The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

Every quotation a nineteenth-century speaker or writer might want, grouped under its subject, with the author, the date and the source given as exactly as Hoyt could manage.

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Tears: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

And friends, dear friends,-when it shall be That this low breath is gone from me, And round my bier ye come to weep, Let One, most loving of you all, Say, "Not a tear must o'er her fall; He giveth His beloved sleep." C.— E. B. BROWNING — The Sleep. St. 9.
Thank God for grace, Ye who weep only! If, as some have done, Ye grope tear-blinded in a desert place And touch but tombs, -look up! Those tears will run Soon in long rivers down the lifted face, And leave the vision clear for stars and sun.— E. B. BROWNING — Tears.
Oh! too convincing-dangerously dear- In woman's eye the unanswerable tear! That weapon of her weakness she can wield, To save, subdue-at once her spear and shield.— BYRON — The Corsair. Canto II. St. 15.
She was a good deal shock'd; not shock'd at tears, For women shed and use them at their liking; But there is something when man's eye appears Wet, still more disagreeable and striking.— BYRON — Don Juan. Canto V. St. 118.
So bright the tear in Beauty's eye, Love half regrets to kiss it dry.— BYRON — The Bride of Abydos. Canto I. St. 8.
There is a tear for all who die, A mourner o'er the humblest grave.— BYRON — Elegiac Stanzas. On the Death
of Sir Peter Parker, Bart. What gem hath dropp'd, and sparkles o'er his chain? The tear most sacred, shed for other's pain, That starts at once-bright pure-from Pity's mine, Already polish'd by the hand divine!— BYRON — The Corsair. Canto II. St. 15.
A stoic of the woods, -a man without a tear.— CAMPBELL — Gertrude of Wyoming. Pt. I. St. 23.
For Beauty's tears are lovelier than her smile.— CAMPBELL — Pleasures of Hope. Pt. I. L. 180.
Words that weep and tears that speak.— ABRAHAM COWLEY — The Prophet. St. 2.
And the tear that is wiped with a little address, May be follow'd perhaps by a smile.— COWPER — The Rose.
No radiant pearl, which crested Fortune wears, No gem, that twinkling hangs from Beauty's ears, Not the bright stars which Night's blue arch adorn, Nor rising suns that gild the vernal morn, Shine with such lustre as the tear that flows Down Virtue's manly cheek for others' woes.— ERASMUS DARWIN — The Botanic Garden. Pt. II. Canto III. L. 459,
১ What precious drops are those, Which silently each other's track pursue, Bright as young diamonds in their infant dew?— DRYDEN — The Conquest of Grenada. Pt. II. Act III. Sc. 1.
And weep the more, because I weep in vain.— GRAY — Sonnet. On the Death of Mr.
West. Ope the sacred source of sympathetic tears.— GRAY — Progress of Poesy. III. 1. L. 12.
The tear forgot as soon as shed, The sunshine of the breast.— GRAY — Eton College. St. 5.
Accept these grateful tears! for thee they flow, For thee, that ever felt another's woe! S.— HOMER — Iliad. Bk. XIX. L. 319.
Pope's trans. My tears must stop, for every drop Hinders needle and thread.— HOOD — Song of the Shirt.
Oh! would I were dead now, Or up in my bed now, To cover my head now And have a good cry! น.— HOOD — A Table of Errata.
E'en like the passage of an angel's tear That falls through the clear ether silently.— KEATS — To One Who Has Been Long in
City Pent. All kin' o' smily round the lips An' teary roun' the lashes.— LOWELL — The Biglow Papers. Second Series. The Courtin'. St. 21.
Thrice he assay'd, and thrice in spite of scorn Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth.— MILTON — Paradise Lost. Bk. I. L. 619.
Without the meed of some melodious tear.— MILTON — Lycidas. L. 14.
And the tear that we shed, though in secret it rolls, Shall long keep his memory green in our souls. C.— MOORE — Oh, Breathe not his Name.
The glorious Angel, who was keeping The gates of Light, beheld her weeping; And, as he nearer drew and listen'd To her sad song, a tear-drop glisten'd Within his eyelids, like the spray From Eden's fountain, where it lies On the blue flow'r, which-Bramins say- Blooms nowhere but in Paradise.— MOORE — Lalla Rookh. Paradise and
the Peri. O dear, dear Jeanie Morrison, The thochts o' bygane years Still fling their shadows ower my path, And blind my een wi' tears.— WM. MOTHERWELL — Jeanie Morrison.
Behold who ever wept, and in his tears Was happier far than others in their smiles.— PETRARCH — The Triumph of Eternity! L. 95. (Charlemont.)
Sweet tears! the awful language, eloquent Of infinite affection; far too big For words.— POLLOK — Course of Time. Bk. V. L. 633.
Peter deny'd His Lord and cry'd. From the New England Primer. 1777. But woe awaits a country, when She sees the tears of bearded men.— SCOTT — Marmion. Canto V. St. 16.
The tear, down childhood's cheek that flows, Is like the dewdrop on the rose; When next the summer breeze comes by And waves the bush, the flower is dry.— SCOTT — Rokeby. Canto IV. St. 11.
And he, a marble to her tears, is washed with them, but relents not.— Shakespeare — Measure for Measure. Act III. Sc. 1. L. 238.
Did he break into tears? In great measure. A kind overflow of kindness: there are no faces truer than those that are so washed.— Shakespeare — Much Ado About Nothing. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 24.
Eye-offending brine.— Shakespeare — Twelfth Night. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 30.
He has strangled His language in his tears.— Shakespeare — Henry VIII. Act V. Sc. 1. L. 157.
I am about to weep; but, thinking that We are a queen, or long have dream'd so, certain The daughter of a king, my drops of tears I'll turn to sparks of fire.— Shakespeare — Henry VIII. Act II. Sc. 4. L. 70.
I cannot weep; for all my body's moisture Scarce serves to quench my furnace-burning heart.— Shakespeare — Henry VI. Pt. III. Act II. Sc. 1. L. 79.
I did not think to shed a tear In all my miseries; but thou hast forc'd me, Out of thy honest truth, to play the woman.— Shakespeare — Henry VIII. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 428.
If that the earth could teem with woman's tears, Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.— Shakespeare — Othello. Act IV. Sc. 1. L. 256.
If the boy have not a woman's gift To rain a shower of commanded tears, An onion will do well for such a shift. Taming of the Shrew. Induction. Sc. 1. L. 124. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. Julius Cæsar. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 173. I had not so much of man in me, And all my mother came into mine eyes And gave me up to tears. и.— Shakespeare — Henry V. Act IV. Sc. 6. L. 30.
I so lively acted with my tears That my poor mistress, moved therewithal, Wept bitterly.— Shakespeare — Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act IV. Sc. 4. L. 174.
Let not women's weapons, water-drops, Stain my man's cheeks!— Shakespeare — King Lear. Act II. Sc. 4. L. 280.
My plenteous joys, Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves In drops of sorrow. X.— Shakespeare — Macbeth. Act I. Sc. 4. L. 33.
No, I'll not weep: I have full cause of weeping; but this heart Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws Or ere I'll weep.— Shakespeare — King Lear. Act II. Sc. 4. L. 286.
One, whose subdu'd eyes, Albeit unused to the melting mood, Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees Their medicinal gum.— Shakespeare — Othello. Act V. Sc. 2. L. 348.
See, see what showers arise, Blown with the windy tempest of my heart.— Shakespeare — Henry VI. Pt. III. Act II. Sc. 5. L. 85.
That instant shut My woeful self up in a mourning house, Raining the tears of lamentation.— Shakespeare — Love's Labour's Lost. Act V. Sc. 2. L. 817.
The big round tears Coursed one another down his innocent nose In piteous chase. C.— Shakespeare — As You Like It. Act II. Sc. 1. L. 38.
The liquid drops of tears that you have shed Shall come again, transform'd to orient pearl, Advantaging their loan with interest Of ten times double gain of happiness.— Shakespeare — Richard III. Act IV. Sc. 4. L. 321.
Then fresh tears Stood on her cheeks, as doth the honey-dew Upon a gather'd lily almost wither'd.— Shakespeare — Titus Andronicus. Act III. Sc. 1. L. 111.
There she shook The holy water from her heavenly eyes, And clamour moisten'd.— Shakespeare — King Lear. Act IV. Sc. 3. L. 31.
The tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow.— Shakespeare — Antony and Cleopatra. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 176.
Those eyes of thine from mine have drawn salt tears, Sham'd their aspect with store of childish drops.— Shakespeare — Richard III. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 154.
'Tis the best brine a maiden can season her praise in.— Shakespeare — All's Well That Ends Well. Act I. Sc. 1. L. 55.
What I should say My tears gainsay; for every word I speak, Ye see, I drink the water of mine eyes.— Shakespeare — Henry VI. Pt. III. Act V. Sc. 4. L. 73.
Why, man, if the river were dry, I am able to fill it with my tears: if the wind were down, I could drive the boat with my sighs.— Shakespeare — Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act II. Sc. 3. L. 57.
With sad unhelpful tears, and with dimm'd eyes Look after him and cannot do him good.— Shakespeare — Henry VI. Pt. II. Act III. Sc. 1. L. 218.
Heaven is not gone, but we are blind with tears, Groping our way along the downward slope of Years!— R. H. STODDARD — Hymn to the Beautiful. L. 33.
Hinc illæ lacrymæ. Hence these tears.— HORACE — Epistolæ. I. 19. 41.
TERENCE-Andria. I. 1. 99. Est quædam flere voluptas; Expletur lacrymis egeriturque dolor. It is some relief to weep; grief is satisfied and carried off by tears.— OVID — Tristium. IV. 3. 37.
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