The Task |
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Page 37
... things , and intend The least of our concerns ( since from the least The greatest oft originate ) ; could chance Find place in his dominion , or dispose One lawless particle to thwart his plan ; Then God might be surprised , and ...
... things , and intend The least of our concerns ( since from the least The greatest oft originate ) ; could chance Find place in his dominion , or dispose One lawless particle to thwart his plan ; Then God might be surprised , and ...
Page 39
... things , as smooth And tender as a girl , all essenced o'er With odours , and as profligate as sweet ; Who sell their laurel for a myrtle wreath , And love when they should fight ; when such as these Presume to lay their hand upon the ...
... things , as smooth And tender as a girl , all essenced o'er With odours , and as profligate as sweet ; Who sell their laurel for a myrtle wreath , And love when they should fight ; when such as these Presume to lay their hand upon the ...
Page 42
... me well beware With what intent I touch that holy thing ) — The pulpit ( when the satirist has at last , Strutting and vapouring in an empty school , Spent all his force , and made no proselyte ) 42 BOOK 11 . THE TASK .
... me well beware With what intent I touch that holy thing ) — The pulpit ( when the satirist has at last , Strutting and vapouring in an empty school , Spent all his force , and made no proselyte ) 42 BOOK 11 . THE TASK .
Page 45
... things that mount the rostrum with a skip , And then skip down again ; pronounce a text ; Cry - hem ; and reading what they never wrote , Just fifteen minutes , huddle up their work , And with a well bred whisper close the scene ; In ...
... things that mount the rostrum with a skip , And then skip down again ; pronounce a text ; Cry - hem ; and reading what they never wrote , Just fifteen minutes , huddle up their work , And with a well bred whisper close the scene ; In ...
Page 46
... things divine ; and all besides , Though learn'd with labour , and though much admired By curious eyes and judgments ill inform'd , To me is odious as the nasal twang Heard at conventicle , where worthy men , Misled by custom , strain ...
... things divine ; and all besides , Though learn'd with labour , and though much admired By curious eyes and judgments ill inform'd , To me is odious as the nasal twang Heard at conventicle , where worthy men , Misled by custom , strain ...
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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...