The Works of the British Poets: With Lives of the Authors, Volume 36

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Ezekiel Sanford, Robert Walsh
Mitchell, Ames, and White, 1822

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Page 272 - And thus unto the youth she said That drove them to the Bell, "This shall be yours when you bring back My husband safe and well." The youth did ride, and soon did meet John coming back amain, Whom in a trice he tried to stop By catching at his rein. • But not performing what he meant, And gladly would have done, The frighted steed he frighted more, And made him faster run. Away went Gilpin, and away Went post-boy at his heels, The post-boy's horse right glad to miss The lumbering of the wheels.
Page 193 - Ye winds, that have made me your sport, Convey to this desolate shore Some cordial endearing report Of a land I shall visit no more. My friends , — do they now and then send A wish or a thought after me? O tell me I yet have a friend, Though a friend I am never to see.
Page 266 - Now mistress Gilpin (careful soul !) Had two stone bottles found, To hold the liquor that she loved, And keep it safe and sound. Each bottle had a curling ear, Through which the belt he drew, And hung a bottle on each side, To make his balance true. Then over all, that he might be Equipp'd from top to toe, His long red cloak, well brush'd and neat, He manfully did throw.
Page 264 - JOHN GILPIN was a citizen Of credit and renown, A train-band captain eke was he Of famous London town. John Gilpin's spouse said to her dear, Though wedded we have been These twice ten tedious years, yet we No holiday have seen. To-morrow is our wedding-day, And we will then repair Unto the Bell at Edmonton All in a chaise and pair. My sister, and my sister's child, Myself and children three, Will fill the chaise; so you must ride On horseback after we.
Page 271 - And all the world would stare, If wife should dine at Edmonton, And I should dine at Ware!" So, turning to his horse, he said, "I am in haste to dine; 'Twas for your pleasure you came here, You shall go back for mine.
Page 278 - Stand, never overlooked, our favourite elms, That screen the herdsman's solitary hut ; While far beyond, and overthwart the stream, That, as with molten glass, inlays the vale, The sloping land recedes into the clouds ; Displaying on its varied side the grace Of hedge-row beauties numberless, square tower, Tall spire, from which the sound of cheerful bells Just undulates upon the listening ear ; Groves, heaths, and smoking villages remote.
Page 192 - Better dwell in the midst of alarms Than reign in this horrible place. 1 am out of humanity's reach, I must finish my journey alone, Never hear the sweet music of speech, I start at the sound of my own. The beasts that roam over the plain, My form with indifference see ; They are so unacquainted with man, Their tameness is shocking to me.
Page 202 - So Tongue was the lawyer, and argued the cause With a great deal of skill, and a wig full of learning ; While chief baron Ear sat to balance the laws, So famed for his talent in nicely discerning. In behalf of the Nose it will quickly appear, And your lordship...
Page 233 - O'er the raging billows borne. Men from England bought and sold me, Paid my price in paltry gold ; But, though slave they have enrolled me, Minds are never to be sold. Still in thought as free as ever...
Page 266 - Where they did all get in ; . Six precious souls, and all agog To dash through thick and thin.

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