430

OBLIVION-OBSTINACY, &c.

16. Pity for thee shall weep her fountains dry,
Mercy for thee shall bankrupt all her store;
Valour shall pluck a garland from on high,
And Honour twine the wreath thy temples o'er.

17. As the bird to its sheltering nest,

When the storm on the hills is abroad,

ISAAC CLASON.

So her spirit hath flown from this world of unrest,
To repose on the bosom of God.

W. H. BURLeigh.

18. But lately his cheek with life's crimson was flush'd,
His voice was cheerful, health sat on his brow;
That cheek is now pallid, that voice now hush'd-
He sleeps with the bones of his ancestors now!
J. T. WATSON.

OBLIVION.-(See FORGETFULNESS.)

OBSTINACY-STUBBORNNESS.

The slave of arrogance and pride,

He has no hearing on the prudent side;
His still refuted quirks he still repeats,
New-rais'd objections with new quibbles meets;
Till, sinking in the quicksand he defends,
He dies, disputing, and the contest ends.

2. Let them pull all about mine ears; present me
Death on the wheel, or at wild horses' heels;
Or pile ten hills on the Tarpeian,

That the precipitation might down-stretch
Below the beam of sight-yet still will I
Be thus to them.

CowPER.

SHAKSPEARE.

3. You may as well

go stand upon a beach,
And bid the main flood bate his usual height;
You may as well use question with the wolf,
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well bid the mountain pines

To wag their high tops, and to make no noise,
When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven;
You may as well do any thing most hard,

As seek to soften that (than which what's harder?) —
His Jewish heart.

SHAKSPEARE.

4. For if she will, she will-you may depend on 't,
And if she won't, she won't-so there's an end on 't.

OCEAN-SEA.

1. Ocean! thou dreadful and tumultuous home
Of dangers, at eternal war with man,

Wide opening and loud roaring still for more!
Too faithful mirror! how dost thou reflect
The melancholy face of human life!

YOUNG'S Night Thoughts.

2. Roll on, thou dark and deep blue Ocean-roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain ;
Man marks the earth with ruin - his control
Stops with the shore; upon the watery plain
The wrecks are all thy deeds, nor doth remain
A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,

When, for a moment, like a drop of rain,
He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,

Without a grave, unknell'd, uncoffin'd, and unknown!

BYRON'S Childe Harold.

3. Once more upon the waters! yet once more, And the waves bound beneath me, as a steed That knows his rider!

BYRON'S Childe Harold.

4. O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,
Our thoughts as boundless, and our homes as free,
Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam,
Behold our empire and survey our home!

BYRON'S Corsair. 5. Oh! who can tell, saye he whose heart hath tried, And danc'd in triumph o'er the waters wide,

The exulting sense the pulse's maddening play,
That thrills the wanderer of the trackless way!

6. The polish'd mirror of the lake,

In which the deep reflected sky appears,

A calm, sublime immensity below.

7. Like an eagle caged I pine,

On this dull, unchanging shore ;
Oh! give me the flashing brine,

The spray, and the tempest's roar!

BYRON'S Corsair.

CARLOS WILCOX.

8. The sea! the sea! the open sea!
The blue, the fresh, the ever free!
Without a mark, without a bound,
It runneth the earth's wide region round;
It plays with the clouds; it mocks the skies;
Or like a cradled creature lies.

BARRY CORNWALL (PROCTOR).

9. Thou boundless, shining, glorious sea!

With ecstasy I gaze on thee;
And, as I gaze, thy billowy roll
Wakes the deep feelings of my soul!

From the German.

10. Old Ocean's grey and melancholy waste.

11. I, too, have been upon thy rolling breast, Wildest of waters! I have seen thee lie Calm, as an infant pillow'd in its rest

W. C. BRYANT.

On a fond mother's bosom, when the sky,
Not smoother, gave the deep its azure dye,
Till a new heaven was arch'd and glass'd below.

12. For every wave, with dimpled face, That leap'd upon the air,

Had caught a star in its embrace,

And held it trembling there!

J. G. PERCIVAL.

MRS. AMELIA B. WELBY.

OFFENCE.

1. In such a time as this, it is not meet

That every nice offence should bear its comment.

2.

What is my offence?

Where is the evidence that doth accuse me?

What lawful 'quest have given this verdict up
Unto the frowning judge?

3. If my offence be of such mortal kind,

SHAKSPEARE.

SHAKSPEARE.

That neither service past, nor present sorrows,

Nor purpos'd merit in futurity,

Can ransom me into his love again,

But to know so much be my benefit;

So shall I clothe me in a forc'd content,

And shut myself up in some other course
To fortune's alms.

SHAKSPEARE.

4. The very head and front of my offending Hath this extent, no more.

SHAKSPEARE.

5. For, well you know, we of th' offending side
Must keep aloof from strict arbitrament;
And stop all sight-holes, every loop, from whence
The eye of reason may pry in upon us.

6. All's not offence that indiscretion finds, And dotage terms so.

SHAKSPEARE.

SHAKSPEARE.

7. He hath wrong'd his queen, but still he is her lord;
He hath wrong'd my sister, still he is my brother;
He hath wrong'd his people, still he is their sovereign,
And I must be his friend, as well as subject: -
He must not perish thus.

BYRON'S Sardanapalus.

1.

OFFICE.

To hold a place

In council, which was once esteem'd an honour,

And a reward for virtue, hath quite lost

Lustre and reputation, and is made

A mercenary purchase.

When impious men bear sway,

2.

The post of honour is a private station.

MASSINGER.

ADDISON.

3. The seals of office glitter in his eyes;

He climbs, he pants, he grasps them; at his heels,
Close at his heels, a demagogue ascends,

And, with a dexterous jerk, soon twists him down,
And wins them but to lose them in his turn.