Night Thoughts, on Life, Death, and Immortality |
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Page i
... throne , he was appointed Clerk of the Closet to her Majesty . It does not appear that this gentleman distinguished him- self in the Republic of Letters , otherwise than by a Latin Visitation Sermon , preached in 1686 , and by two ...
... throne , he was appointed Clerk of the Closet to her Majesty . It does not appear that this gentleman distinguished him- self in the Republic of Letters , otherwise than by a Latin Visitation Sermon , preached in 1686 , and by two ...
Page 6
... throne , In rayless majesty , now stretches forth Her leaden sceptre o'er a slumb'ring world . Silence , how dead ! and darkness , how profound ! Nor eye , nor list'ning ear , an object finds ; Creation sleeps . ' Tis as the gen❜ral ...
... throne , In rayless majesty , now stretches forth Her leaden sceptre o'er a slumb'ring world . Silence , how dead ! and darkness , how profound ! Nor eye , nor list'ning ear , an object finds ; Creation sleeps . ' Tis as the gen❜ral ...
Page 10
... throne of God . What golden joys ambrosial clust'ring glow , In HIS full beam , and ripen'd for the just , Where momentary ages are no more ! Where time , and pain , and chance , and death expire ! And is it in the flight of threescore ...
... throne of God . What golden joys ambrosial clust'ring glow , In HIS full beam , and ripen'd for the just , Where momentary ages are no more ! Where time , and pain , and chance , and death expire ! And is it in the flight of threescore ...
Page 25
... Thrones will then be toys , And earth and skies seem dust upon the scale . Redeem we time ? -Its loss we dearly buy . What pleads LORENZO for his high - priz'd sports ? He pleads time's num'rous blanks ; he loudly pleads The straw ...
... Thrones will then be toys , And earth and skies seem dust upon the scale . Redeem we time ? -Its loss we dearly buy . What pleads LORENZO for his high - priz'd sports ? He pleads time's num'rous blanks ; he loudly pleads The straw ...
Page 35
... thrones , which shall not mourn their masters chang'd , Tho ' we from Earth ; Ethereal , that they fell . Such veneration due , O man , to man . Who venerate themselves , the world despise . For what , gay friend ! is this escutcheon'd ...
... thrones , which shall not mourn their masters chang'd , Tho ' we from Earth ; Ethereal , that they fell . Such veneration due , O man , to man . Who venerate themselves , the world despise . For what , gay friend ! is this escutcheon'd ...
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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 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 life's light live LORENZO 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 stings storm strange strike 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 - 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 12 - Insatiate archer ! could not one suffice ? Thy shaft flew thrice; and thrice my peace was slain ; And thrice, ere thrice yon moon had fill'd her horn.
Page xi - In his 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 8 - A worm ! a god ! — I tremble at myself, And in myself am lost ! at home a stranger. Thought wanders up and down, surprised, aghast, And wondering at her own : How reason reels ! О what a miracle to man is man.
Page 6 - Tis as the general pulse Of life stood still, and Nature made a pause ; An awful pause ! prophetic of her end.
Page 18 - Of man's miraculous mistakes this bears The palm, ' That all men are about to live, For ever on the brink of being born.' All pay themselves the compliment to think They one day shall not drivel : and their pride On this reversion takes up ready praise ; At least, their own ; their future selves applaud How excellent that life they ne'er will lead.
Page 9 - This is the desert, this the solitude : How populous, how vital, is the grave! This is creation's melancholy vault, The vale funereal, the sad cypress gloom ; The land of apparitions, empty shades ! All, all on earth is shadow, all beyond Is substance ; the reverse is folly's creed?
Page 72 - Why all this toil for triumphs of an hour ? What though we wade in wealth, or soar in fame ? Earth's highest station ends in, " Here he lies," And " Dust to dust
Page 264 - Some angel guide my pencil, while I draw, What nothing less than angel can exceed, A man on earth devoted to the skies ; Like ships at sea, while in, above the world. 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.