The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

1.71 Edwin Markham 1852-1940
Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans
Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
The emptiness of ages in his face,
And on his back the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
A thing that grieves not and that never hopes,
Stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?
‘The Man with the Hoe’ (1899)
1.72 Johnny Marks 1909-85
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Had a very shiny nose,
And if you ever saw it,
You would even say it glows.
‘Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ (1949 song) based on a Robert L. May story (1939)
1.73 Sarah, first Duchess of Marlborough 1660-1744
The Duke returned from the wars today and did pleasure me in his top-boots.
Oral tradition, attributed in various forms. See, among others, I. Butler ‘Rule of Three’ (1967) ch. 7
If I were young and handsome as I was, instead of old and faded as I am, and you could lay the
empire of the world at my feet, you should never share the heart and hand that once belonged to
John, Duke of Marlborough.
Refusing the offer of marriage from the Duke of Somerset, in W. S. Churchill ‘Marlborough: His Life and
Times’ (1938)
1.74 Bob Marley 1945-81
Get up, stand up.
Title of song
I shot the sheriff.
Title of song
1.75 Christopher Marlowe 1564-93
Sweet Analytics, ’tis thou hast ravished me.
‘Doctor Faustus’ (published 1604) act 1, sc. 1
I’ll have them fly to India for gold,
Ransack the ocean for orient pearl.
‘Doctor Faustus’ (1604) act 1, sc. 1
I’ll hae them wall all Germany with brass,
And make swift Rhine circle fair Wertemberg.
I’ll have them fill the public schools with silk,