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Wooing: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations

I saw a flie within a beade Of amber cleanly buried.— HERRICK — The Amber Bead.

The bee enclosed, and through the amber shown Seems buried in the juice which was his own.— MARTIAL — Epigrams. Bk. IV. Sec. XXXII.

Pretty! in amber to observe the forms Of hairs, or straws, or dirt, or grubs, or worms! The things, we know, are neither rich nor rare, But wonder how the devil they got there.— POPE — Prologue to the Satires. L. 169.

Can such things be, And overcome us like a summer's cloud, Without our special wonder?— Shakespeare — Macbeth. Act III. Sc. 4. L. 110.

O day and night, but this is wondrous strange.— Shakespeare — Hamlet. Act I. Sc. 5. L. 164.

Stones have been known to move and trees to speak.— Shakespeare — Macbeth. Act III. Sc. 4. L. 123.

'Twas strange, 'twas passing strange; 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful.— Shakespeare — Othello. Act I. Sc. 3. L. 160.

There's something in a flying horse, There's something in a huge balloon.— WORDSWORTH — Peter Bell. Prologue. St. 1.

Why don't the men propose, mamma? Why don't the men propose?— THOMAS HAYNES BAYLY — Songs and

Ballads. Why Don't the Men Propose? Alas! to seize the moment When heart inclines to heart, And press a suit with passion, Is not a woman's part. If man come not to gather The roses where they stand, They fade among their foliage, They cannot seek his hand.— BRYANT — Song. Trans. from the

Spanish of IGLESIAS. Woo the fair one when around Early birds are singing; When o'er all the fragrant ground Early herbs are springing: When the brookside, bank, and grove All with blossoms laden, Shine with beauty, breathe of love, Woo the timid maiden.— BRYANT — Love's Lessons.

And let us mind, faint heart ne'er wan A lady fair. BURNS TO Dr. Blacklock.— WM. ELLERTON — George a-Greene

(ballad written about 1569).— PHINEAS FLETCHER — Brittain's Ida. Canto V. St. I.

Duncan Gray cam here to woo, Ha, ha, the wooing o't! On blithe Yulenight when we were fou, Ha, ha, the wooing o't! Maggie coost her head fu' high, Looked asklent and unco skeigh, Gart poor Duncan stand abeigh: Ha, ha! the wooing o't!— BURNS — Duncan Gray.

He that will win his dame must do As love does when he draws his bow; With one hand thrust the lady from, And with the other pull her home.— BUTLER — Hudibras. Pt. II. Canto I. L. 449.

She that with poetry is won, Is but a desk to write upon; And what men say of her they mean No more than on the thing they lean.— BUTLER — Hudibras. Pt. II. Canto I. L. 591.

Do proper homage to thine idol's eyes; But not too humbly, or she will despise Thee and thy suit, though told in moving tropes: Disguise even tenderness, if thou art wise.— BYRON — Childe Harold. Canto II. St. 34.

Not much he kens, I ween, of woman's breast, Who thinks that wanton thing is won by sighs.— BYRON — Childe Harold. Canto II. St. 34.

Some are soon bagg'd but some reject three dozen. 'Tis fine to see them scattering refusals And wild dismay, o'er every angry cousin (Friends of the party) who begin accusals, Such as-" Unless Miss (Blank) meant to have chosen Poor Frederick, why did she accord perusals To his billets? Why waltz with him? Why, I pray, Look yes last night, and yet say No to-day?"— BYRON — Don Juan. Canto XII. St. 34.

'Tis an old lesson; time approves it true, And those who know it best, deplore it most; When all is won that all desire to woo, The paltry prize is hardly worth the cost.— BYRON — Childe Harold. Canto II. St. 35.

'Tis enough- Who listens once will listen twice; Her heart be sure is not of ice, And one refusal no rebuff.— BYRON — Mazeppa. St. 6.

Never wedding, ever wooing, Still a lovelorn heart pursuing, Read you not the wrong you're doing In my cheek's pale hue? All my life with sorrow strewing; Wed or cease to woo.— CAMPBELL — The Maid's Remonstrance.

So mourn'd the dame of Ephesus her Love, And thus the Soldier arm'd with Resolution Told his soft Tale, and was a thriving Wooer.— COLLEY CIBBER — Richard III. (altered). Act II. Sc. 1.

Faint heart hath been a common phrase, faire ladie never wives. J. P. COLLIER'S Reprint of The Rocke of Regard (1576). P. 122. I'll woo her as the lion woos his brides.— JOHN HOME — Douglas. Act I. Sc. 1.

The surest way to hit a woman's heart is to take aim kneeling.— DOUGLAS JERROLD — Douglas Jerrold's

Wit. The Way to a Woman's Heart. Follow a shadow, it still flies you, Seem to fly it, it will pursue: So court a mistress, she denies you; Let her alone, she will court you. Say are not women truly, then, Styled but the shadows of us men?— BEN JONSON — The Forest. Song. That

Women are but Men's Shadows. If I am not worth the wooing, I surely am not worth the winning.— LONGFELLOW — Courtship of Miles Standish. Pt. III. L. 111.

The nightingales among the sheltering boughs Of populous and many-nested trees Shall teach me how to woo thee, and shall tell me By what resistless charms or incantations They won their mates.— LONGFELLOW — The Masque of Pandora. Pt. V. L. 62.

His heart kep' goin' pity-pat, But hern went pity-Zekle.— LOWELL — Introduction to The Biglow

Papers. Second series. The Courtin'. St. 15. And every shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale. S.— MILTON — L'Allegro. L. 67.

Her virtue and the conscience of her worth, That would be woo'd, and not unsought be won.— MILTON — Paradise Lost. Bk. VIII. L. 502.

If I speak to thee in friendship's name, Thou think'st I speak too coldly; If I mention Love's devoted flame, Thou say'st I speak too boldly.— MOORE — How Shall I Woo?

'Tis sweet to think that where'er we rove We are sure to find something blissful and dear; And that when we're far from the lips we love, We've but to make love to the lips we are near.— MOORE — 'Tis Sweet to Think.

Happy Mary Anerly, looking O so fair! There's a ring upon your hand, and there's myrtle in your hair. Somebody is with you now: Somebody I see, Looks into your trusting face very tenderly.— ARTHUR JAS. MUNBY — Mary Anerly.

Ah, whither shall a maiden flee, When a bold youth so swift pursues, And siege of tenderest courtesy, With hope perseverent, still renews !— COVENTRY PATMORE — The Chase.

They dream in courtship, but in wedlock wake.— POPE — Wife of Bath. L. 103.

It was a happy age when a man might have wooed his wench with a pair of kid leather gloves, a silver thimble, or with a tawdry lace; but now a velvet gown, a chain of pearl, or a coach with four horses will scarcely serve the turn.— RICH — My Lady's Looking Glass.

Lightly from fair to fair he flew, And loved to plead, lament, and sue,— Suit lightly won, and short-lived pain, For monarchs seldom sigh in vain. ScoTT-Marmion. Canto V. St. 9. A heaven on earth I have won by wooing thee.— Shakespeare — All's Well That Ends Well. Act IV. Sc. 2. L. 66.

Be merry, and employ your chiefest thoughts To courtship and such fair ostents of love As shall conveniently become you there.— Shakespeare — Merchant of Venice. Act II. Sc. 8. L. 43.

I was not born under a rhyming planet, nor I cannot woo in festival terms.— Shakespeare — Much Ado About Nothing. Act V. Act V. Sc. 2. L. 40.

Most fair, Will you vouchsafe to teach a soldier terms Such as will enter at a lady's ear And plead his love-suit to her gentle heart?— Shakespeare — Henry V. Act V. Sc. 2. L. 98.

O gentle Romeo, If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully. Or if thou think'st I am too quickly won, I'll frown and be perverse and say thee nay, So thou wilt woo: but else, not for the world.— Shakespeare — Romeo and Juliet. Act II. Sc. 2. L. 93.

Say that upon the altar of her beauty You sacrifice your tears, your sighs, your heart: Write till your ink be dry and with your tears Moist it again, and frame some feeling line, That may discover such integrity.— Shakespeare — Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 73.

She wish'd she had not heard it, yet she wish'd That heaven had made her such a man: She thank'd me, And bade me, if I had a friend that lov'd her, I should but teach him how to tell my story And that would woo her.— Shakespeare — Othello. Act I. Sc. 3. L. 162.

That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man, If with his tongue he cannot win a woman.— Shakespeare — Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act III. Sc. 1. L. 104.

Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? Was ever woman in this humour won?— Shakespeare — Richard III. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 228.

We cannot fight for love, as men may do; We should be woo'd and were not made to woo. Midsummer-Night's Dream. Act II. Sc. 1. L. 241. Win her with gifts, if she respect not words; Dumb jewels often in their silent kind More than quick words do move a woman's mind.— Shakespeare — Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act III. Sc. 1. L. 89.

Women are angels, wooing: Things won are done, joy's soul lies in the doing: That she belov'd knows nought that knows not this: Men prize the thing ungain'd more than it is.— Shakespeare — Troilus and Cressida. Act I. Sc. 2. L. 312.

Wooing thee, I found thee of more value Than stamps in gold or sums in sealed bags; And 'tis the very riches of thyself That now I aim at. S.— Shakespeare — Merry Wives of Windsor. Act III. Sc. 4. L. 15.

Bring therefore all the forces that ye may, And lay incessant battery to her heart; Playnts, prayers, vowes, truth, sorrow, and dismay; Those engins can the proudest love convert: And, if those fayle, fall down and dy before her; So dying live, and living do adore her.— SPENSER — Amoretti and Epithalamion.

Sonnet XIV. He sat by her side and her soft hand he pressed; He felt, in the pressure returned him thrice blessed, Enraptured gazing On her whom he honored beyond all praising.— ESAIAS TEGNER — Fridthjof's Saga. Canto IV. St. 4.

Quiet, Robin, quiet! You lovers are such clumsy summer-flies, Forever buzzing at your lady's face.— TENNYSON — The Foresters. Act IV. Sc. 1.