L.
Labor.
I have seen a swan
With bootless labor swim against the tide,
And spend her strength with over-matching waves.
1043
SHAKS.: 3 Henry VI., Act i., Sc. 4.
Labor, you know, is Prayer.
1044
BAYARD TAYLOR: Improvisations, St. 11.
Taste the joy
That springs from labor.
1045
LONGFELLOW: Masque of Pandora, Pt. vi.
To fall'n humanity our Father said,
That food and bliss should not be found unsought;
That man should labor for his daily bread;
But not that man should toil and sweat for nought.
1046
EBENEZER ELLIOTT: Corn Law Hymns.
To labor is the lot of man below;
And when Jove gave us life, he gave us woe.
1047
POPE: Iliad, Bk. x., Line 78.
Ladies.
Ladies, like variegated tulips, show
'T is to their changes half their charms we owe.
1048
POPE: Moral Essays, Epis. ii., Line 41.
Lake.
On thy fair bosom, silver lake,
The wild swan spreads his snowy sail,
And round his breast the ripples break
As down he bears before the gale.
1049
JAMES G. PERCIVAL: To Seneca Lake.
Land.
Breathes there the man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said
This is my own, my native land!
1050
SCOTT: Lay of the Last Minstrel, Canto vi., St. 1.
O Caledonia! stern and wild,
Meet nurse for a poetic child!
Land of brown heath and shaggy wood;
Land of the mountain and the flood!
1051
SCOTT: Lay of the Last Minstrel, Canto vi., St. 2.
Landscape.
The low'ring element
Scowls o'er the darken'd landscape
1052
MILTON: Par. Lost, Bk. ii., Line 490.
Ever charming, ever new,
When will the landscape tire the view?
1053
JOHN DYER: Grongar Hill, Line 102.
Language.
Fit language there is none
For the heart's deepest things.
1054
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL: Legend of Brittany, Pt. i., St. 28.
Spake full well, in language quaint and olden,
One who dwelleth by the castled Rhine,
When he called the flowers, so blue and golden,
Stars, that in earth's firmament do shine.
1055
LONGFELLOW: Flowers.
Lark.
Now hear the lark,
The herald of the morn;... whose notes do beat
The vaulty heavens, so high above our heads,...
Some say the lark makes sweet division.
1056
SHAKS.: Rom. and Jul., Act iii., Sc. 5.
And now the herald lark
Left his ground-nest, high tow'ring to descry
The morn's approach, and greet her with his song.
1057
MILTON: Par. Regained, Bk. ii., Line 279
Lass.
A penniless lass wi' a lang pedigree.
1058
LADY NAIRNE: The Laird o' Cockpen.
Latin.
That soft bastard Latin,
Which melts like kisses from a female mouth.
1059
BYRON: Beppo, St. 44.
Laughter.
Laughter, holding both his sides.
1060
MILTON: L'Allegro, Line 32.
Vulcan with awkward grace his office plies,
And unextinguish'd laughter shakes the skies.
1061
POPE: Iliad, Bk. i., Line 770.
Law.
In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,
But, being seasoned with a gracious voice,
Obscures the show of evil?
1062
SHAKS.: M. of Venice, Act iii., Sc. 2.
Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law.
1063
GOLDSMITH: Traveller, Line 386.
And sovereign law, that state's collected will,
O'er thrones and globes elate,
Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill.
1064
SIR WILLIAM JONES: Ode in Im. of Alcoeus.
Leaf—Leaves.
My way of life
Is fall'n into the sere, the yellow leaf.
1065
SHAKS.: Macbeth, Act v., Sc. 3.
Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren,
Since o'er shady groves they hover,
And with leaves and flowers do cover
The friendless bodies of unburied men.
1066
JOHN WEBSTER: The White Devil, Act v., Sc. 2.
Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,—
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground.
1067
POPE: Iliad, Bk. vi., Line 181.
Learning.
"The thrice three Muses mourning for the death
Of learning, late deceas'd in beggary,"—
That is some satire, keen and critical.
1068
SHAKS.: Mid. N. Dream, Act v., Sc. 1.
Learning unrefin'd,
That oft enlightens to corrupt the mind.
1069
FALCONER: Shipwreck, Canto i., Line 166.
Some for renown, on scraps of learning dote,
And think they grow immortal as they quote.
1070
YOUNG: Love of Fame, Satire i., Line 89.
Lending.
Loan oft loses both itself and friend.
1071
SHAKS.: Hamlet, Act i., Sc. 3.
If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not
As to thy friends; (for when did friendship take
A breed of barren metal of his friend?)
But lend it rather to thine enemy;
Who, if he break, thou mayst with better face
Exact the penalties.
1072
SHAKS.: M. of Venice, Act i., Sc. 3.
Letters.
My letters! all dead paper, mute and white!
And yet they seem alive, and quivering
Against my tremulous hands which loose the string
And let them drop down on my knee to-night.
1073
MRS. BROWNING: Sonnets fr. Portuguese, Sonnet xxviii.
Kind messages, that pass from land to land;
Kind letters, that betray the heart's deep history,
In which we feel the pressure of a hand,—
One touch of fire,—and all the rest is mystery!
1074
LONGFELLOW: Dedication to Seaside and Fireside, St. 5.
You have the letters Cadmus gave,—
Think ye he meant them for a slave?.
1075
BYRON: Don Juan, Canto iii., St. 86. 10.
Liberty.
I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the wind,
To blow on whom I please.
1076
SHAKS.: As You Like It, Act ii., Sc. 7.
In liberty's defence, my noble task,
Of which all Europe rings from side to side;
This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask,
Content, though blind—had I no better guide.
1077
MILTON: Sonnet xxii., To Cyriack Skinner.
When liberty is gone,
Life grows insipid and has lost its relish.
1078
ADDISON: Cato, Act ii., Sc. 3.
Liberty, like day,
Breaks on the soul, and by a flash from Heaven
Fires all the faculties with glorious joy.
1079
COWPER: Task, Bk. v., Line 882.
Liberty 's in every blow!
Let us do or die.
1080
BURNS: Bannockburn.
The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty.
1081
MILTON: L'Allegro, Line 36.
Lies.
You told a lie; an odious, damned lie:
Upon my soul, a lie; a wicked lie.
1082
SHAKS.: Othello, Act v., Sc. 2.
Dare to be true. Nothing can need a lie;
A fault which needs it most, grows two thereby.
1083
HERBERT: Temple, Church Porch, St. 13.
Life.
Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
1084
SHAKS.: Macbeth, Act v., Sc. 5.
Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou livest,
Live well; how long or short, permit to Heav'n.
1085
MILTON: Par. Lost, Bk. xi., Line 553.
Must we count
Life a curse and not a blessing, summed-up in its whole amount,
Help and hindrance, joy and sorrow?
1086
ROBERT BROWNING: La Saisiaz, Line 206.
Between two worlds, life hovers like a star
'Twixt night and morn, upon the horizon's verge.
1087
BYRON: Don Juan, Canto xv., St. 99.
Our life is scarce the twinkle of a star
In God's eternal day.
1088
BAYARD TAYLOR: Autumnal Vespers.
Life is the gift of God, and is divine.
1089
LONGFELLOW: T. of a Wayside Inn, Emma and Eginhard.
What is life? A thawing iceboard
On a sea with sunny shore:
Gay we sail; it melts beneath us;
We are sunk and seen no more.
1090
CARLYLE: Cui Bono.
Life's a vast sea
That does its mighty errand without fail,
Panting in unchanged strength though waves are changing.
1091
GEORGE ELIOT: Spanish Gypsy, Bk. iii.
Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold:
Not all Apollo's Pythian treasures hold,
Or Troy once held, in peace and pride of sway,
Can bribe the poor possession of a day.
1092
POPE: Iliad, Bk. ix., Line 524.
So careful of the type she seems,
So careless of the single life.
1093
TENNYSON: In Memoriam, lv., St. 2.
Light.
Hail, holy Light! offspring of Heaven first-born!
Or of the Eternal coeternal beam,
May I express thee unblam'd? since God is light,
And never but in unapproachèd light
Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee,
Bright effluence of bright essence increate!
1094
MILTON: Par. Lost, Bk. iii., Line 1.
But yet the light that led astray
Was light from heaven.
1095
BURNS: The Vision.
The light that never was, on sea or land;
The consecration, and the Poet's dream.
1096
WORDSWORTH: Suggested by a Picture of Peele Castle in a Storm, St. 4.
Light, light, and light! to break and melt in sunder
All clouds and chains that in one bondage bind
Eyes, hands, and spirits, forged by fear and wonder
And sleek fierce fraud with hidden knife behind.
1097
SWINBURNE: Eve of Revolution, St. 10.
Lightning.
Swift as a shadow, short as any dream;
Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
1098
SHAKS.: Mid. N. Dream, Act i., Sc. 1.
Lilies.
Like the lily,
That once was mistress of the field and flourish'd,
I'll hang my head and perish.
1099
SHAKS.: Henry VIII, Act iii., Sc. 1.
In twisted braids of lilies knitting
The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair.
1100
MILTON: Comus, Line 859.
Lincoln, Abraham.
This man, whose homely face you look upon,
Was one of Nature's masterful, great men;
Born with strong arms, that unfought battles won
Direct of speech, and cunning with the pen.
Chosen for large designs, he had the art
Of winning with his humor, and he went
Straight to his mark, which was the human heart;
Wise, too, for what he could not break he bent.
Upon his back a more than Atlas-load,—
The burden of the Commonwealth,—was laid;
He stooped, and rose up to it, though the road
Shot suddenly downwards, not a whit dismayed.
Hold, warriors, councillors, kings! All now give place
To this dear benefactor of the Race.
1101
R.H. STODDARD: Abraham Lincoln.
Line.
Marlowe's mighty line.
1102
BEN JONSON: To the Memory of Shakespeare.
Profan'd the God-given strength, and marr'd the lofty line.
1103
SCOTT: Marmion, Introduction to Canto i.
Lion.
The lion, dying, thrusteth forth his paw,
And wounds the earth, if nothing else, with rage
To be o'erpowered.
1104
SHAKS.: Richard II., Act v., Sc. 1.
Lips.
Her lips are roses over-washed with dew,
Or like the purple of Narcissus' flower;
No frost their fair, no wind doth waste their power,
But by her breath her beauties do renew.
1105
ROBERT GREENE: From Menaphon. Menaphon's Ecl.
Little.
Contented wi' little, and cantie wi' mair.
1106
BURNS: Contented wi' Little.
Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long.
1107
GOLDSMITH: The Hermit, Ch. viii., St. 8.
Locks.
Thou canst not say I did it; never shake
Thy gory locks at me.
1108
SHAKS.: Macbeth, Act iii., Sc. 4.
John Anderson my jo, John,
When we were first acquent,
Your locks were like the raven,
Your bonny brow was brent.
1109
BURNS: John Anderson.
Logic.
He was in logic a great critic,
Profoundly skill'd in analytic;
He could distinguish and divide
A hair 'twixt south and south-west side.
1110
BUTLER: Hudibras, Pt. i., Canto i., Line 65.
London.
London! the needy villain's general home,
The common-sewer of Paris and of Rome!
With eager thirst, by folly or by fate,
Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state.
1111
DR. JOHNSON: London, Line 83.
Longings.
I have
Immortal longings in me.
1112
SHAKS.: Ant. and Cleo., Act v., Sc. 2.
Looks.
My only books
Were woman's looks,—
And folly 's all they've taught me.
1113
MOORE: The Time I've Lost in Wooing.
Where village statesmen talk'd with looks profound,
And news much older than their ale went round.
1114
GOLDSMITH: Des. Village, Line 223.
Lord.
Lord of himself,—that heritage of woe!
1115
BYRON: Lara, Canto i., St. 2.
Lord of himself, though not of lands;
And having nothing, yet hath all.
1116
WOTTON: Character of a Happy Life.
Loss.
That loss is common would not make
My own less bitter—rather more;
Too common! Never morning wore
To evening but some heart did break.
1117
TENNYSON: In Memoriam, Pt. vi., St. 2.
Love.
O, how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day;
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,
And by and by a cloud takes all away.
1118
SHAKS.: Two Gent. of V., Act i., Sc. 3.
Love is a spirit all compact of fire;
Not gross to sink, but light, and will aspire.
1119
SHAKS.: Venus and A., Line 149.
Such is the power of that sweet passion,
That it all sordid baseness doth expel,
And the refined mind doth newly fashion
Unto a fairer form, which now doth dwell
In his high thought, that would itself excel;
Which he, beholding still with constant sight,
Admires the mirror of so heavenly light.
1120
SPENSER: Hymn in Honor of Love.
How could I tell I should love thee to-day,
Whom that day I held not dear?
How could I know I should love thee away
When I did not love thee anear?
1121
JEAN INGELOW: Supper at the Mill. Song.
Instruct me now what love will do;
'T will make a tongueless man to woo.
Inform me next what love will do;
'T will strangely make a one of two.
Teach me besides what love will do;
'T will quickly mar and make ye too.
Tell me, now last, what love will do;
'T will hurt and heal a heart pierc'd through.
1122
SIR JOHN SUCKLING: Aph. of Love.
Love is the only good in the world.
Henceforth be loved as heart can love,
Or brain devise, or hand approve.
1123
ROBERT BROWNING: Flight of the Duchess, Pt. xv.
Mutual love brings mutual delight—
Brings beauty, life; for love is life, hate, death.
1124
R.H. DANA: The Dying Raven.
Let those love now, who never loved before,
Let those who always loved, now love the more.
1125
PARNELL: Trans. of Pervigilium Veneris.
Love, well thou know'st, no partnership allows:
Cupid averse rejects divided vows.
1126
PRIOR: Henry and Emma, Line 590.
And love, life's fine centre, includes heart and mind.
1127
OWEN MEREDITH: Lucile, Pt. ii., Canto i., St. 17.
I hold it true, whate'er befall,
I feel it when I sorrow most;
'T is better to have loved and lost,
Than never to have loved at all.
1128
TENNYSON: In Memoriam, Pt. xxvii., St. 4.
Had we never loved so kindly,
Had we never loved so blindly,
Never met, or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.
1129
BURNS: Song, Ae Fond Kiss.
Love in a hut, with water and a crust,
Is—Love, forgive us! cinders, ashes, dust.
1130
KEATS: Lamia, Pt. ii., Line 1.
Why did she love him? Curious fool! be still;
Is human love the growth of human will?
1131
BYRON: Lara, Canto ii., St. 22.
There is no pleasure like the pain
Of being loved, and loving.
1132
PRAED: Legend of the Haunted Tree.
Man's love is of man's life a thing apart,
'T is woman's whole existence.
1133
BYRON: Don Juan, Canto i., St. 194.
In peace, Love tunes the shepherd's reed;
In war, he mounts the warrior's steed;
In halls, in gay attire is seen;
In hamlets, dances on the green;
Love rules the court, the camp, the grove,
And men below, and saints above;
For love is heaven and heaven is love.
1134
SCOTT: Lay of the Last Minstrel, Canto iii., St. 2.
True love is at home on a carpet,
And mightily likes his ease,—
And true love has an eye for a dinner,
And starves beneath shady trees.
His wing is the fan of a lady,
His foot's an invisible thing,
And his arrow is tipp'd with a jewel,
And shot from a silver string.
1135
WILLIS: Love in a Cottage.
What is love? 't is nature's treasure,
'T is the storehouse of her joys;
'T is the highest heaven of pleasure,
'T is a bliss which never cloys.
1136
THOMAS CHATTERTON: The Revenge, Act i., Sc. 2.
Luxury.
O Luxury! thou curs'd by heaven's decree,
How ill-exchang'd are things like these for thee!
How do thy potions, with insidious joy,
Diffuse their pleasures only to destroy!
1137
GOLDSMITH: Des. Village, Line 395.
Blest hour! it was a luxury—to be!
1138
COLERIDGE: Reflections on Having Left a Place of Retirement.