A pagan kept a god of wood, - A sort that never hears, Though furnish'd well with ears, - From which he hoped for wondrous good. The idol cost the board of three; So much enrich'd was he...
A man of middle age, whose hair Was bordering on the grey, Began to turn his thoughts and care The matrimonial way. By virtue of his ready, A store of choices had he...
FLORENTINE we now design to show; - A greater blockhead ne'er appeared below; It seems a prudent woman he had wed, With beauty that might grace a monarch's bed;...
Who joins not with his restless race To give Dame Fortune eager chase? O, had I but some lofty perch, From which to view the panting crowd Of care-worn dreamers, poor and proud,...
I would I were in some spot whence I could watch the eager crowds rushing from kingdom to kingdom in their vain chase after the daughter of Chance! ...
Perhaps, had I but shown due loyalty, This book would have begun with royalty, Of which, in certain points of view, Boss[2] Belly is the image true,...
Four voyagers to parts unknown, On shore, not far from naked, thrown By furious waves, - a merchant, now undone, A noble, shepherd, and a monarch's son, - Brought to the lot of Belisarius,[2]...
A pine was by a woodman fell'd, Which ancient, huge, and hollow tree An owl had for his palace held - A bird the Fates had kept in fee, Interpreter to such as we. Within the caverns of the pine,...
Beware of saying, 'Lend an ear,' To something marvellous or witty. To disappoint your friends who hear, Is possible, and were a pity. But now a clear exception see, Which I maintain a prodigy -...
It is not always wise to say to your company, "Just listen to this joke" or "What do you think of this for a marvel?" for one can never be sure that the listeners will regard the matter in the same way that the teller does. Yet...
A man amass'd. The thing, we know, Doth often to a frenzy grow. No thought had he but of his minted gold - Stuff void of worth when unemploy'd, I hold....
'Tis use that constitutes possession. I ask that sort of men, whose passion It is to get and never spend, Of all their toil what is the end? What they enjoy of all their labours...
Long since, a Mogul saw, in dream, A vizier in Elysian bliss; No higher joy could be or seem, Or purer, than was ever his. Elsewhere was dream'd of by the same...
Jocko the Monkey, Mouser - his chum, the Cat, Had the same master. Both were sleek and fat, And mischievous. If anything went wrong, The neighbors where not blamed. Be sure of that. ...
Bertrand was a monkey and Ratter was a cat. They shared the same dwelling and had the same master, and a pretty mischievous pair they were. It was impossible to intimidate them. If anything was missed or spoilt, no one thought ...
It was the custom of the Greeks For passengers o'er sea to carry Both monkeys full of tricks And funny dogs to make them merry. A ship, that had such things on deck,...
A monkey and a leopard were The rivals at a country fair. Each advertised his own attractions. Said one, 'Good sirs, the highest place My merit knows; for, of his grace,...
TO you, my friends, allow me to detail, The feats of monks in Catalonia's vale, Where oft the holy fathers pow'rs displayed, And showed such charity to wife and maid,...