The Vicar of Wakefield: A Tale

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Edwin T. Scott, 1824 - 220 pages

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Page 45 - No flocks that range the valley free, To slaughter I condemn ; Taught by that Power that pities me, I learn to pity them : " But from the mountain's grassy side A guiltless feast I bring ; A scrip with herbs and fruits supply'd, And water from the spring. " Then, pilgrim, turn, thy cares forego ; All earth-born cares are wrong ; Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long.
Page 45 - Alas ! the joys that fortune brings Are trifling and decay; And those who prize the paltry things, More trifling still than they. " And what is friendship but a name, A charm that lulls to sleep; A shade that follows wealth or fame, But leaves the wretch to weep?
Page 96 - Good people all of every sort, Give ear unto my song, And if you find it wondrous short It cannot hold you long. In Islington there was a man, Of whom the world might say, That still a godly race he ran Whene'er he went to pray. A kind and gentle heart he had, 5 To comfort friends and foes; The naked every day he clad, When he put on his clothes.
Page 45 - For here forlorn and lost I tread With fainting steps and slow ; Where wilds, immeasurably spread, Seem length'ning as I go." " Forbear, my son," the hermit cries, ' ' To tempt the dangerous gloom ; For yonder faithless phantom flies To lure thee to thy doom. "Here to the houseless child of want My door is open still; And though my portion is but scant, I give it with good will.
Page 29 - Our little habitation was situated at the foot of a sloping hill, sheltered with a beautiful underwood behind, and a prattling river before ; on one side a meadow, on the other a green.
Page 22 - You are going, my boy," cried I, "to London on foot, in the manner Hooker, your great ancestor, travelled there before you. Take from me the same horse that was given him by the good Bishop Jewel...
Page 68 - A murrain take such trumpery ! The blockhead has been imposed upon, and should have known his company better." "There, my dear," cried I, "you are wrong; he should not have known them at all." "Marry, hang the idiot!" returned she, "to bring me such stuff; if I had them I would throw them in the fire." "There again you are wrong, my dear...
Page 130 - However, my skill in music could avail me nothing in a country where every peasant was a better musician than I ; but by this time I had acquired another talent which answered my purpose as well, and this was a skill in disputation. In all the foreign universities and convents there are, upon certain days, philosophical theses maintained against every adventitious disputant, for which, if the champion opposes with any dexterity, he can claim a gratuity in money, a dinner, and a bed for one night.
Page 46 - Could nought of purity display To emulate his mind. "The dew, the blossom on the tree, With charms inconstant shine: Their charms were his, but, woe to me Their constancy was mine.
Page 127 - ... with a tolerable voice : I now turned what was once my amusement into a present means of subsistence. I passed among the harmless peasants of Flanders, and among such of the French as were poor enough to be very merry ; for I ever found them sprightly in proportion to their wants. Whenever I approached a peasant's house towards nightfall, I played one of my most merry tunes, and that procured me not only a lodging, but subsistence for the next day.

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