Chapter 187 of 399 · 1228 words · ~6 min read

book iii

._ GRAVES: _The Epicure._

COLLEY CIBBER. 1671-1757.

So mourn'd the dame of Ephesus her love, And thus the soldier arm'd with resolution Told his soft tale, and was a thriving wooer.

_Richard III._ (_altered_). _Act ii. Sc. 1._

Now, by St. Paul, the work goes bravely on.

_Richard III._ (_altered_). _Act iii. Sc. 1._

The aspiring youth that fired the Ephesian dome Outlives in fame the pious fool that rais'd it.[296-1]

_Richard III._ (_altered_). _Act iii. Sc. 1._

I 've lately had two spiders Crawling upon my startled hopes. Now though thy friendly hand has brush'd 'em from me, Yet still they crawl offensive to my eyes: I would have some kind friend to tread upon 'em.

_Richard III._ (_altered_). _Act iv. Sc. 3._

Off with his head! so much for Buckingham!

_Richard III._ (_altered_). _Act iv. Sc. 3._

And the ripe harvest of the new-mown hay Gives it a sweet and wholesome odour.

_Richard III._ (_altered_). _Act v. Sc. 3._

With clink of hammers closing rivets up.[296-2]

_Richard III._ (_altered_). _Act v. Sc. 3._

Perish that thought! No, never be it said That Fate itself could awe the soul of Richard. Hence, babbling dreams! you threaten here in vain! Conscience, avaunt! Richard 's himself again! Hark! the shrill trumpet sounds to horse! away! My soul 's in arms, and eager for the fray.

_Richard III._ (_altered_). _Act v. Sc. 3._

A weak invention of the enemy.[296-3]

_Richard III._ (_altered_). _Act v. Sc. 3._

As good be out of the world as out of the fashion.

_Love's Last Shift. Act ii._

We shall find no fiend in hell can match the fury of a disappointed woman,--scorned, slighted, dismissed without a

## parting pang.[296-4]

_Love's Last Shift. Act iv._

Old houses mended, Cost little less than new before they 're ended.

_Prologue to the Double Gallant._

Possession is eleven points in the law.

_Woman's Wit. Act i._

Words are but empty thanks.

_Woman's Wit. Act v._

This business will never hold water.

_She Wou'd and She Wou'd Not. Act iv._

Losers must have leave to speak.

_The Rival Fools. Act i._

Stolen sweets are best.

_The Rival Fools. Act i._

The will for the deed.[297-1]

_The Rival Fools. Act iii._

Within one of her.

_The Rival Fools. Act v._

I don't see it.

_The Careless Husband. Act ii. Sc. 2._

Persuasion tips his tongue whene'er he talks, And he has chambers in King's Bench walks.[297-2]

FOOTNOTES:

[296-1] See Sir Thomas Browne, page 219.

[296-2] See Shakespeare, page 92.

[296-3] See Shakespeare, page 98.

[296-4] See Congreve, page 294.

[297-1] See Swift, page 292.

[297-2] A parody on Pope's lines:--

Graced as thou art with all the power of words, So known, so honoured at the House of Lords.

SIR RICHARD STEELE. 1671-1729.

Though her mien carries much more invitation than command, to behold her is an immediate check to loose behaviour; to love her was a liberal education.[297-3]

_Tatler. No. 49._

Will. Honeycomb calls these over-offended ladies the outrageously virtuous.

_Spectator. No. 266._

FOOTNOTES:

[297-3] Lady Elizabeth Hastings.

JOSEPH ADDISON. 1672-1719.

The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers, And heavily in clouds brings on the day, The great, the important day, big with the fate Of Cato and of Rome.

_Cato. Act i. Sc. 1._

Thy steady temper, Portius, Can look on guilt, rebellion, fraud, and Cæsar, In the calm lights of mild philosophy.

_Cato. Act i. Sc. 1._

'T is not in mortals to command success, But we 'll do more, Sempronius,--we 'll deserve it.

_Cato. Act i. Sc. 2._

Blesses his stars and thinks it luxury.

_Cato. Act i. Sc. 4._

'T 's pride, rank pride, and haughtiness of soul; I think the Romans call it stoicism.

_Cato. Act i. Sc. 4._

Were you with these, my prince, you 'd soon forget The pale, unripened beauties of the north.

_Cato. Act i. Sc. 4._

Beauty soon grows familiar to the lover, Fades in his eye, and palls upon the sense. The virtuous Marcia towers above her sex.

_Cato. Act i. Sc. 4._

My voice is still for war. Gods! can a Roman senate long debate Which of the two to choose, slavery or death?

_Cato. Act ii. Sc. 1._

Great Pompey's shade complains that we are slow, And Scipio's ghost walks unaveng'd amongst us!

_Cato. Act ii. Sc. 1._

A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty Is worth a whole eternity in bondage.

_Cato. Act ii. Sc. 1._

The woman that deliberates is lost.

_Cato. Act iv. Sc. 1._

Curse all his virtues! they 've undone his country.

_Cato. Act iv. Sc. 4._

What a pity is it That we can die but once to save our country!

_Cato. Act iv. Sc. 4._

When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, The post of honour is a private station.[298-1]

_Cato. Act iv. Sc. 4._

It must be so,--Plato, thou reasonest well! Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, This longing after immortality? Or whence this secret dread and inward horror Of falling into naught? Why shrinks the soul Back on herself, and startles at destruction? 'T is the divinity that stirs within us; 'T is Heaven itself that points out an hereafter, And intimates eternity to man. Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought!

_Cato. Act v. Sc. 1._

I 'm weary of conjectures,--this must end 'em. Thus am I doubly armed: my death and life, My bane and antidote, are both before me: This in a moment brings me to an end; But this informs me I shall never die. The soul, secured in her existence, smiles At the drawn dagger, and defies its point. The stars shall fade away, the sun himself Grow dim with age, and Nature sink in years; But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,[299-1] Unhurt amidst the war of elements, The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.

_Cato. Act v. Sc. 1._

Sweet are the slumbers of the virtuous man.

_Cato. Act v. Sc. 4._

From hence, let fierce contending nations know What dire effects from civil discord flow.

_Cato. Act v. Sc. 4._

For wheresoe'er I turn my ravish'd eyes, Gay gilded scenes and shining prospects rise, Poetic fields encompass me around, And still I seem to tread on classic ground.[299-2]

_A Letter from Italy._

Unbounded courage and compassion join'd, Tempering each other in the victor's mind, Alternately proclaim him good and great, And make the hero and the man complete.

_The Campaign. Line 219._

And, pleased the Almighty's orders to perform, Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm.[299-3]

_The Campaign. Line 291._

And those that paint them truest praise them most.[300-1]

_The Campaign. Last line._

The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim.

_Ode._

Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale, And nightly to the listening earth Repeats the story of her birth; While all the stars that round her burn, And all the planets in their turn, Confirm the tidings as they roll, And spread the truth from pole to pole.

_Ode._

For ever singing as they shine, The hand that made us is divine.

_Ode._

Should the whole frame of Nature round him break, In ruin and confusion hurled, He, unconcerned, would hear the mighty crack, And stand secure amidst a falling world.

_Horace. Ode iii.