Beauties selected from the writings of James Beattie. To which are prefixed a life of the author and an account of his writings. Together with notes on the first book of The minstrel, by T. Gray

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Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1809 - English literature - 12 pages
 

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Page 6 - But who the melodies of morn can tell ? — The wild brook babbling down the mountain side ; The lowing herd ; the sheepfold's simple bell ; The pipe of early shepherd dim descried In the lone valley ; echoing far and wide, The clamorous horn along the cliffs above ; The hollow murmur of the ocean-tide ; The hum of bees ; the linnet's lay of love ; And the full choir that wakes the universal grove.
Page 66 - That leads to bewilder and dazzles to blind, My thoughts wont to roam, from shade onward to shade, Destruction before me and sorrow behind. " O pity, great Father of light...
Page 253 - Municipal law, thus understood, is properly defined to be a 'rule of civil conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state, commanding what is right and prohibiting what is wrong.
Page 146 - I care not, fortune, what you me deny : You cannot rob me of free nature's grace ; You cannot shut the windows of the sky, Through which Aurora shows her brightening face ; You cannot bar my constant feet to trace The woods and lawns, by living stream, at eve Let health my nerves and finer fibres brace, And I their toys to the great children leave : Of fancy, reason, virtue, nought can me bereave.
Page 65 - Now gliding remote, on the verge of the sky, " The Moon half extinguish'd her crescent displays : " But lately I mark'd, when majestic on high " She shone, and the planets were lost in her blaze. " Roll on, thou fair orb, and with gladness pursue " The path that conducts thee to splendor again•. " But Man's faded glory what change shall renew !
Page xlvii - And oft the craggy cliff he loved to climb, When all in mist the world below was lost. What dreadful pleasure ! there to stand sublime, Like shipwreck'd mariner on desert coast, And view th...
Page 21 - Shrinks not, though Fortune aim her deadliest blow." This strain from 'midst the rocks was heard to flow In solemn sounds. Now beam'd the evening star ; And from embattled clouds emerging slow, Cynthia came riding on her silver car ; And hoary mountain-cliffs shone faintly from afar.
Page 6 - Forbear, my Muse. Let Love attune thy line. Revoke the spell. Thine Edwin frets not so. For how should he at wicked chance repine, Who feels from every change amusement flow ! Even now his eyes with smiles of rapture glow, As on he wanders through the scenes of morn, Where the fresh flowers...
Page 10 - Shall he, whose birth, maturity, and age, Scarce fill the circle of one summer day, Shall the poor gnat, with discontent and rage, Exclaim that Nature hastens to decay, If but a cloud obstruct the solar ray, If but a momentary shower descend ! Or shall frail man Heaven's dread decree gainsay, Which bade the series of events extend Wide through unnumber'd worlds, and ages without end!
Page xlv - Oh, how canst thou renounce the boundless store Of charms which Nature to her votary yields ! The warbling woodland, the resounding shore, The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields ; All that the genial ray of morning gilds, And all that echoes to the song of even, All that the mountain's sheltering bosom shields, And all the dread magnificence of Heaven, Oh, how canst thou renounce, and hope to be forgiven ! X.

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