The Task |
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Page 10
... , that useful toy ! Fearless of humid air and gathering rains , Forth steps the man - an emblem of myself ! More delicate his timorous mate retires . When winter soaks the fields , and female feet , 10 BOOK I. THE TASK .
... , that useful toy ! Fearless of humid air and gathering rains , Forth steps the man - an emblem of myself ! More delicate his timorous mate retires . When winter soaks the fields , and female feet , 10 BOOK I. THE TASK .
Page 11
William Cowper. When winter soaks the fields , and female feet , Too weak to struggle with tenacious clay , Or ford the rivulets , are best at home , The task of new discoveries falls on me . At such a season , and with such a charge ...
William Cowper. When winter soaks the fields , and female feet , Too weak to struggle with tenacious clay , Or ford the rivulets , are best at home , The task of new discoveries falls on me . At such a season , and with such a charge ...
Page 13
... field ; but , scatter'd by degrees , Each to his choice , soon whiten all the land . There from the sunburnt hayfield homeward creeps The loaded wain ; while , lighten'd of its charge , The wain that meets it passes swiftly by ; The ...
... field ; but , scatter'd by degrees , Each to his choice , soon whiten all the land . There from the sunburnt hayfield homeward creeps The loaded wain ; while , lighten'd of its charge , The wain that meets it passes swiftly by ; The ...
Page 17
... field For the unscented fictions of the loom ; Who , satisfied with only pencil'd scenes , Prefer to the performance of a God The inferior wonders of an artist's hand ! Lovely indeed the mimic works of Art ; But Nature's works far ...
... field For the unscented fictions of the loom ; Who , satisfied with only pencil'd scenes , Prefer to the performance of a God The inferior wonders of an artist's hand ! Lovely indeed the mimic works of Art ; But Nature's works far ...
Page 18
... by intense desire : Fair fields appear below , such as he left Far distant , such as he would die to find- He seeks them headlong , and is seen no more . The spleen is seldom felt where Flora reigns ; The 18 BOOK I. THE TASK .
... by intense desire : Fair fields appear below , such as he left Far distant , such as he would die to find- He seeks them headlong , and is seen no more . The spleen is seldom felt where Flora reigns ; The 18 BOOK I. THE TASK .
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Common terms and phrases
beauty beneath betimes boast breath call'd cause cerning charge CHARLES ROLLS charms clime delights design'd distant divine dream e'en Earth ease fair fame fancy feed feel field of glory flower folly form'd fountain of eternal frown fruits give glory grace grave groves hand happy heart Heaven honour human JOHN SHARPE king labour learn'd less live lost lyre Mighty winds mind mischief nature Nature's Nebaioth never o'er once palmistry pass'd peace perhaps pleasures plebeian praise prize proud prove rapture RICHARD WESTALL riddance rude rural sacred sake scene schools scorn seek seem'd shade shine slaves sleep sloth smile SOFA song soon soul sound spare stroke sweet task taste thee theme thine thou art toil touch'd trembling truth twas virtue WILLIAM COWPER wind winter wisdom wise wonder worth YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY youth
Popular passages
Page 154 - Knowledge dwells In heads replete with thoughts of other men ; Wisdom in minds attentive to their own. Knowledge a rude unprofitable mass, The mere materials with which wisdom builds, Till smoothed, and squared, and fitted to its place, Does but encumber whom it seems to enrich.
Page 121 - The cheerful haunts of man ; to wield the axe And drive the wedge in yonder forest drear, From morn to eve his solitary task.
Page 135 - Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume, And we are weeds without it. All constraint, Except what wisdom lays on evil men, Is evil; hurts the faculties, impedes Their progress in the road of science; blinds The eyesight of Discovery; and begets, In those that suffer it, a sordid mind Bestial, a meagre intellect, unfit To be the tenant of man's noble form.
Page 157 - And of an humbler growth, the other tall, And throwing up into the darkest gloom Of neighbouring cypress or more sable yew Her silver globes, light as the foamy surf That the wind severs from the broken wave ; The lilac, various in array, now white, Now sanguine, and her beauteous head now set With purple spikes pyramidal, as if Studious of ornament, yet unresolved Which hue she most approved, she chose them all...
Page 65 - My panting side was charged, when I withdrew To seek a tranquil death in distant shades.
Page 144 - His to enjoy, With a propriety that none can feel But who, with filial confidence inspired, Can lift to Heaven an unpresumptuous eye, And smiling say —
Page 125 - Some seek diversion in the tented field, And make the sorrows of mankind their sport. But war's a game which, were their subjects wise, Kings would not play at.
Page 14 - Here the gray smooth trunks Of ash, or lime, or beech, distinctly shine Within the twilight of their distant shades ; There, lost behind a rising ground, the wood Seems sunk, and shorten'd to its topmost boughs. No tree in all the grove but has its charms, Though each its hue peculiar...
Page 144 - They lived unknown Till Persecution dragg'd them into fame, And chased them up to heaven. Their ashes flew — No marble tells us whither. With their names No bard embalms and sanctifies his song : And history, so warm on meaner themes, Is cold on this.
Page 92 - And having dropped the expected bag — pass on. He whistles as he goes, light-hearted wretch, Cold and yet cheerful : messenger of grief Perhaps to thousands, and of joy to some, To him indifferent whether grief or joy...