The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

ode madly off in all directions.
‘Nonsense Novels’ (1911) ‘Gertrude the Governess’
A decision of the courts decided that the game of golf may be played on Sunday, not being a
game within the view of the law, but being a form of moral effort.
‘Over the Footlights’ (1923) ‘Why I Refuse to Play Golf’
12.42 Mary Leapor 1722-46
In spite of all romantic poets sing,
This gold, my dearest, is an useful thing.
‘Mira to Octavia’ (1748)
Woman, a pleasing but a short-lived flower,
Too soft for business and too weak for power:
A wife in bondage, or neglected maid:
Despised, if ugly; if she’s fair, betrayed.
‘An Essay on Woman’ (1751)
12.43 Edward Lear 1812-88
Who, or why, or which, or what,
Is the Akond of Swat?
‘The Akond of Swat’ (1888)
On the coast of Coromandel
Where the early pumpkins blow,
In the middle of the woods,
Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bó.
Two old chairs, and half a candle;—
One old jug without a handle,—
These were all his worldly goods.
‘The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bó’ (1871)
When awful darkness and silence reign
Over the great Gromboolian plain,
Through the long, long wintry nights,
When the angry breakers roar
As they beat on the rocky shore;—
When storm-clouds brood on the towering heights
Of the Hills of the Chankly Bore.
‘The Dong with a Luminous Nose’ (1871)
And those who watch at that midnight hour
From Hall or Terrace or lofty Tower,
Cry as the wild light passes along,—
‘The Dong!—the Dong!