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2. It is great sin to swear unto a sin, But greater sin to keep a sinful oath.

3. I will die a hundred thousand deaths,
Ere break the smallest parcel of this vow.

4. Oaths are but words, and words but wind, Too feeble instruments to bind.

5. He, that imposes an oath, makes it,
Not he, that for convenience takes it;
Then how can any man be said
To break an oath he never made?

6. An oath is a recognizance to heaven, Binding us over in the courts above,

SHAKSPEARE.

SHAKSPEARE.

BUTLER'S Hudibras.

BUTLER'S Hudibras.

To plead to the indictment of our crimes,

That those who 'scape this world, should suffer there.

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And, as he knew not what to say,— he swore.

SOUTHERN.

BYRON'S Island.

OBITUARY.

1. Underneath this stone doth lie
As much virtue as could die,
Which, when alive, did vigour give
To as much beauty as could live.

2. The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,

BEN JONSON.

The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,
The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
No more shall wake them from their lowly bed.

GRAY'S Elegy.

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3. There Honour comes, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay; And Freedom shall awhile repair

To dwell a weeping hermit there!

4. Each lonely scene shall thee restore, For thee the tear be duly shed;

COLLINS.

Belov'd, till life could charm no more,

And mourn'd, till pity's self be dead!

COLLINS.

5. How sleep the brave who sink to rest,

With all their country's honour blest!

6. How lov'd, how honour'd once, avails thee not, To whom related, or by whom begot;

A heap of dust alone remains of thee—
'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be!

COLLINS.

POPE.

7. What though no funeral pomp, no borrow'd tear,
Your hour of death to gazing crowds may tell
No weeping friends attend your sable bier,
Who sadly listen to the passing bell! -
Yet shall remembrance from oblivion's veil
Relieve your scene, and sigh with grief sincere;
And soft compassion, at your tragic tale,

In silent tribute pay her kindred tear.

FALCONER.

8. What though the mounds that mark'd each name,

Beneath the wings of Time,

Have worn away? - Theirs is the fame

Immortal and sublime;

For who can tread on Freedom's plain,

Nor wake her dead to life again?

R. MONTGOMERY.

9. Without a groan, or sigh, or glance, to show
A parting pang, the spirit from her pass'd,
And they, who watch'd her nearest, could not know
The very instant, till the change that cast
Her sweet face into shadow, dull and slow,

Glared o'er her eyes.

BYRON'S Don Juan.

10. They fell devoted, but undying:
The very gale their name seem'd sighing.
Their spirits wrapt the dusky mountain;
Their memory sparkled o'er the fountain;
The meanest rill, the mightiest river,

Roll'd mingling with their fame for ever!

BYRON'S Siege of Corinth.

BYRON'S Childe Harold.

11. Brief, brave, and glorious, was his young career.

12. We tell thy doom without a sigh,
For thou art Freedom's now, and Fame's;
One of the few, th' immortal names,
That were not born to die!

13. Green be the turf above thee,
Friend of my better days;

None knew thee but to love thee,
Nor nam'd thee but to praise.

14. She liv'd as lives a peaceful dove, She died as blossoms die;

And now her spirit floats above,

A seraph in the sky!

FITZ-GREEN HALLECK.

FITZ-GREEN HALLECK.

MRS. AMELIA B. WELBY.

15. Yet, shrin'd with many a sweet, sad thought,

That lov'd one's memory lingers still;
For O! she left a void that nought
But mournful thoughts can fill!

MRS. AMELIA B. WELBY.

430

OBLIVION-OBSTINACY, &c.

16. Pity for thee shall weep her fountains dry,
Mercy for thee shall bankrupt all her store;
Valour shall pluck a garland from on high,
And Honour twine the wreath thy temples o'er.

17. As the bird to its sheltering nest,

When the storm on the hills is abroad,

ISAAC CLASON.

So her spirit hath flown from this world of unrest,
To repose on the bosom of God.

W. H. BURLEIGH.

18. But lately his cheek with life's crimson was flush'd,
His voice was cheerful, health sat on his brow;
That cheek is now pallid, that voice now hush'd —
He sleeps with the bones of his ancestors now!
J. T. WATSON.

OBLIVION.-(See FORGETFULNESS.)

1.

OBSTINACY - STUBBORNNESS.

The slave of arrogance and pride,

He has no hearing on the prudent side;
His still refuted quirks he still repeats,
New-rais'd objections with new quibbles meets;
Till, sinking in the quicksand he defends,
He dies, disputing, and the contest ends.

2. Let them pull all about mine ears; present me Death on the wheel, or at wild horses' heels; Or pile ten hills on the Tarpeian,

That the precipitation might down-stretch

Below the beam of sight

Be thus to them.

COWPER.

yet still will I

SHAKSPEARE.

3. You may as well go stand upon a beach,
And bid the main flood bate his usual height;
You may as well use question with the wolf,
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well bid the mountain pines

Το wag their high tops, and to make no noise,
When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven;
You may as well do any thing most hard,

As seek to soften that (than which what's harder?)-
His Jewish heart.

SHAKSPEARE.

4. For if she will, she will - you may depend on 't,

And if she won't, she won't

so there's an end on 't.

OCEAN -SEA.

1. Ocean! thou dreadful and tumultuous home
Of dangers, at eternal war with man,

Wide opening and loud roaring still for more!
Too faithful mirror! how dost thou reflect

The melancholy face of human life!

YOUNG'S Night Thoughts.

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2. Roll on, thou dark and deep blue Ocean-roll!
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain ;
Man marks the earth with ruin his control
Stops with the shore; upon the watery plain
The wrecks are all thy deeds, nor doth remain
A shadow of man's ravage, save his own,

When, for a moment, like a drop of rain,
He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan,

Without a grave, unknell'd, uncoffin'd, and unknown!

BYRON'S Childe Harold.

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