The Poems, Sacred, Passionate, and Humorous, of Nathaniel Parker WillisClark, Austin & Smith, 1856 - 352 pages |
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Common terms and phrases
Absalom angels beautiful beneath bird blessed bosom breast breath bright broken BROKEN BRACELET brow call'd calm cheek CHEMISETTE CHIG child cloud cold dark dear death deep dream earth face fair feel feet fire flowers forehead fountain gather'd gazed gentle gliding glory gold hair hand hath hear heart heaven Helon hour ISIDORE Jules knew Lady Jane leaves light lips look look'd LORD IVON loveliness lyre minstrel boy morn mother Mount Arafat mused never night o'er Parrhasius pass'd pity Pleiades poet pray pray'd prayer press'd pride pulse Rizpah rose seem'd shadows silent silver sleep smile soft soft eye soul spirit star stirr'd stole stood sweet sweet child tears thee-I thought thine things thou hast thought of thee touch'd tree turn'd Twas Twill voice walk'd warm waters weary whisper wild wind wings woman young
Popular passages
Page 31 - Alas! my noble boy! that thou should'st die, — Thou who wert made so beautifully fair ! That death should settle in thy glorious eye. And leave his stillness in this clustering hair — • How could he mark thee for the silent tomb, My proud boy, Absalom...
Page 32 - Tis hard to give thee up, With death so like a gentle slumber on thee ; — And thy dark sin ! — Oh ! I could drink the cup, If from this woe its bitterness had won thee. May God have called thee, like a wanderer, home, My lost boy, Absalom...
Page 170 - Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
Page 88 - Tis a bird I love, with its brooding note, And the trembling throb in its mottled throat; There's a human look in its swelling breast, And the gentle curve of its lowly crest; And I often stop with the fear I feel— He runs so close to the rapid wheel. Whatever is rung on that noisy bell — Chime of the hour or funeral knell — The dove in the belfry must hear it well. When the tongue swings out to the midnight moon — When the sexton cheerily rings for noon — When the clock strikes clear at...
Page 89 - I LOVE to look on a scene like this, Of wild and careless play, And persuade myself that I am not old, And my locks are not yet gray...
Page 92 - And heaved its pillars one by one. 2 He hung its starry roof on high, The broad, illimitable sky ; He spread its pavement, green and bright, And curtained it with morning light. 3 The mountains in their places stood, The sea, the sky, and " all was good ;" And when its first pure praises rang, The
Page 31 - Cold is thy brow, my son ! and I am chill, As to my bosom I have tried to press thee ! How was I wont to feel my pulses thrill, Like a rich harp-string, yearning to caress thee, And hear thy sweet ' My father /' from these dumb And cold lips, Absalom !
Page 89 - Or, rising half in his rounded nest, He takes the time to smooth his breast ; Then drops again, with filmed eyes. And sleeps as the last vibration dies. Sweet bird ! I would that I could be A hermit in the crowd like thee ! With wings to fly to wood and glen, Thy lot, like mine, is cast with men ; And daily, with unwilling feet, I tread, like thee, the crowded street ; But, unlike me, when day is o'er, Thou canst dismiss the world, and soar ; Or, at a half-felt wish for rest, Canst smooth the feathers...
Page 88 - When the chimes play soft in the Sabbath air, Filling the spirit with tones of prayer, — Whatever tale in the bell is heard, He broods on his folded feet...
Page 30 - The soldiers of the king trod to and fro, Clad in the garb of battle ; and their chief, The mighty Joab, stood beside the bier, And gazed upon the dark pall steadfastly, As if he feared the slumberer might stir.