The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

The very shadows of the clouds
Have power to shake me as they pass.
‘The Affliction of Margaret—’ (1807)
And three times to the child I said,
‘Why, Edward, tell me why?’
‘Anecdote for Fathers’ (1798)
Another year!—another deadly blow!
Another mighty Empire overthrown!
And we are left, or shall be left, alone.
‘Another year!’ (1807)
Action is transitory,—a step, a blow,
The motion of a muscle, this way or that—
’Tis done, and in the after-vacancy
We wonder at ourselves like men betrayed:
Suffering is permanent, obscure and dark,
And shares the nature of infinity.
‘The Borderers’ (1842) act 3, l. 1539
Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he
That every man in arms should wish to be?
It is the generous spirit, who, when brought
Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought
Upon the plan that pleased his childish thought:
Whose high endeavours are an inward light
That makes the path before him always bright:
Who, with a natural instinct to discern
What knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn.
‘Character of the Happy Warrior’ (1807)
Earth has not anything to show more fair;
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge’ (1807)
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
‘Composed upon Westminster Bridge’ (1807)
Ah! then, if mine had been the Painter’s hand,