537 quotes
The fanning wind upon her bosom blows,
To meet the fanning wind the bosom rose;
The fanning wind, and purling streams, continue her repose.
Night was our friend, our leader was Despair.
Resolv'd to ruin or to rule the state.
Absalom and Achitophel (1681)
The Famous Rules which the French call, Des Trois Unités, or, The Three Unities, which ought to be observ'd in every Regular Play; namely, of Time, Place, and Action.
Essay of Dramatick Poesie (1668)
Drawn to the dregs of a democracy.
Absalom and Achitopel (1681)
Ill fortune seldom comes alone.
Cymon and Iphigenia (1700)
Arms, and the man I sing, who, forced by Fate,
And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate,
Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore;
Long labours both by sea and land he bore.
The Works of Virgil (1697)
Death has no power the immortal soul to slay, That, when its present body turns to clay, Seeks a fresh home, and with unlessened might Inspires another frame with life and light.
Two gates the silent house of Sleep adorn:
Of polished ivory this, that of transparent horn:
True visions through transparent horn arise;
Through polished ivory pass deluding lies.
Happy, happy, happy pair!
None but the brave,
None but the brave,
None but the brave deserves the fair.
Alexander's Feast (1697)
And heaven had wanted one immortal song.
But wild ambition loves to slide, not stand,
And fortune's ice prefers to virtue's land.
Absalom and Achitophel (1681)
Leave writing plays, and choose for thy command
Some peaceful province in acrostic land.
There thou mayst wings display and altars raise,
And torture one poor word ten thousand ways.
Mac Flecknoe (1682)
Some truth there was, but dash'd and brew'd with lies,
To please the fools, and puzzle all the wise.
But wild Ambition loves to slide, not stand,
And Fortune's ice prefers to Virtue's land.
Absalom and Achitophel (1681)
So softly death succeeded life in her,
She did but dream of heaven, and she was there.
Eleonora (1692)
Look around the habitable world, how few
Know their own good, or knowing it, pursue.
Such subtle Covenants shall be made,
Till Peace it self is War in Masquerade.
Let old Timotheus yield the prize,
Or both divide the crown;
He rais’d a mortal to the skies;
She drew an angel down.
Alexander's Feast (1697)
Welcome, thou kind deceiver!
Thou best of thieves! who, with an easy key,
Dost open life, and, unperceived by us,
Even steal us from ourselves.
Farewell, too little, and too lately known
To the Memory of Mr. Oldham (1684)