Thou art not dead, but flown afar, up hills of endless light, through blazing corridors of suns, where worlds do swing of good and gentle men, of women strong and free—far from the cozenage, black hypocrisy, and chaste prostitution of this shameful speck of dust!
— from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois

He named several different sorts of grain, all but the right one, and the door still stuck fast.
— from The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

But for this again no bodily image could be found, so the form of the written character itself was taken, and so drawn as to represent a kuei (3) (disembodied spirit, or ghost) with its foot raised, and bearing aloft a tou (4) (bushel-measure).
— from Myths and Legends of China by E. T. C. (Edward Theodore Chalmers) Werner

Yet all this denunciation was qualified with an alternative, by which he was given to understand, that the gates of mercy were still open, and that penitence was capable of washing out the deepest stain of guilt.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. (Tobias) Smollett

As in a theatre the eyes of men After a well-grac'd actor leaves the stage Are idly bent on him that enters next, Thinking his prattle to be tedious; Even so, or with much more contempt, men's eyes Did scowl on gentle Richard; no man cried 'God save him!'
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

The Sound of it was exceeding sweet, and wrought into a Variety of Tunes that were inexpressibly melodious, and altogether different from any thing I had ever heard: They put me in mind of those heavenly Airs that are played to the departed Souls of good Men upon their first Arrival in Paradise, to wear out the Impressions of the last Agonies, and qualify them for the Pleasures of that happy Place.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

The spacious square, the ample road With mimes and dancers overflowed, And with the voice of music rang Where minstrels played and singers sang, And shone, a wonder to behold, With dazzling show of gems and gold.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

If the napkin is merely laid open upon your lap, it will be very apt to slip down, if your dress is of silk or satin, and you risk the chance of appearing again in the drawing-room with the front of your dress soiled or greased.
— from The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness A Complete Hand Book for the Use of the Lady in Polite Society by Florence Hartley

The old lady and her daughter seemed on good terms—very affectionate towards each other.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 1 by Edgar Allan Poe

This man, who was old, moreover, had a thick nose, his chin swathed in a cravat, green spectacles with a double screen of green taffeta over his eyes, and his hair was plastered and flattened down on his brow on a level with his eyebrows like the wigs of English coachmen in “high life.”
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

You’re a different sort of girl to what you were when I last saw you.”
— from The Fallen Leaves by Wilkie Collins

For what this superbly equipped community, this irresistibly advancing army of the chosen warriors of Bahá’u’lláh, battling under His banner, operating in conformity with the explicit Mandate voiced by His beloved Son, has already achieved, over so extensive a field, in such a brief time, at such great sacrifice, for so precious a Cause, and in the course of such turbulent years, I cannot but feel the deepest sense of gratitude the like of which no achievement, single or collective, rendered in any other part of the globe, by any community associated with the Cause of the Most Great Name has evoked.
— from Citadel of Faith by Effendi Shoghi

For if they so acted on account of life in this world, why do you reproach me for worshipping the holy memories of the saints, whether in books or pictures, their combats and sufferings, which are a daily source of good to me, and will help me to lasting and eternal life?
— from St John Damascene on Holy Images (πρὸς τοὺς διαβάλλοντας τᾶς ἁγίας εἰκόνας). Followed by Three Sermons on the Assumption (κοίμησις) by Saint John of Damascus

Of course there was a risk—a great risk; you might have turned out a dreadful set of girls! ...
— from The Girls of Chequertrees by Marion St. John Webb

An' when, at last, at the drashel, mother Do call us, smilèn, in-door to rest, Then we do cluster by woone another, To zee hwome them we do love the best: An' then do sound, O, "Good night," all round, O, To end our glee by the welshnut tree.
— from Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect by William Barnes

Her face had a still deeper shade of gloom; but the attached girl drew a favorable augury from this mark of interest in anything, except her own thoughts.
— from Alone by Marion Harland

I attended at the Collége Louis le Grand, and at the Sorbonne, all or any lectures by everybody, including a very dull series on German literature by Philarete Châsles.
— from Memoirs by Charles Godfrey Leland

Meanwhile, in Lovisa Elsland's close and comfortless dwelling, stood Olaf Güldmar.
— from Thelma by Marie Corelli