Then falter not O book, fulfil your destiny, You not a reminiscence of the land alone, You too as a lone bark cleaving the ether, purpos'd I know not whither, yet ever full of faith, Consort to every ship that sails, sail you!
— from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

On the night of the wedding, she contrived, upon I forget what specious pretence, to have her sister occupy a couch sufficiently near that of the royal pair to admit of easy conversation from bed to bed; and, a little before cock-crowing, she took care to a
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe

I cannot close this foreword without acknowledging my indebtedness to the Pan-American Union for exact data and information; to the New York Public Library and the Hispanic Society of America for the facilities afforded in the copying of excerpts; to Las Novedades for permission to reprint certain text matter; to Dr. Homero Serís for his assistance in collecting Spanish Americanisms; and, last but certainly not least, to the Spanish Department of D. C. Heath & Co., the publishers, for valuable suggestions and assistance in planning the book and in the preparation of the manuscript.
— from Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader by Ernesto Nelson

"Yes, that's the best place for such inflammable nonsense; I'd better burn the house down, I suppose, than let other people blow themselves up with my gunpowder," she thought, as she watched the "Demon of the Jura" whisk away, a little black cinder with fiery eyes.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott

You are a lover, borrow Cupid’s wings, And soar with them above a common bound.
— from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

And though it do take—how many years, Bob?—five years to turn a lirruping hobble-de-hoy chap into a solemn preaching man with no corrupt passions, they'll do it, if it can be done, and polish un off like the workmen they be, and turn un out wi' a long face, and a long black coat and waistcoat, and a religious collar and hat, same as they used to wear in the Scriptures, so that his own mother wouldn't know un sometimes.
— from Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

RETREAT AFTER A LOST BATTLE CHAPTER XIV.
— from On War — Volume 1 by Carl von Clausewitz

Upon arriving at a large back chamber in the fourth story, (the door of which, being found locked, with the key inside, was forced open,) a spectacle presented itself which struck every one present not less with horror than with astonishment.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition Table Of Contents And Index Of The Five Volumes by Edgar Allan Poe

The elephant, who looked upon himself as a lordly beast, could not brook the idea that a woman, though a queen, should ride on his back.
— from Folk-Tales of Bengal by Lal Behari Day

The judges chosen were Mr. Oliver and an able lawyer: both coincided in my opinion: I carried my point.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë

It will often be the case—generally in mountainous regions—that an adequate level base cannot be found; the terminals B and C may be eminences unequal in height, and between may lie mountain slope or valley.
— from Going Afoot: A book on walking. by Bayard Henderson Christy

“I know that it’s all in joke; but you are a little bit caustic, my dear Emilie, you like to hurl epigrams.
— from The Milkmaid of Montfermeil (Novels of Paul de Kock Volume XX) by Paul de Kock

England, it seems, is full of performers who, touring the halls from March to December, are then claimed for panto as her own, arriving a little before Christmas not less regularly than the turkey; and the aim of all of them is as nearly as possible to do the next Christmas what they did last Christmas.
— from Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, March 21, 1917 by Various

Also that sight is made By a twofold twin air: for first is seen The air inside the door-posts; next the doors, The twain to left and right; and afterwards A light beyond comes brushing through our eyes, Then other air, then objects peered upon Outside in their true shape.
— from On the Nature of Things by Titus Lucretius Carus

A full grown man with a scarlet vest and breeches, black stockings and shoes for the coloring of his front, and a long blue coat covering his shoulders and back reminds me somewhat of our summer red bird ( Tanagra rubra ).
— from Audubon and His Journals, Volume 1 (of 2) by John James Audubon

Adorned with a hat lent to me by Mr. von der Malsburg and a little bit cut off from the ribbon of his order, I repaired the next day to the appointed audience, and was received by the Prince with the following words: “Why, you disappeared from Cassel all at once.”
— from Louis Spohr's Autobiography Translated from the German by Louis Spohr

Spite of his years and embonpoint , Murphy was active and athletic; his countenance, though somewhat phlegmatic, was expressive of great resolution and kindliness of nature; he wore a white neck-handkerchief, a deep waistcoat, and a long black coat, with very wide skirts; his breeches, of an olive green colour, corresponded in material with the gaiters which protected his sturdy legs, without reaching entirely to the knee, but allowing the strings belonging to his upper garment to display themselves in long unstudied bows; in fact, the dress and whole tournure of Murphy exactly accorded with the idea of what in England is styled a "gentleman farmer.
— from The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 1 of 6 by Eugène Sue

In fact, Captain Bonnet would not have sailed after a little brig, certainly unsuited to carry costly cargo, had it not been that his piratical principle made it appear to him a point of conscience to prey upon all mercantile craft, little or big, which might come in his way.
— from Kate Bonnet: The Romance of a Pirate's Daughter by Frank Richard Stockton

The old palisade about the place had long ago disappeared, and nothing military remained except the flagpole and an ancient little brass cannon at its foot, blackened with years of verdigris and dirt.
— from Jack Chanty: A Story of Athabasca by Hulbert Footner

Not long after this the same door opened, and a little boy came in; his step was so light and his movements so careful that he made no sound.
— from For the Major: A Novelette by Constance Fenimore Woolson