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The smiling infant in his hand shall take
The crested basilisk, and speckled snake;
Pleased, the green lustre of the scales survey,
And, with their forked tongue, shall innocently play.

— Alexander Pope Messiah (1712)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Cf. Virgil, Eclogues, IV

More quotes by Alexander Pope

Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night:
God said, "Let Newton be!" and all was light.

Histories are more full of Examples of the Fidelity of dogs than of Friends.

Absent or dead, still let a friend be dear.

Love seldom haunts the breast where learning lies,
And Venus sets ere Mercury can rise.

The mouse that always trusts to one poor hole
Can never be a mouse of any soul.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Alexander Pope (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.