'Tis said he had a tuneful tongue, Such happy intonation, Wherever he sat down and sung He left a small plantation; Wherever in a lonely grove He set up his forlorn pipes, The gouty oak began to move, And flounder into hornpipes.
— from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson by Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron

That hero in the wood beguile, And steal his lovely spouse the while.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

As long as The Spread Eagle paid her a dollar a column for her 'rubbish', as she called it, Jo felt herself a woman of means, and spun her little romances diligently.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

"I warned her—but she said she couldn't starve the poor dog—he would soon be all she had left, etc.
— from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

Why, before, he looked like the orneriest old rip that ever was; but now, when he’d take off his new white beaver and make a bow and do a smile, he looked that grand and good and pious that you’d say he had walked right out of the ark, and maybe was old Leviticus himself.
— from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

While drinking with the carters, smoking, and singing coarse songs on the preceding evening, he had devoted the whole of the time to observing the stranger, watching him like a cat, and studying him like a mathematician.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

The latter, too, though he would probably have received news of a great disaster to the Epanchin family with perfect composure, would nevertheless have considered it a personal offence if they had dared to marry their daughter without his advice, or we might almost say, his leave.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The noise of this vocal performance awakened the other man, who, staggering upon deck and shaking his late opponent by the hand, swore that singing was his pride and joy and chief delight, and that he desired no better entertainment.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

It was the calm, comprehending gaze of a soul half loosed from its earthly bonds; it was evident she saw, felt, and appreciated, the difference between the two.
— from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

When the servants had done washing and anointing him with oil, and had given him a clean cloak and shirt, he left the bath room and joined the guests who were sitting over their wine.
— from The Odyssey Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original by Homer

They both again began grievously to cry, while the boy related that he had been drowned, but that the dood ady (good lady) had come and saved his life: and the little girl, interrupting him every moment, kept presenting her foot, in telling a similar story of the kindness of the dood ady .
— from The Wanderer; or, Female Difficulties (Volume 4 of 5) by Fanny Burney

And so, poor Hetty had got a face and a presence haunting her waking and sleeping dreams; bright, soft glances had penetrated her, and suffused her life with a strange, happy languor.
— from Adam Bede by George Eliot

And seeing how lately the chiefs enjoyed absolute power, and how the temptations laid in their way by the introduction of money have increased, it is surprising how little they have abused their power.
— from The Fijians: A Study of the Decay of Custom by Basil Thomson

The seats were arranged like those of an amphitheatre, each line on a slightly higher level than the one in front of it, so that everybody saw everything that was going on.
— from Phoebe, Junior by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

" She gave my name and address, and sent his letter on to me.
— from From Death into Life or, Twenty Years of my Ministry by W. (William) Haslam

The country was still wilder and lonelier than that we had seen, and not a single habitation lay upon our route.
— from Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 15, No. 90, June, 1875 by Various

and so he leaveth all hanging in frivolous and idle sort.
— from Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther by Martin Luther

In the attitude with which he waited for his sister to speak there was both pride and shame; his look fell before hers, but the constrained smile on his lips was one of self-esteem at issue with adversity.
— from The Emancipated by George Gissing