That time of year thou may'st in me behold, As, after sunset, fadeth in the west; Which by and by black night doth take away; 1 Compare the Dirge by Collins, "To fair Fidelé's grassy tomb," &c. CXLVI. 2 Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,1 DETACHED PASSAGES. FEMALE FRIENDSHIP. Is all the counsel that we two have shared, All school-days friendship, childhood innocence? Two lovely berries moulded on one stem, Midsummer Night's Dream, Act III. Sc. 2. CONCEALED LOVE. She never told her love, But let concealment, like a worm i' th' bud, Feed on her damask cheek: she pin'd in thought; Twelfth Night, Act II. Sc. 4. 2 Ps. xc. 10.-Price. "Vile body." Philippians, iii. 1. See note 1, p. 107. * Increase. 4" Feeding upon Christ by faith."-Price. • Needles. 1 Cor. xv. 55. Rev. xxi. 4.-Price. DETACHED PASSAGES. PROPER USE OF TALENTS. Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do, As if we had them not.1 Spirits are not finely touched, Both thanks and use.2 Measure for Measure, Act I. Sc. 1. TAKE THE BEAM OUT OF THINE OWN EYE. Go to your bosom : Knock there, and ask your heart, what it doth know A natural guiltiness, such as is his, Let it not sound a thought upon your tongue Measure for Measure, Act II. Sc. 2. THE VOICE OF THE DYING. The tongues of dying men Inforce attention, like deep harmony: Where words are scarce, they're seldom spent in vain: Than they whom youth and ease have taught to glose; As the last taste of sweets is sweetest last; Writ in remembrance, more than things long past. Richard II. Act II. Sc. 1. A GOOD CONSCIENCE. What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted? Henry VI. (Part 2), Act III. Sc. 2. WOLSEY TO CROMWELL. Thus far hear me, Cromwell, And-when I am forgotten, as I shall be, And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention Matt. v. 15, 16.-Price. 2 Interest. Matt. xxv. 20, &c.-Price. 131 - Of me more must be heard of-say I taught thee, Still, in thy right hand, carry gentle peace, To silence envious tongues. Be just and fear not. Thou fall'st a blessed martyr. Henry VIII. Act III. Sc. 2. VALERIA. The noble sister of Publicola, The Moon of Rome; chaste as the icicle That's curded by the frost from purest snow, And hangs on Dian's temple! Coriolanus, Act V. Sc. 3. CLEOPATRA ON THE CYDNUS. The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Purple the sails, and so perfumed, that The winds were love-sick with them; th' oars were silver, The water, which they beat, to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes. For her own person, Antony and Cleopatra, Act II. Sc. 2. HAMLET'S MELANCHOLY. I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercise; and, indeed, it goes so heavily with my disposition, that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy the air, look you, this brave o'er-hanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire,-why, it appears no other thing to me, than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!—and yet to me what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me. Hamlet, Act II. Sc. 2. WEALTH THE ARMOUR OF SIN. Through tattered clothes small vices do appear; Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw doth pierce it. GOOD NAME. Lear, Act IV. Sc. 6. Good name in man and woman, dear my Lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls. Who steals my purse, steals trash; 'tis something, nothing: 'Twas mine, 'tis his; and has been slave to thousands; But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed. Othello, Act III. Sc. 3.1 JOHN DONNE, D. D. (1573-1631.) DONNE was of Welsh extraction, says Southey, but born in London. He entered Oxford at the early age of twelve. His Roman Catholic faith excluded him from university honours; but he studied with distinction both in Oxford and Cambridge. His subsequent life in his youth is varied and irregular. The romantic story of his marriage and its results to his fortunes is detailed by Isaac Walton. He became, from serious and pious examination of the controversy between the opposing systems of Christianity, a convert to Protestantism. His learning procured him the favour of James I., at whose request he took holy orders, and died Dean of St Paul's in 1631. The poetical works of Donne consist of satires, epistles, epigrams, and occasional poems. They are characterised by brilliancy of wit, though frequently of a fantastic character; by subtlety and depth of reflection; and by terseness and vigour of language. His versification is in general uncouth and rugged; but this style seems to have been his choice. Dryden calls him "the greatest wit, though not the greatest poet of our nation."-See Dryden's Dedication of Juvenal to the Earl of Dorset. He is the father of the class of writers 1 In the extracts from Shakespeare, Reed's text and division of the Scenes has been followed. |