"Three poets, in three distant ages born, Greece, Italy, and England did adorn. The first in loftiness of thought surpassed; The next, in majesty; in both the last. The force of Nature could no further go. To make a third, she joined the former two."

"And torture one poor word ten thousand ways."

"Our vows are heard betimes! and Heaven takes care To grant, before we can conclude the prayer: Preventing angels met it half the way, And sent us back to praise, who came to pray."

"Her wit was more than man, her innocence a child."

"O gracious God! how far have we Profaned thy heavenly gift of poesy!"

"Since heaven's eternal year is thine."

"Men met each other with erected look, The steps were higher that they took; Friends to congratulate their friends made haste, And long inveterate foes saluted as they passed."

"Above any Greek or Roman name."

"Wit will shine Through the harsh cadence of a rugged line."

"Bold knaves thrive without one grain of sense, But good men starve for want of impudence."

"Happy who in his verse can gently steer From grave to light, from pleasant to severe."

"Thespis, the first professor of our art, At country wakes sung ballads from a cart."

"Their heavenly harps a lower strain began, And in soft music mourn the fall of man."

"But Shakespeare's magic could not copied be; Within that circle none durst walk but he."

"All things are hush'd, as Nature's self lay dead, The Mountains seem to nod their drowsy head; The little Birds in dreams their Songs repeat, And sleeping Flowers, beneath the night-dew sweat; Even Lust and Envy sleep."

"An horrid stillness first invades the ear, And in that silence we the tempest fear."

"It is sufficient to say, according to the proverb, that here is God's plenty."

"A satirical poet is the check of the laymen on bad priests."

"Fate, and the dooming gods, are deaf to tears."

"Ye realms, yet unreveal'd to human sight, Ye gods who rule the regions of the night, Ye gliding ghosts, permit me to relate The mystic wonders of your silent state!"

"The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way: But to return, and view the cheerful skies, In this the task and mighty labor lies."

"Like you, an alien in a land unknown, I learn to pity woes so like my own."

"Endure the hardships of your present state, Live, and reserve yourselves for better fate."

"Can heav'nly minds such high resentment show, Or exercise their spite in human woe?"

"Arms, and the man I sing, who, forced by Fate, And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate, Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore; Long labours both by sea and land he bore."

"Love is lord of all, and is in all the same."

"My next desire is, void of care and strife, To lead a soft, secure, inglorious life: A country cottage near a crystal flood, A winding valley, and a lofty wood."

"Love conquers all, and we must yield to Love."

"A Heroick Poem, truly such, is undoubtedly the greatest Work which the Soul of Man is capable to perform."

"Let old Timotheus yield the prize, Or both divide the crown; He rais’d a mortal to the skies; She drew an angel down."

"Timotheus, to his breathing flute, And sounding lyre, Could swell the soul to rage, or kindle soft desire."

"And, like another Helen, fir'd another Troy."

"Sigh'd and look'd, and sigh'd again."

"Softly sweet, in Lydian measures, Soon he soothed his soul to pleasures. War, he sung, is toil and trouble; Honor but an empty bubble; Never ending, still beginning, Fighting still, and still destroying. If all the world be worth thy winning. Think, oh think it worth enjoying: Lovely Thaïs sits beside thee, Take the good the gods provide thee."

"For pity melts the mind to love."

"Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen, Fallen from his high estate, And welt'ring in his blood; Deserted, at his utmost need, By those his former bounty fed, On the bare earth exposed he lies, With not a friend to close his eyes."

"Sooth'd with the sound, the king grew vain; Fought all his battles o'er again; And thrice he routed all his foes, and thrice he slew the slain."

"Drinking is the soldier’s pleasure; Rich the treasure; Sweet the pleasure; Sweet is pleasure after pain."

"Bacchus, ever fair and ever young."

"Sound the trumpets; beat the drums... Now give the hautboys breath; he comes, he comes."

"With ravished ears The monarch hears; Assumes the god, Affects the nod, And seems to shake the spheres."

"Happy, happy, happy pair! None but the brave, None but the brave, None but the brave deserves the fair."

"I have a soul that like an ample shield Can take in all, and verge enough for more."

"This is the porcelain clay of humankind."

"The true Amphitryon is the Amphitryon where we dine."

"Whistling to keep myself from being afraid."

"A knockdown argument: 'tis but a word and a blow."

"She knows her man, and when you rant and swear, Can draw you to her with a single hair."

"Indulge, and to thy genius freely give; For not to live at ease, is not to live. Death stalks behind thee, and each flying hour Does some loose remnant of thy life devour. Live, while thou liv'st; for death will make us all A name, a nothing but an old wife's tale."