In the processes of word-formation, myriads die, but here and there the attempt attracts superior meanings, becomes valuable and indispensable, and lives forever.
— from Complete Prose Works Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Goodbye My Fancy by Walt Whitman

So thick the branches and the leves grene, Beshaded all the alleys that there were, And midst of every arbour might be seen, The sharpe, grene, swete juniper, Growing so fair with branches here and there, That as it seemed to a lyf without, The boughs did spread the arbour all about.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving

But Beowulf lies down with his warriors, saying proudly that, since weapons will not avail against the monster, he will grapple with him bare handed and trust to a warrior's strength.
— from English Literature Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English-Speaking World by William J. (William Joseph) Long

When Hannibal saw the enemy approaching, he sent a third of his army foraging for corn, but took the other two-thirds with him, and, advancing sixteen stades from Geronium towards the enemy, pitched a camp upon a piece of rising ground, with a view at once of overawing his opponents, and affording safety to his foraging parties: and there being another elevation between him and the two armies, which was near, and conveniently placed for an attack upon the enemy’s lines, he sent out about two thousand light-armed troops in the night and seized it.
— from The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Polybius

The other told him, "A little distance from this gate there is erected a strong castle, of which Beelzebub, the Evil One, is the captain; from whence both he and they that are with him shoot arrows at those that come up to this gate, if haply they may die before they can enter in."
— from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan Every Child Can Read by John Bunyan

In return, I will make over to you my spirited young horse, with all the beautiful harness and trappings that are on him, freely thrown in.
— from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

However, his manner so well agreed with theirs, and he seemed so trusty a man, that he went out with them, and ravaged and destroyed the country with them about Masada; yet when he persuaded them to undertake greater things, he could not prevail with them so to do; for as they were accustomed to dwell in that citadel, they were afraid of going far from that which was their hiding-place; but he affecting to tyrannize, and being fond of greatness, when he had heard of the death of Ananus, he left them, and went into the mountainous part of the country.
— from The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Flavius Josephus

Over my dirty trousers and vulgar shirt I put on his smart driving-coat, which buttoned high at the top and thereby hid the deficiencies of my collar.
— from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan

A large hedge of thorns soon grew round the palace, and every year it became higher and thicker; till at last the old palace was surrounded and hidden, so that not even the roof or the chimneys could be seen.
— from Grimms' Fairy Tales by Wilhelm Grimm

She sat down and touched the keys, her eyes watching eagerly for a chance to speak to the Boss and see if he knew anything of Gardley; but Forsythe was close beside her all the time, and there was no opportunity.
— from A Voice in the Wilderness by Grace Livingston Hill

At the worst, he would stand as well as he had stood before I crossed his path—with but one man between him and the throne, and that man an impostor; at best, there would be none left to stand against him.
— from The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope

Their principal observer, M. de Dittmar, thought that a cold and snowy winter would add materially to the supply of ice, but he also thought that a necessity to the existence of the ice in these troughs was an abundant water supply from a spring, whose temperature should be so high as not to freeze in winter.
— from Glacières; or, Freezing Caverns by Edwin Swift Balch

God and his truth are always clear, always the same, but the passions of men fill their own hearts with obscurity and turbulence; their depravity is itself obscurity; and through all this perplexity and wilful ignorance, they contend that God is just such a being as they behold him, and that they are very good beings in his sight.
— from Choice Specimens of American Literature, and Literary Reader Being Selections from the Chief American Writers by Benj. N. (Benjamin Nicholas) Martin

"Horrible little fluffs just out of the incubator—with their silly brains and rotten manners, and their 'Bunny Hugs' and 'Turkey Trots' and 'Dying Chickens,' and the champagne flaming in their baby cheeks!
— from The Business of Life by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

Cards to view may be had at the Treasury any day after the meeting of Parliament.
— from Punch, or the London Charivari. Volume 1, July 31, 1841 by Various

[Pg 224] "Will you be here all the time?" asked the girl.
— from Stories of the Foot-hills by Margaret Collier Graham

[19] Some of his biographers have, about this time, ascribed to him the anecdote of a certain youthful pupil of the military school, who desired to ascend in the car of a balloon with the æronaut Blanchard, and was so mortified at being refused, that he made an attempt to cut the balloon with his sword.
— from Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume II. by Walter Scott

They were before him all the time, and were then presented to him; and, without a word, he carelessly tossed them again upon the table before him.
— from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 20, No. 563, August 25, 1832 by Various

The wordy, restless pleasure evinced by Mrs. Loring, was particularly annoying to Jessie; so much so that any allusion by her aunt to the approaching marriage, was almost certain to cloud her brow.
— from The Hand but Not the Heart; Or, The Life-Trials of Jessie Loring by T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur