The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

Did never mortal eye behold such heavenly grace.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 1, canto 3, st. 4
And all the hinder parts, that few could spy,
Were ruinous and old, but painted cunningly.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 1, canto 4, st. 5
The noble heart, that harbours virtuous thought,
And is with child of glorious great intent,
Can never rest, until it forth have brought
Th’ eternal brood of glory excellent.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 1, canto 5, st. 1
A cruel crafty crocodile,
Which in false grief hiding his harmful guile,
Doth weep full sore, and sheddeth tender tears.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 1, canto 5, st. 18
Still as he fled, his eye was backward cast,
As if his fear still followed him behind.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 1, canto 9, st. 21
That darksome cave they enter, where they find
That curséd man, low sitting on the ground,
Musing full sadly in his sullen mind.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 1, canto 9, st. 35
Sleep after toil, port after stormy seas,
Ease after war, death after life does greatly please.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 1, canto 9, st. 40
Death is the end of woes: die soon, O fairy’s son.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 1, canto 9, st. 47
So double was his pains, so double be his praise.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 2, canto 2, st. 25
Upon her eyelids many Graces sate,
Under the shadow of her even brows.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 2, canto 3, st. 25
And all for love, and nothing for reward.
‘The Faerie Queen’ (1596) bk. 2, canto 8, st. 2
So passeth, in the passing of a day,
Of mortal life the leaf, the bud, the flower,
No more doth flourish after first decay,
That erst was sought to deck both bed and bower,
Of many a lady, and many a paramour:
Gather therefore the rose, whilst yet is prime,
For soon comes age, that will her pride deflower: