Whilst here and there great fishes in the spray Their silvery fins beneath the sun display, Or their blue tails lash up from out the surge, Like to a flock the sea its fleece doth fling; The horizon's edge bound by a brazen ring; Waters and sky in mutual azure merge.
— from Poems by Victor Hugo

Having, the previous night, poured my griefs into Sandy’s ears, and got him enlisted in my behalf, having made his wife a sharer in my sorrows, and having, also, become well refreshed by sleep and food, I moved off, quite courageously, toward the much dreaded Covey’s.
— from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass

Farewell to the giant powers of man,—to knowledge that could pilot the deep-drawing bark through the opposing waters of shoreless ocean,—to science that directed the silken balloon through the pathless air,—to the power that could put a barrier to mighty waters, and set in motion wheels, and beams, and vast machinery, that could divide rocks of granite or marble, and make the mountains plain!
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

My little pigeons are well, and so is my little bird.
— from The Story of My Life With her letters (1887-1901) and a supplementary account of her education, including passages from the reports and letters of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, by John Albert Macy by Helen Keller

When I got up at first, and was just able to crawl about the deck with a staff in my hand, I met Doctor Mackshane, who passed by me with a disdainful look, and did not vouchsafe to honour me with one word.
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. (Tobias) Smollett

There are cases enough when all the wheels are set in motion after a clue to the truth, i.e., when there is danger that the person under suspicion is innocent; appeals to honor, conscience, humanity and {28} religion fail;—but run the complete gamut of self-love and the whole truth rings clear.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross

Then he whispered in his ear, with a smile: “I must give you your entry to the revolution.”
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

It is easy to find out whether a signal is meant or not.
— from Round the Block: An American Novel by John Bell Bouton

In planning my hermitage, I had pictured the most amicable relations with those unsophisticated children of nature, who should never want for salt while there was a spoonful in my barrel.
— from Half a Century by Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm

Tempest and Pridgin both mildly hinted to me that I didn’t seem to be knocking myself up with work, and succeeded in making me uncomfortable on that score.
— from Tom, Dick and Harry by Talbot Baines Reed

With a sudden impetuous movement she ran to him and flung her arms about him, clinging to him, panting and shaken.
— from The Silver Poppy by Arthur Stringer

His father’s name was Thomas Plant and he had an uncle Robert, who also settled in Massachusetts.
— from The Life of Henry Bradley Plant Founder and President of the Plant System of Railroads and Steamships and Also of the Southern Express Company by G. Hutchinson (George Hutchinson) Smyth

The recipients of the gospel message wrote and spoke in many languages and dialects, and thus there was created a need and demand for the word of God in the vernacular of many peoples.
— from The Reign of the Manuscript by Perry Wayland Sinks

This is true, not only of those who seek to climb the steep path of spiritual attainment, but also of those who are successful in mundane affairs.
— from Within You is the Power by Henry Thomas Hamblin