The Task: And Other PoemsCarey and Hart, 1845 - 324 pages |
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Page 10
... pleasure . Change of scene sometimes expedient . A common de- scribed , and the character of crazy Kate introduced . Gipsies . The blessings of civilized life . That state most favourable to virtue . The South Sea islanders ...
... pleasure . Change of scene sometimes expedient . A common de- scribed , and the character of crazy Kate introduced . Gipsies . The blessings of civilized life . That state most favourable to virtue . The South Sea islanders ...
Page 15
... pleasure such as love , Confirm'd by long experience of thy worth And well - tried virtues , could alone inspire- Witness a joy that thou hast doubled long . Thou knowest my praise of nature most sincere , And that my raptures are not ...
... pleasure such as love , Confirm'd by long experience of thy worth And well - tried virtues , could alone inspire- Witness a joy that thou hast doubled long . Thou knowest my praise of nature most sincere , And that my raptures are not ...
Page 45
... pleasure in poetic pains , Which only poets know . The shifts and turns , The expedients and inventions multiform To which the mind resorts , in chase of terms , Though apt , yet coy , and difficult to win- To arrest the fleeting images ...
... pleasure in poetic pains , Which only poets know . The shifts and turns , The expedients and inventions multiform To which the mind resorts , in chase of terms , Though apt , yet coy , and difficult to win- To arrest the fleeting images ...
Page 48
... gold , And well prepared , by ignorance and sloth , By infidelity and love of world , To make God's work a sinecure ; a slave To his own pleasures and his patron's pride ; From such apostles , 0 ye mitred heads Preserve the 48 THE TASK .
... gold , And well prepared , by ignorance and sloth , By infidelity and love of world , To make God's work a sinecure ; a slave To his own pleasures and his patron's pride ; From such apostles , 0 ye mitred heads Preserve the 48 THE TASK .
Page 56
... pleasure , hopeless of success ; Waste youth in occupations only fit For second childhood , and devote old age To sports which only childhood could excuse . There they are happiest , who dissemble best Their weariness ; and they the ...
... pleasure , hopeless of success ; Waste youth in occupations only fit For second childhood , and devote old age To sports which only childhood could excuse . There they are happiest , who dissemble best Their weariness ; and they the ...
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Common terms and phrases
Æsop Aristaus beauty beneath betimes boast breath call'd cause charms Cyrene death Deist delight deluge design'd distant divine dream e'en earth ease fair fame fancy fear feed feel flowers folly form'd fruit give glory grace hand happy heart Heaven honest pleasures honour human John Gilpin King labour less liberty live lost lurcher lyre mind mounted best Nature Nature's Nebaioth never nymphs o'er once peace perhaps pleasure praise prize proud prove rest riddance rural scene scorn seek seem'd sensual world shade shine sight skies sleep sloth smile song soon soul sound spare stamp'd stream sweet sweet oblivion task taste thee theme thine thou art thou hast thought toil trembling truth Twas vale vex'd virtue walk waste WILLIAM COWPER wind winter wisdom wisely store wonder worth youth
Popular passages
Page 247 - Toll for the brave ! Brave Kempenfelt is gone ; His last sea-fight is fought; His work of glory done. It was not in the battle ; No tempest gave the shock; She sprang no fatal leak ; She ran upon no rock.
Page 221 - Then the progeny that springs From the forests of our land, Armed with thunder, clad with wings, Shall a wider world command. 'Regions Caesar never knew Thy posterity shall sway, Where his eagles never flew, None invincible as they.
Page 34 - I would not have a slave to till my ground, To carry me, to fan me while I sleep, And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth That sinews bought and sold have ever earn'd.
Page 46 - What ! will a man play tricks, will he indulge A silly fond conceit of his fair form And just proportion, fashionable mien And pretty face, in presence of his God ? Or will he seek to dazzle me with tropes, As with the diamond on his lily hand, And play his brilliant parts before my eyes, When I am hungry for the bread of life ? He mocks his Maker, prostitutes and shames His noble office, and, instead of truth, Displaying his own beauty, starves his flock. Therefore avaunt all attitude, and stare,...
Page 220 - Sage beneath the spreading oak Sat the Druid, hoary chief: Every burning word he spoke Full of rage, and full of grief. ' Princess ! if our aged eyes Weep upon thy matchless wrongs, 'Tis because resentment ties All the terrors of our tongues. ' Rome shall perish ! — write that word In the blood that she has spilt: Perish, hopeless and abhorr'd, Deep in ruin as in guilt.
Page 94 - Made vocal for the amusement of the rest ; The sprightly lyre, whose treasure of sweet sounds The touch from many a trembling chord shakes out ; And the clear voice symphonious, yet distinct, And in the charming strife triumphant still, Beguile the night, and set a keener edge On female industry ; the threaded steel Flies swiftly, and unfelt the task proceeds.
Page 20 - 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 64 - My panting side was charged, when I withdrew To seek a tranquil death in distant shades. There was I found by one who had Himself Been hurt by th
Page 34 - Slaves cannot breathe in England ; if their lungs Receive our air, that moment they are free, They touch our country, and their shackles fall.
Page 126 - Thou art the source and centre of all minds, Their only point of rest, eternal Word ! From thee departing they are lost, and rove At random without honour, hope, or peace. From thee is all that soothes the life of man, His high endeavour, and his glad success, His strength to suffer, and his will to serve.