee , in the hey - day of present prosperity , with their important faces , as it were , in- sulting thee , their poor neighbour out of business— to the idle and merely contemplative , to such as - -- me , old house ! there is a charm ...
... thee , in the hey - day of present prosperity , with their important faces , as it were , in- sulting thee , their poor neighbour out of business— to the idle and merely contemplative , to such as - -- me , old house ! there is a charm ...
Page 11
... thee , Henry Man , the wit , the polished man of letters , the author , of the South Sea House ? who never enteredst thy office in a morning , or quit- tedst it in mid - day- ( what didst thou in an office ? ) without some quirk that ...
... thee , Henry Man , the wit , the polished man of letters , the author , of the South Sea House ? who never enteredst thy office in a morning , or quit- tedst it in mid - day- ( what didst thou in an office ? ) without some quirk that ...
Page 13
... thee all this while peradventure the very names , which I have summoned up before thee , are fantastic insubstantial like Henry Pimpernel , and old John Naps of Greece : - Be satisfied that something answering to them has had a being ...
... thee all this while peradventure the very names , which I have summoned up before thee , are fantastic insubstantial like Henry Pimpernel , and old John Naps of Greece : - Be satisfied that something answering to them has had a being ...
Page 14
... thee with some half - forgotten humours of some old clerks de- funct , in an old house of business , long since gone . to decay , doubtless you have already set me down in your mind as one of the self - same college- a votary of the ...
... thee with some half - forgotten humours of some old clerks de- funct , in an old house of business , long since gone . to decay , doubtless you have already set me down in your mind as one of the self - same college- a votary of the ...
Page 22
... thee , he passes on with no recognition - -- or , being stopped , starts like a thing surprised at that moment , reader , he is on Mount Tabor- or Parnassus or co - sphered with Plato - or , with Harrington , framing " immortal ...
... thee , he passes on with no recognition - -- or , being stopped , starts like a thing surprised at that moment , reader , he is on Mount Tabor- or Parnassus or co - sphered with Plato - or , with Harrington , framing " immortal ...
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beauty Benchers better boys Bridget called cards character CHARLES LAMB choly CHRIST'S HOSPITAL comedy common confess cousin cribbage dear dreams Elia Essays ESSAYS OF ELIA face fancy favourite fear feel female fortune gardens gentle gentleman give Gladmans grace hand hath heart Hertfordshire honour humour imagination impertinent Inner Temple John Kemble kind knew lady Lamb least less lived look Malvolio manner married matter melan mind moral Munden nature never night occasions palate passed passion person play pleasant pleasure poor present pretty quadrille Quaker reader reason Religio Medici remember scene seemed seen sense sentiment Shacklewell sight Sir Thomas Browne Sizar smile solemn sort sound spirit stand story supposed sure sweet taste tender theatre thee thing thou thought tion truth turn walks whist young younkers youth
Popular passages
Page 164 - What wondrous life is this I lead! Ripe apples drop about my head; The luscious clusters of the vine Upon my mouth do crush their wine; The nectarine, and curious peach, Into my hands themselves do reach; Stumbling on melons, as I pass, Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass.
Page 37 - I behold like a Spanish great galleon, and an English man-of-war ; Master Jonson (like the former) was built far higher in learning ; solid, but slow in his performances. Shakespeare with the English man-ofwar, lesser in bulk, but lighter in sailing, could turn with all tides, tack about and take advantage of all winds, by the quickness of his wit and invention.
Page 247 - ... this innocent grow up to the grossness and indocility which too often accompany maturer swinehood ? Ten to one he would have proved a glutton, a sloven, an obstinate, disagreeable animal — wallowing in all manner of filthy conversation — from these sins he is happily snatched away — " Ere sin could blight, or sorrow fade, Death came with timely care...
Page 165 - twas beyond a mortal's share To wander solitary there : Two paradises 'twere in one, To live in paradise alone. How well the skilful gardener drew Of flowers and herbs this dial new; Where, from above, the milder sun Does through a fragrant zodiac run, And, as it works, the industrious bee Computes its time as well as we ! How could such sweet and wholesome hours Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers...
Page 204 - ... life and death; and how I bore his death as I thought pretty well at first, but afterwards it haunted and haunted me; and though I did not cry or take it to heart as some do, and as I think he would have done if I had died, yet I missed him all day long, and knew not till then how much I had loved him.
Page 243 - The ears of Ho-ti tingled with horror. He cursed his son, and he cursed himself that ever he should beget a son that should eat burnt pig. Bo-bo, whose scent was wonderfully sharpened since morning, soon raked out another pig, and fairly rending it asunder, thrust the lesser half by main force into the fists of Ho-ti, still shouting out, " Eat, eat, eat the burnt pig, father, only taste — O lord ! " with such-like barbarous ejaculations, cramming all the while as if he would choke.
Page 250 - ... and dulcifying a substance, naturally so mild and dulcet as the flesh of young pigs. It looks like refining a violet. Yet we should be cautious, while we condemn the inhumanity, how we censure the wisdom of the practice.
Page 132 - Like one, that on a lonesome road Doth walk in fear and dread, And having once turned round walks on, And turns no more his head ; Because he knows, a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread.
Page 250 - I was to part with her pretty present — and the odour of that spicy cake came back upon my recollection, and the pleasure and the curiosity I had taken in seeing her make it, and her joy when she sent it to the oven, and how disappointed she would feel that I had never had a bit of it in my mouth at last — and I blamed my impertinent spirit of alms-giving, and out-of-place hypocrisy of goodness, and above all I wished never to see the face again of that insidious, good-for-nothing, old gray impostor....
Page 38 - ... the Augustan Majesty and the poorest obolary Jew that paid it tribute-pittance at Jerusalem ! — His exactions, too, have such a cheerful, voluntary air ! So far removed from your sour parochial or state-gatherers, — those ink-horn varlets, who carry their want of welcome in their faces ! He cometh to you with a smile, and troubleth you with no receipt ; confining himself to no set season.