John Bartlett (1820–1905). Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. 1919.
Thomas Otway 1652-1685 John Bartlett
| 1 |
| O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee To temper man: we had been brutes without you. Angels are painted fair, to look like you: There ’s in you all that we believe of heaven,— Amazing brightness, purity, and truth, Eternal joy, and everlasting love. |
| Venice Preserved. Act i. Sc. 1. |
| 2 |
| Dear as the vital warmth that feeds my life; Dear as these eyes, that weep in fondness o’er thee. 1 |
| Venice Preserved. Act v. Sc. 1. |
| 3 |
| And die with decency. |
| Venice Preserved. Act v. Sc. 3. |
| 4 |
| What mighty ills have not been done by woman! Who was ’t betrayed the Capitol?—A woman! Who lost Mark Antony the world?—A woman! Who was the cause of a long ten years’ war, And laid at last old Troy in ashes?—Woman! Destructive, damnable, deceitful woman! 2 |
| The Orphan. Act iii. Sc. 1. |
| 5 |
| Let us embrace, and from this very moment vow an eternal misery together. 3 |
| The Orphan. Act iv. Sc. 2. |
| Note 1. See Shakespeare, page 112. Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes; Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart. Thomas Gray: The Bard, part i. stanza 3. [back] |
| Note 2. O woman, woman! when to ill thy mind Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend. Alexander Pope: Homer’s Odyssey, book xi. line 531. [back] |
| Note 3. Let us swear an eternal friendship.—J. Hookham Frere: The Rovers, act i. sc. 1. [back] |