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Insects-Louse: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

Louse. Ha! Whare ye gaun, ye crawlin' ferlie? Your impudence protects you sairly; I canna say but ye strunt rarely Owre gauze an' lace; Though faith! I fear ye dine but sparely On sic a place.— BURNS — To a Louse.

Midge. Meanwhile, there is dancing in yonder green bower, A swarm of young midges, they dance high and low and low 'Tis a sweet little species that lives but one hour, And the eldest was born half an hour ago. OWEN MEREDITH (Lord Lytton)- Midges. The midge's wing beats to and fro A thousand times ere one can utter "O." C.— COVENTRY PATMORE — The Cry at

Midnight. Mosquito. Fair insect! that, with threadlike legs spread out, And blood-extracting bill and filmy wing, Dost murmur, as thou slowly sail'st about, In pitiless ears full many a plaintive thing, tell And tell how little our large veins would bleed, how little our large veins would bleed, Would we but yield them to thy bitter need.— BRYANT — To a Mosquito.

Mote. The gay motes that people the sunbeams.— MILTON — Il Penseroso. L. 8.

Moth. What gained we, little moth? Thy ashes, Thy one brief parting pang may show : And withering thoughts for soul that dashes, From deep to deep, are but a death more slow.— CARLYLE — Tragedy of the Night Moth. St. 14.

Spider. We see spiders, flies, or ants entombed and preserved forever in amber, a more than royal tomb.— BACON — Historia Vitæ et Mortis.

Or (almost) like a Spider, who, confin'd In her Web's centre, shakt with every winde; Moves in an instant, if the buzzing Flie Stir but a string of her Lawn Canopie.— DU BARTAS — Divine Weekes and Workes. First Week. Sixth Day. L. 998.