The astonish'd archer to great Ajax cries; "Some god prevents our destined enterprise: Some god, propitious to the Trojan foe, Has, from my arm unfailing, struck the bow, And broke the nerve my hands had twined with art, Strong to impel the flight of many a dart.
— from The Iliad by Homer

For Lilith was forerunner of the mediæval mothers weeping for their children; her voice of perpetual lamentation at the cruel fate allotted her by the combined tyranny of God and man was heard on every sighing wind; and she was the richly dressed bride of the Prince of Devils, ever seeking to tempt youth.
— from Demonology and Devil-lore by Moncure Daniel Conway

By an extension of its use in expressing reference, al may often be used in the place of de expressing separation (170), when the use of de might seem to indicate agency (169) or possession (49):
— from A Complete Grammar of Esperanto by Ivy Kellerman Reed

Cheke's Clock. —Strype, in his Life of Sir John Cheke , mentions that among other presents bestowed on him by the king, was his own clock, which after his death came into the possession of Dr. Edwin Sandys, Bishop of Worcester, who, about 1563, gave it as a new year's gift to Cecil the Secretary.
— from Notes and Queries, Vol. V, Number 127, April 3, 1852 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various

This piece of diligent extra school work is another of the many examples of the boy Wagner, “father to the man.”
— from Wagner as I Knew Him by Ferdinand Praeger

For about two minutes she did, then, a little way out, she saw a pair of dark eyes staring at her, and a moment later, a young seal hauled himself to the land and 223 started in her direction.
— from The Mystery of Seal Islands by Harrison Bardwell

We are not conscious of any mental act preceding or directing each step and movement of the limbs, but having at the outset decided what direction to take, the mind gives itself to other matters, while the process of walking goes on by a sort of mechanical impulse, until presently something occurs to arrest our attention and direct it to the physical movement in which we are engaged.
— from Mental Philosophy: Including the Intellect, Sensibilities, and Will by Joseph Haven