John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Page 591
| McDonald Clarke. (1798–1842) |
| 6060 |
| Whilst twilight’s curtain spreading far, Was pinned with a single star. 1 |
| Death in Disguise. Line 227. (Boston edition, 1833.) |
| 6061 |
| Ha! see where the wild-blazing Grog-shop appears, As the red waves of wretchedness swell; How it burns on the edge of tempestuous years— The horrible Light-house of Hell! |
| The Rum-hole. |
| Thomas Hood. (1799–1845) |
| 6062 |
| There is a silence where hath been no sound, There is a silence where no sound may be,— In the cold grave, under the deep, deep sea, Or in the wide desert where no life is found. |
| Sonnet. Silence. |
| 6063 |
| We watched her breathing through the night, Her breathing soft and low, As in her breast the wave of life Kept heaving to and fro. |
| The Death-Bed. |
| 6064 |
| Our very hopes belied our fears, Our fears our hopes belied; We thought her dying when she slept, And sleeping when she died. |
| The Death-Bed. |
| Note 1. Variant: While twilight’s curtain gathering far Is pinned with a single diamond star. Mrs. Child says: “He thus describes the closing day:— ‘Now twilight lets her curtain down, And pins it with a star.’” See Hood: Dream of Eugene Aram. “And drew my midnight curtain with fingers bloody red.” Cf. W. R. Alger, The Use of the Moon. The moon is a silver pinhead vast That holds the heavens tent-hangings fast. [back] |