Night Thoughts, on Life, Death, and Immortality |
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Page 25
... flame of battle ? Is it not treason , to the soul immortal , Her foes in arms , eternity the prize ? Will toys amuse , when med'cines cannot cure ? When spirits ebb , when life's enchanting scenes Their lustre lose , and lessen in our ...
... flame of battle ? Is it not treason , to the soul immortal , Her foes in arms , eternity the prize ? Will toys amuse , when med'cines cannot cure ? When spirits ebb , when life's enchanting scenes Their lustre lose , and lessen in our ...
Page 30
... flame , To gain his goal , to reach his antient rest , And join anew Eternity his sire ; In his immutability to nest , When worlds , that count his circles now , unhing'd , ( Fate the loud signal sounding ) headlong rush To timeless ...
... flame , To gain his goal , to reach his antient rest , And join anew Eternity his sire ; In his immutability to nest , When worlds , that count his circles now , unhing'd , ( Fate the loud signal sounding ) headlong rush To timeless ...
Page 40
... flame Hearts melt , but melt like ice , soon harder froze , True love strikes root in Reason ; passion's foe : Virtue alone entenders us for life : I wrong her much -- entenders us for ever ; Of Friendship's fairest fruits , the fruit ...
... flame Hearts melt , but melt like ice , soon harder froze , True love strikes root in Reason ; passion's foe : Virtue alone entenders us for life : I wrong her much -- entenders us for ever ; Of Friendship's fairest fruits , the fruit ...
Page 44
... flame . Is it religion to proceed : I pause- And enter , aw'd , the temple of my theme . Is it his death - bed ? No : It is his shrine : Behold him , there , just rising to a god . The chamber where the good man meets his fate , Is ...
... flame . Is it religion to proceed : I pause- And enter , aw'd , the temple of my theme . Is it his death - bed ? No : It is his shrine : Behold him , there , just rising to a god . The chamber where the good man meets his fate , Is ...
Page 46
... flame ! Christians Adore ! and Infidels Believe ! As some tall tow'r , or lofty mountain's brow , Detains the sun , Illustrious from its height ; While rising vapours , and descending shades , With damps , and darkness , drown the ...
... flame ! Christians Adore ! and Infidels Believe ! As some tall tow'r , or lofty mountain's brow , Detains the sun , Illustrious from its height ; While rising vapours , and descending shades , With damps , and darkness , drown the ...
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Common terms and phrases
æther ambition angels art thou beam beneath bids blest bliss blood divine boast boundless call'd charms chimæra creation dæmons dark death deep DEITY delight deny'd divine Dost dread dust EARL OF LITCHFIELD earth EDWARD YOUNG endless eternal Ev'n ev'ry fair fate flame fond fool give glorious glory gods grave grief groan guilt happiness heart heav'n hope hour human illustrious infidel life's light live LORENZO lyes man's mankind midnight mind mortal NARCISSA nature nature's ne'er night Night Thoughts nought numbers o'er Omnipotence pain passion peace PHILANDER pleasure pow'r praise pride proud reason rise sacred scene sense shew shines sigh sight skies smile song soul immortal sphere stars strange thee theme thine thought thro throne thy disease tomb triumph truth virtue virtue's Winchester College wing wisdom wise wish wonder wretched
Popular passages
Page 18 - tis madness to defer; Next day the fatal precedent will plead ; Thus on, till wisdom is push'd out of life Procrastination is the thief of time ; Year after year it steals, till all are fled, And to the mercies of a moment leaves The vast concerns of an eternal scene.
Page 19 - And that through every stage: when young, indeed, In full content we, sometimes, nobly rest, Unanxious for ourselves ; and only wish, As duteous sons, our fathers were more wise. At thirty man suspects himself a fool: Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan; At fifty chides his infamous delay, Pushes his prudent purpose to resolve ; In all the magnanimity of thought Resolves; and re-resolves; then dies the same.
Page 69 - The knell, the shroud, the mattock, and the grave ; The deep damp vault, the darkness, and the worm ; These are the bugbears of a winter's eve, The terrors of the living, not the dead. Imagination's fool, and error's wretch, Man makes a death, which nature never made : Then on the point of his own fancy falls ; And feels a thousand deaths, in fearing one.
Page 41 - Can gold gain friendship ? Impudence of hope ! As well mere man an angel might beget. Love, and love only, is the loan for love. Lorenzo ! pride repress ; nor hope to find A friend, but what has found a friend in thee. All like the purchase ; few the price will pay ; And this makes friends such miracles below.
Page 27 - How heavily we drag the load of life ! Blest leisure is our curse ; like that of Cain, It makes us wander; wander earth around To fly that tyrant, thought. As Atlas groan'd The world beneath, we groan beneath an hour.
Page 264 - He sees with other eyes than theirs. Where they Behold a sun, he spies a deity : What makes them only smile, makes him adore. Where they see mountains, he but atoms sees : An empire, in his balance, weighs a grain. .They things terrestrial worship as divine ; *His hopes immortal blow them by, as dust, That dims his sight, and shortens his survey, Which longs, in infinite, to lose all bound. Titles and honors (if they prove his fate,) He lays aside, to find his dignity : No dignity they find in aught...
Page xi - Night Thoughts" he has exhibited a very wide display of original poetry, variegated with deep reflections and striking allusions, a wilderness of thought, in which the fertility of fancy scatters flowers of every hue and of every odour. This is one of the few poems in which blank verse could not be changed for rhyme but with disadvantage.
Page 7 - We take no note of time But from its loss. To give it then a tongue Is wise in man. As if an angel spoke, I feel the solemn sound. If heard aright, It is the knell of my departed hours: Where are they?
Page 296 - Loud ./Etnas fulminate in love to man ; Comets good omens are, when duly scann'd ; And, in their use, eclipses learn to shine. Man is responsible for ills receiv'd ; Those we call wretched are a chosen band, Compell'd to refuge in the right, for peace.
Page 264 - With aspect mild, and elevated eye, Behold him seated on a mount serene, Above the fogs of sense, and passion's storm ; All the black cares and tumults of this life, Like harmless thunders, breaking at his feet, Excite his pity, not impair his peace.