Fables from Boccaccio and Chaucer |
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Common terms and phrases
appear'd Arcite arm'd arms Athens behold betwixt bless'd blood bore breast breath bride call'd cast Chanticleer CHISWICK coursers Creon cried crown'd Cymon dame death decree delight design'd desire dream e'en Emily eyes fair falchions fame fate fear fear'd feast fight fire fix'd flames force fortune gain'd grace green grief ground grove hand haste heard heart Heaven honour join'd kind king knew knight ladies laurel light lived look'd lord lovers Lycurgus Lysimachus maid Mars mind mix'd mortal never o'er offence oppress'd pain Palamon Pasimond pass'd Philostratus Pirithous plain pleased pointed lance prescience prey prince prison proud pursue queen quire rest Reynard Rhodian royal secret seem'd side sight slain sorrow soul steed stood sweet sword Tancred tears Theban Thebes thee Theseus thine thou thought took troop turn'd Twas vows wakeful eyes wife WIFE OF BATH wind wood youth
Popular passages
Page 46 - For thee, sweet month, the groves green liveries wear, If not the first, the fairest of the year : For thee the Graces lead the dancing hours, And Nature's ready pencil paints the flowers : When, thy short reign is past, the feverish sun The sultry tropic fears, and moves more slowly on. So may thy tender blossoms fear no blight, Nor goats with venom'd teeth thy tendrils bite, As thou shalt guide my wandering feet to find The fragrant greens I seek, my brows to bind.
Page 197 - If any where by chance I might espy The rural poet of the melody : For still methought she sung not far away ; At last I found her on a laurel spray. Close by my side she sat, and fair in sight, Full in a line, against her opposite ; Where stood with eglantine the laurel twined ; And both their native sweets were well conjoin
Page 196 - With grass, and some was sow'd with rising grain. That (now the dew with spangles deck'd the ground) A sweeter spot of earth was never found. I look'd and look'd, and still with new delight ; Such joy my soul, such pleasures fill'd my sight ; And the fresh eglantine exhaled a breath, Whose odours were of power to raise from death.
Page 265 - His preaching much, but more his practice wrought (A living sermon of the truths he taught;) For this by rules severe his life he squared ; That all might see the doctrine which they heard : For priests, he said, are patterns for the rest.
Page 110 - So rivers, rapid once, now naked lie, Forsaken of their springs; and leave their channels dry. So man, at first a drop, dilates with heat, Then, form'd, the little heart begins to beat; Secret he feeds, unknowing in the cell; At length, for hatching ripe, he breaks the shell, And struggles into breath, and cries for aid; Then, helpless, in his mother's lap is laid...
Page 133 - The difference that distinguish'd man from man : He claim'd no title from descent of blood, But that which made him noble, made him good: Warm'd with more particles of heavenly flame, He wing'd his upward flight, and soar'd to fame ; The rest remain'd below, a tribe without a name. ' This law, though custom now diverts the course, As nature's institute, is yet in force, Uncancell'd, though disused ; and he whose mind Is virtuous, is alone of noble kind ; Though poor in fortune, of celestial race...
Page 220 - The deep recesses of the grove he gain'd ; Where, in a plain defended by the wood, Crept through the matted grass a crystal flood, By which an alabaster fountain stood : And on the margin of the fount was laid (Attended by her slaves) a sleeping maid.
Page 110 - Take what he gives, since to rebel is vain ; The bad grows better, which we well sustain ; And could we choose the time, and choose aright, 'Tis best to die, our honour at the height.
Page 263 - He bore his great commission in his look, [spoke. But sweetly temper'd awe, and soften'd all he He preach'd the joys of heaven, and pains of hell, And warn'd the sinner with becoming zeal; But on eternal mercy loved to dwell. He taught the gospel rather than the law, And forced himself to drive, but loved to draw : For fear but freezes minds ; but love, like heat, Exhales the soul sublime to seek her native seat.
Page 189 - Friday, the fatal day, when next it came, Her soul forethought the fiend would change his game, And her pursue, or Theodore be slain, And two ghosts join their packs to hunt her o'er the plain.