The cow, the old cow, she is dead; It sleeps well, the horned head: We poor lads, 'tis our turn now To hear such tunes as killed the cow.
— from A Shropshire Lad by A. E. (Alfred Edward) Housman

* La poudre à canon et d'autres compositions inflammantes, dont ils se servent pour construire des pièces d'artifice d'un effet suprenant, leur étaient connues depuis très long-temps, et l'on croit que des bombardes et des pierriers, dont ils avaient enseigné l'usage
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

The punishment of the fustuarium is assigned also to any one committing theft in the camp, or bearing false witness: as also to any one who in full manhood is detected in shameful immorality: or to any one who has been thrice punished for the same offence.
— from The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Polybius

Had my parents allowed me, when I read a book, to pay a visit to the country it described, I should have felt that I was making an enormous advance towards the ultimate conquest of truth.
— from Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

“I am dashed if I do,” I said, enraged.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

Behind them came the tall silver candelabra, the municipal corporation, the precious images dressed in satin and gold, representing St. Dominic and the Virgin of Peace in a magnificent blue robe trimmed with gilded silver, the gift of the pious ex-gobernadorcillo, the so-worthy-of-being-imitated and never-sufficiently-praised Don Santiago de los Santos.
— from The Social Cancer: A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal

If I should write what manner of eyes they have, I doubt I should be taken for a liar in publishing a matter so incredible: yet I cannot choose but tell it: for they have eyes to take in and out as please themselves: and when a man is so disposed, he may take them out and lay them by till he have occasion to use them, and then put them in and see again: many when they have lost their own eyes, borrow of others, for the rich have many lying by them.
— from Lucian's True History by of Samosata Lucian

The natural thing for the officer to do, in this case, was to follow straight on my heels; he would find a stout oaken door, securely locked, between him and me; before he could break it down, I should be far away and engaged in slipping into a succession of baffling disguises which would soon get me into a sort of raiment which was a surer protection from meddling law-dogs in Britain than any amount of mere innocence and purity of character.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

For although I am safe from detection, although every proof against me is destroyed, I suppose, Gertrude . . .
— from An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

There is much more satisfaction in finding rich pockets independently of direction, and by close observance of indications rather than chance, or by having them pointed out; for the one that reads this, and goes ahead of you to the spot, and either destroys the remainder by promiscuous cuttings, or carries them off in bulk, as there are many who go to a locality, and what they cannot carry off they destroy, give you a disappointment in finding nothing; consequently, I have considered that this digression from our subject in detail was pardonable, that one may be independent of the stated parts of the locality, and not too confidently rely on them, as I am sometimes disappointed myself in localities and pockets that I discover in spare time by finding that some one has been there between times, and carried off the remainder.
— from Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882 by Various

When I want to remember something, and am out in the field, and cannot write it down, I say to one of the men, or boys, come to me at such a time, and tell me so and so.
— from Advice to Young Men And (Incidentally) to Young Women in the Middle and Higher Ranks of Life. In a Series of Letters, Addressed to a Youth, a Bachelor, a Lover, a Husband, a Father, a Citizen, or a Subject. by William Cobbett

The soft, white, cotton-like pulp is divided into sections, each containing a shiny, black seed, about half an inch long.
— from Fruits of the Hawaiian Islands by Gerrit Parmile Wilder

It is decorated in subjects chosen from Greek mythology.
— from Dorothy's Tour by Evelyn Raymond

I was astonished at the skill which the Indians display in shooting turtles.
— from The Naturalist on the River Amazons by Henry Walter Bates

Like the councils, it is divided into sections, to which the members are assigned according to their peculiar aptitudes.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 10, October, 1869 to March, 1870 by Various

Mos' de work I done in slavery was eat de food, 'cause I's only six year old when de war am over.
— from Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves: Volume XVI, Texas Narratives, Part 3 by United States. Work Projects Administration

"What else could I do?" "I shouldn't be surprised if part of it was actually for the purpose of settling with the man who helped you to disobey my orders.
— from The Substitute Millionaire by Hulbert Footner