Again, the old ballad aims to tell a story, nothing else, and drives straight to its mark; but Whittier portrays the whole landscape and background of the action.
— from Outlines of English and American Literature An Introduction to the Chief Writers of England and America, to the Books They Wrote, and to the Times in Which They Lived by William J. (William Joseph) Long

FOOTNOTES: [1] As the earth’s loftiest peaks rise not in their snows on some isolated hill that stands like a lonely pyramid on a level plain, but where the mountains, as in the Alps, or Andes, or Himalayan range, are grouped and massed together, so the saint’s most heavenly happiness is not attained in solitude, nor even amid domestic scenes, but where religious life exists in its social character.—
— from The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary on the Books of the Bible, Volume 15 (of 32) The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Volume I by Alfred Tucker

She told me she never enjoyed any dances so much as those; and they had a gymnasium, and special clothes to wear there—a sort of bloomer costume.
— from Celibates by George Moore

After her desertion she never entered any door save that of her own home, never went to a neighbor's house either in time of joy or sorrow; queerer still, never went to church.
— from Old-Time Gardens, Newly Set Forth by Alice Morse Earle