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John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.

Page 554

 
 
George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron. (1788–1824) (continued)
 
5734
    But we, who name ourselves its sovereigns, we,
Half dust, half deity, alike unfit
To sink or soar.
          Manfred. Act i. Sc. 2.
5735
    Think’st thou existence doth depend on time?
It doth; but actions are our epochs.
          Manfred. Act ii. Sc. 1.
5736
    The heart ran o’er
With silent worship of the great of old!
The dead but sceptred sovereigns, who still rule
Our spirits from their urns.
          Manfred. Act iii. Sc. 4.
5737
    Which makes life itself a lie,
Flattering dust with eternity.
          Sardanapalus. Act i. Sc. 2.
5738
    By all that ’s good and glorious.
          Sardanapalus. Act i. Sc. 2.
5739
    I am the very slave of circumstance
And impulse,—borne away with every breath!
          Sardanapalus. Act iv. Sc. 1.
5740
    The dust we tread upon was once alive.
          Sardanapalus. Act iv. Sc. 1.
5741
    For most men (till by losing rendered sager)
Will back their own opinions by a wager.
          Beppo. Stanza 27.
5742
    Soprano, basso, even the contra-alto,
Wished him five fathom under the Rialto.
          Beppo. Stanza 32.
5743
    His heart was one of those which most enamour us,—
Wax to receive, and marble to retain. 1
          Beppo. Stanza 34.
5744
    Besides, they always smell of bread and butter.
          Beppo. Stanza 39.
5745
    That soft bastard Latin,
Which melts like kisses from a female mouth.
          Beppo. Stanza 44.
5746
    Heart on her lips, and soul within her eyes,
Soft as her clime, and sunny as her skies.
          Beppo. Stanza 45.
5747
    O Mirth and Innocence! O milk and water!
Ye happy mixtures of more happy days.
          Beppo. Stanza 80.
 
Note 1.
My heart is wax to be moulded as she pleases, but enduring as marble to retain.—Cervantes: The Little Gypsy. [back]