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Birds-Swallow: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long, That it had it head bit off by it young.— Shakespeare — King Lear. Act I. Sc. 4. Line 235.

Behold, within the leafy shade, Those bright blue eggs together laid! On me the chance-discovered sight Gleamed like a vision of delight.— WORDSWORTH — The Sparrow's Nest.

Swallow. Down comes rain drop, bubble follows; On the house-top one by one Flock the synagogue of swallows, Met to vote that autumn's gone.— THEOPHILE GAUTIER — Life, a Bubble.

j.. A Bird's-Eye View Thereof. But, as old Swedish legends say, Of all the birds upon that day, The swallow felt the deepest grief, And longed to give her Lord relief, And chirped when any near would come, 'Hugswala swala swal honom !" Meaning, as they who tell it deem, Oh, cool, oh, cool and comfort Him!— LELAND — The Swallow.

The swallow is come! The swallow is come! O, fair are the seasons, and light Are the days that she brings, With her dusky wings, And her bosom snowy white!— LONGFELLOW — Hyperion. Bk. II. Ch. 1.

It's surely summer, for there's a swallow: Come one swallow, his mate will follow, The bird race quicken and wheel and thicken.— CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI — A Bird Song. St. 2.

There goes the swallow, - Could we but follow! Hasty swallow, stay, Point us out the way; Look back swallow, turn back swallow, stop swallow.— CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI — Songs in a Cornfield. St. 7.

Now to the Goths as swift as swallow flies.— Shakespeare — Titus Andronicus. Act IV. Sc. 2. L. 172.

The swallow follows not summer more willing than we your lordship.— Shakespeare — Timon of Athens. Act III. Sc. 6. L. 31.

True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings; Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings.— Shakespeare — Richard III. Act V. Sc. 2. L. 23.

The swallow twitters about the eaves; Blithely she sings, and sweet, and clear; Around her climb the woodbine leaves In a golden atmosphere.— CELIA THAXTER — The Swallow. St. 1.

The swallow sweeps The slimy pool, to build his hanging house.— THOMSON — The Seasons. Spring. L. 651.

When autumn scatters his departing gleams, Warn'd of approaching winter, gather'd, play The swallow-people; and toss'd wide around, O'er the calm sky, in convolution swift, The feather'd eddy floats; rejoicing once, Ere to their wintry slumbers they retire.— THOMSON — Seasons. Autumn. L. 836.

Swan. The jelous swan, agens hire deth that syngith.— CHAUCER — Parlement of Fowles. L. 342.

And over the pond are sailing Two swans all white as snow; Sweet voices mysteriously wailing Pierce through me as onward they go. They sail along, and a ringing Sweet melody rises on high; And when the swans begin singing, They presently must die.— HEINE — Early Poems. Evening Songs. No. 2.

The swan in the pool is singing, And up and down doth he steer, And, singing gently ever, Dips under the water clear.— HEINE — Book of Songs. Lyrical Interlude. No. 64.

The swan, like the soul of the poet, By the dull world is ill understood.— HEINE — Early Poems. Evening Songs. No. 3.

The swan murmurs sweet strains with a faltering tongue, itself the singer of its own dirge.— MARTIAL — Epigrams. Bk. XIII.

Ep. LXXVII. The swan, with arched neck Between her white wings mantling proudly, rows Her state with oary feet.— MILTON — Paradise Lost. Bk. VII. L. 438.

Thus does the white swan, as he lies on the wet grass, when the Fates summon him, sing at the fords of Mæander.— OVID — Ep. VII. Riley's trans.