The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

As shallow streams run dimpling all the way.
‘An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’ (1735) l. 315 (on Lord Hervey)
And he himself one vile antithesis.
‘An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’ (1735) l. 325 (on Lord Hervey)
A cherub’s face, a reptile all the rest.
‘An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’ (1735) l. 331 (on Lord Hervey)
Unlearn’d, he knew no schoolman’s subtle art,
No language, but the language of the heart.
‘An Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’ (1735) l. 398 (on his own father)
Such were the notes, thy once-loved Poet sung,
Till Death untimely stopped his tuneful tongue.
‘Epistle to Robert Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer’ (1721) l. 1
She went, to plain-work, and to purling brooks,
Old-fashioned halls, dull aunts, and croaking rooks:
She went from op’ra, park, assembly, play,
To morning-walks, and prayers three hours a day;
To pass her time ’twixt reading and Bohea,
To muse, and spill her solitary tea,
Or o’er cold coffee trifle with the spoon,
Court the slow clock, and dine exact at noon.
‘Epistle to Miss Blount, on her leaving the Town, after the Coronation’ (of King George I, 1715) (1717)
Nature, and Nature’s laws lay hid in night.
God said, Let Newton be! and all was light.
‘Epitaph: Intended for Sir Isaac Newton’ (1730).
Of manners gentle, of affections mild;
In wit, a man; simplicity, a child;
With native humour temp’ring virtuous rage,
Formed to delight at once and lash the age.
‘Epitaph: On Mr Gay in Westminster Abbey’ (1733)
Some are bewildered in the maze of schools,
And some made coxcombs Nature meant but fools.
‘An Essay on Criticism’ (1711) l. 26
Some have at first for wits, then poets passed,
Turned critics next, and proved plain fools at last.
‘An Essay on Criticism’ (1711) l. 36
First follow Nature, and your judgement frame
By her just standard, which is still the same:
Unerring Nature, still divinely bright,
One clear, unchanged, and universal light,
Life, force and beauty must to all impart,