The 'Deus ex Machina' should be employed only for events external to the drama,—for antecedent or subsequent events, which lie beyond the range of human knowledge, and which require to be reported or foretold; for to the gods we ascribe the power of seeing all things.
— from The Poetics of Aristotle by Aristotle

AT A COUNTRY HOUSE PAVEL ILYITCH RASHEVITCH walked up and down, stepping softly on the floor covered with little Russian plaids, and casting a long shadow on the wall and ceiling while his guest, Meier, the deputy examining magistrate, sat on the sofa with one leg drawn up under him smoking and listening.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Mr. Bounderby silently gazed about him for some moments, in every direction except Mrs. Sparsit’s direction; and then, abruptly turning upon the niece of Lady Scadgers, said to that wretched woman: ‘Now, ma’am!
— from Hard Times by Charles Dickens

July 20th, the State Department wrote Mr. Pratt a letter acknowledging receipt of his of June 9th “enclosing printed copies of a report from the Straits Times of the same day, entitled ‘Mr. Spencer Pratt’s Serenade,’ with a view to its communication to the press,” and not only not felicitating him on his serenade, but making him sorry he had ever had a serenade.
— from The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912 by James H. (James Henderson) Blount

She had him out at daylight every morning, stood him up in the wood-shed and drowned him with a deluge of cold water; then she scrubbed him down with a towel like a file, and so brought him to; then she rolled him up in a wet sheet and put him away under blankets till she sweated his soul clean and “the yellow stains of it came through his pores”—as Tom said.
— from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

what dark eye meets she there?
— from Don Juan by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron

"Your plan," said one, a friend of Moreau, to the First Consul, "is grander, more decisive, even more sure.
— from Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. V, No. XXV, June, 1852 by Various

Float swift or slow from cliff to cliff: With dreamful eyes my spirit lies Under the walls of Paradise.
— from The Canadian Elocutionist Designed for the Use of Colleges, Schools and Self Instruction, Together with a Copious Selection in Prose and Poetry of Pieces Adapted for Reading, Recitation and Practice by Anna K. (Anna Kelsey) Howard

"Lady Sackvil is ill, and wants you," she said breathlessly; for, now that her duty was done, every minute seemed an age until she could see Nicholas.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 11, April, 1870 to September, 1870 by Various

I know nothing about the Standing Committee of the Spec., did not know that such a body existed, and even if it doth exist, must sadly repudiate all association with such 'goodly fellowship.'
— from The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson

Russell and Dowdall were permitted to return to Ireland, where they shared the fate of Robert Emmet in 1803; O'Conor, Corbet, Allen, Ware, and others, cast their lot in France, where they all rose to distinction; Emmet, McNevin, Sampson, and the family of Tone were reunited in New York, where the many changes and distractions of a great metropolitan community have not even yet obliterated the memories of their virtues, their talents, and their accomplishments.
— from A Popular History of Ireland : from the Earliest Period to the Emancipation of the Catholics - Volume 2 by Thomas D'Arcy McGee

In the conflict, the revolted had thrown two casks of wine, and all the remaining water, into the sea; and it became necessary to diminish each man's share.
— from Thrilling Stories Of The Ocean From Authentic Accounts Of Modern Voyagers And Travellers; Designed For The Entertainment And Instruction Of Young People by Marmaduke Park

V. How then, at dim, exciting morn, Suspense will question—as the Dark Is clearing seaward—"Has
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 65, No. 402, April, 1849 by Various