Alike all

ages. Dames of ancient days

Have led their children through the mirthful maze,
And the gay grandsire, skill'd in gestic lore,
Has frisk'd beneath the burden of threescore.

The Traveller. Line 251.

They please, are pleas'd; they give to get esteem,
Till seeming blest, they grow to what they seem.1

Line 266

Line 282.

Embosom'd in the deep where Holland lies.
Methinks her patient sons before me stand,
Where the broad ocean leans against the land.
Pride in their port, defiance in their eye,
I see the lords of humankind pass by.2
The land of scholars and the nurse of arms.
For just experience tells, in every soil,
That those that think must govern those that toil.

Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
Fore'd from their homes, a melancholy train,
To traverse climes beyond the western main;
Where wild Oswego spreads her swamps around,
And Niagara stuns with thundering sound.
Vain, very vain, my weary search to find
That bliss which only centres in the mind.
Luke's iron crown, and Damien's bed of steel.
Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain.

Line 327.

Line 356

Line 372.

Line 386,

Line 409.

Line 423.

Line 436.

The Deserted Village. Line 1.

The hawthorn bush, with seats beneath the shade,
For talking age and whispering lovers made.

1 The character of the French.

2 See Dryden, page 277.

Line 13.

3 When Davies asked for an explanation of "Luke's iron crown," Goldsmith referred him to a book called "Géographie Curieuse," and added that by "Damien's bed of steel" he meant the rack. - GRANGER: Letters, (1805), p. 52.

The bashful virgin's sidelong looks of love.

The Deserted Village. Line 29.

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.
Princes and lords may flourish or may fade, -
A breath can make them, as a breath has made; 1
But a bold peasantry, their country's pride,
When once destroy'd, can never be supplied.

Line 51.

His best companions, innocence and health;
And his best riches, ignorance of wealth.

Line 61.

How blest is he who crowns in shades like these
A youth of labour with an age of ease!

Line 99.

While Resignation gently slopes away,
And all his prospects brightening to the last,
His heaven commences ere the world be past.
The watch-dog's voice that bay'd the whispering wind,
And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind.

Line 110.

Line 121.

A man he was to all the country dear,
And passing rich with forty pounds a year.

Line 141.

Wept o'er his wounds, or tales of sorrow done, Shoulder'd his crutch, and shew'd how fields were won.

Line 157.

Careless their merits or their faults to scan,

His pity gave ere charity began.

Thus to relieve the wretched was his pride,
And even his failings lean'd to Virtue's side.
And as a bird each fond endearment tries
To tempt its new-fledg'd offspring to the skies,
He tried each art, reprov'd each dull delay,
Allur'd to brighter worlds, and led the way.

Line 161.

Line 167.

Qu'un souffle peut détruire, et qu'un souffle a produit

(It is a shining glass, which a breath may destroy, and which a breath has produced). DE CAUX (comparing the world to his hour-glass).

Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway,
And fools who came to scoff, remain'd to pray.1

The Deserted Village. Line 179.

Even children follow'd with endearing wile,
And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile.

Line 183.

As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.

Well had the boding tremblers learn'd to trace
The day's disasters in his morning face;
Full well they laugh'd with counterfeited glee
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he;
Full well the busy whisper circling round
Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd.
Yet was he kind, or if severe in aught,
The love he bore to learning was in fault;
The village all declar'd how much he knew,
'T was certain he could write and cipher too.

Line 189.

Line 199.

In arguing too, the parson own'd his skill,
For e'en though vanquish'd he could argue still;
While words of learned length and thundering sound.
Amaz'd the gazing rustics rang'd around;

Line 209.

And still they gaz'd, and still the wonder grew
That one small head could carry all he knew.
Where village statesmen talk'd with looks profound,
And news much older than their ale went round.

The whitewash'd wall, the nicely sanded floor,
The varnish'd clock that click'd behind the door;
The chest, contriv'd a double debt to pay,
A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day.2

1 See Dryden, page 269.

Line 223.

Line 227.

2 A cap by night, a stocking all the day - GOLDSMITH: A Description of an Author's Bed-Chamber.

The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose.1
The Deserted Village. Line 232.

To me more dear, congenial to my heart,
One native charm, than all the gloss of art.
And e'en while fashion's brightest arts decoy,
The heart distrusting asks if this be joy.
Her modest looks the cottage might adorn,
Sweet as the primrose peeps beneath the thorn.

Line 253.

Line 263.

Line 329.

Through torrid tracts with fainting steps they go,
Where wild Altama murmurs to their woe.

Line 344.

In all the silent manliness of grief.

Line 384.

Line 385.

O Luxury! thou curst by Heaven's decree!
Thou source of all my bliss and all my woe,
That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so.

Line 413.

Such dainties to them, their health it might hurt;
It's like sending them ruffles when wanting a shirt.2
The Haunch of Venison.

As aromatic plants bestow
No spicy fragrance while they grow;
But crush'd or trodden to the ground,
Diffuse their balmy sweets around.3

The Captivity. Act i.

To the last moment of his breath,

On hope the wretch relies;
And even the pang preceding death
Bids expectation rise.*

Act ii.

1 The twelve good rules were ascribed to King Charles I.: 1. Urge no healths. 2. Profane no divine ordinances. 3. Touch no state matters. 4. Reveal no secrets. 5. Pick no quarrels. 6. Make no comparisons. 7. Maintain no ill opinions. 8. Keep no bad company. 9. Encourage no vice. 10. Make no long meals. 11. Repeat no grievances. 12. Lay no wagers.

2 See Tom Brown, page 286.

8 See Bacon, page 165.

4 The wretch condemn'd with life to part

Still, still on hope relies;

And every pang that rends the heart

Bids expectation rise.

Original MS

Hope, like the gleaming taper's light,
Adorns and cheers our way;1

And still, as darker grows the night,

Emits a brighter ray.

The Captivity. Act ii.

Our Garrick's a salad; for in him we see
Oil, vinegar, sugar, and saltness agree!

Retaliation. Line 11.

Who mix'd reason with pleasure, and wisdom with mirth: If he had any faults, he has left us in doubt.

Line 24.

Who, born for the universe, narrow'd his mind, And to party gave up what was meant for mankind; Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat. To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote. Who too deep for his hearers still went on refining, And thought of convincing while they thought of dining: Though equal to all things, for all things unfit; Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit.

Line 31.

His conduct still right, with his argument wrong.

Line 46.

A flattering painter, who made it his care

To draw men as they ought to be, not as they are.

Line 63.

Here lies David Garrick, describe me who can,

An abridgment of all that was pleasant in man.

Line 93.

Line 96.

As a wit, if not first, in the very first line.
On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting;
'T was only that when he was off he was acting.

Line 101.

He cast off his friends as a huntsman his pack,
For he knew when he pleas'd he could whistle them back.

Line 107.

Who pepper'd the highest was surest to please. Line 112.