Select British Classics, Volume 3J. Conrad, 1804 |
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Page 11
... poet's dialogue , yet as to action he is entirely at liberty . By this he may show the fertility of his genius , the poignancy of his humour , and the exactness of his judgment . We scarcely see a coxcomb or a fool in common life , that ...
... poet's dialogue , yet as to action he is entirely at liberty . By this he may show the fertility of his genius , the poignancy of his humour , and the exactness of his judgment . We scarcely see a coxcomb or a fool in common life , that ...
Page 12
... poet's design , and represent him as an epitome of penury . The French comedian , in this character , in the midst of one of his most vio- lent passions , while he appears in a most ungovernable rage , feels the demon of avarice still ...
... poet's design , and represent him as an epitome of penury . The French comedian , in this character , in the midst of one of his most vio- lent passions , while he appears in a most ungovernable rage , feels the demon of avarice still ...
Page 24
... poet , I might observe , on this occasion , that so much beauty set off with all the advantages of dress would be too powerful an antagonist for the op- posite sex , and therefore it was wisely ordered , that our ladies should want ...
... poet , I might observe , on this occasion , that so much beauty set off with all the advantages of dress would be too powerful an antagonist for the op- posite sex , and therefore it was wisely ordered , that our ladies should want ...
Page 40
... poet . Her hands are not alternately stretched out , and then drawn in again , as with the singing women at Sadler's Wells ; they are employed with graceful va- ‹ riety , and every moment please with new and unex- pected eloquence . Add ...
... poet . Her hands are not alternately stretched out , and then drawn in again , as with the singing women at Sadler's Wells ; they are employed with graceful va- ‹ riety , and every moment please with new and unex- pected eloquence . Add ...
Page 94
99 of Fame . " What ! " replied the disappointed poet , " shall my tragedy , in which I have vindicated the cause of liberty and virtue ....... ' " Follow nature , " returned the other , " and never expect to find lasting " fame by ...
99 of Fame . " What ! " replied the disappointed poet , " shall my tragedy , in which I have vindicated the cause of liberty and virtue ....... ' " Follow nature , " returned the other , " and never expect to find lasting " fame by ...
Common terms and phrases
acquaintance admiration Alcander amusement appearance assured attempt attended beauty Bidderman character Charles II coachman continue creature custom dæmon diction distress dress effeminacy eloquence endeavour enemy English English language entertainment esteem expect eyes fame fancied favour feel figure fortune friends friendship frugality generosity genius gentleman give glory hand happy humour Hypasia imagination imitate Italy justice king king of Prussia labour lady language laugh laws learning Lysippus mankind manner master Maupertuis merit Metastasio mind miser Montesquieu nature nerally never nosegay obliged observed occasion Olinda once orator passion perceived perhaps perly philosopher pleased pleasure poet polite poor portunity possessed praise present pride racter regard replied republic of letters reputation ridicule Sabinus Saracens seems seldom Septimius society speak spider style Sweden taste thing thought tion truth virtue Voltaire vulgar whole writer
Popular passages
Page 70 - ... of its web, and taking no sustenance that I could perceive. At last, however, a large blue fly fell into the snare, and struggled hard to get loose. The spider gave it leave to entangle itself as much as possible, but it seemed to be too strong for the cobweb. I must own I was greatly surprised when I saw the spider immediately sally out, and in less than a minute weave a new net...
Page 71 - ... to another's web for three days, and at length, having killed the defendant, actually took possession. When smaller flies happen to fall into the snare, the spider does not sally out at once, but very patiently waits till it is sure of them; for, upon his immediately approaching, the terror of his appearance might give the captive strength sufficient to get loose : the manner then is to wait patiently till, by ineffectual and impotent struggles, the captive has wasted all its strength, and then...
Page 76 - What a gloom hangs all around ! The dying lamp feebly emits a yellow gleam ; no sound is heard but of the chiming clock, or the distant watch-dog. All the bustle of human pride is forgotten ; an hour like this may well display the emptiness of human vanity. " There will come a time, when this temporary solitude may be made continual, and the city itself, like its inhabitants, fade away, and leave a desert in its room.
Page 69 - ... of the little animal, I had the good fortune then to prevent its destruction, and I may say it more than paid me by the entertainment it afforded. In three days the web was, with incredible diligence, completed ; nor could I avoid thinking that the insect seemed to exult in its new abode.
Page 70 - Now then, in peaceable possession of what was justly its own, it waited three days with the utmost patience, repairing the breaches of its web, and taking no sustenance that I could perceive. At last, however, a large blue fly fell into the snare, and struggled hard to get loose. The spider gave it leave to entangle itself as much as possible, but it seemed to be too strong for the cobweb.
Page 71 - I once put a wasp into the net; but when the spider came out in order to seize it as usual, upon perceiving what kind of an enemy it had to deal with, it instantly broke all the bands that held it fast, and contributed all that lay in its power to disengage so formidable an antagonist.
Page 42 - ... the true use of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them.
Page 78 - Why was this heart of mine formed with so much sensibility? or why was not my fortune adapted to its impulse? Tenderness, without a capacity of relieving, only makes the man who feels it more wretched than the object which sues for assistance.
Page 72 - The insect I am now describing lived three years; every year it changed its skin, and got a new set of legs. I have sometimes plucked off a leg, which grew again in two or three days. At first it dreaded my approach to its web, but at last it became so familiar as to take a fly out my hand, and upon my touching any part of the web, would immediately leave its hole, prepared either for a defence or an attack.
Page 76 - To the same. 5HE clock just struck two, the expiring taper rises and sinks in the socket, the watchman forgets the hour in slumber, the laborious and the happy, are at rest, and nothing wakes but meditation, guilt, revelry, and despair. The drunkard once more fills the destroying bowl, the robber walks his midnight round, and the suicide lifts his guilty arm against his own sacred person.