Matthew Prior Quotes

That if weak women went astray,
Their stars were more in fault than they.

All jargon of the schools.

Nobles and heralds, by your leave,
Here lies what once was Matthew Prior;
The son of Adam and of Eve:
Can Bourbon or Nassau claim higher?

Our hopes, like towering falcons, aim
At objects in an airy height;
The little pleasure of the game
Is from afar to view the flight.

Soft peace she brings; wherever she arrives
She builds our quiet as she forms our lives;
Lays the rough paths of peevish Nature even,
And opens in each heart a little heaven.

He ranged his tropes, and preached up patience;
Backed his opinion with quotations.

To John I owed great obligation;
But John, unhappily, thought fit
To publish it to all the nation:
Sure John and I are more than quit.

They never taste who always drink;
They always talk who never think.

Till their own dreams at length decive 'em,
And oft repeating, they believe 'em.

His noble negligences teach
What others' toils despair to reach.

Who breathes must suffer, and who thinks must mourn;
And he alone is bless'd who ne'er was born.

And thought the nation ne'er would thrive
Till all the whores were burnt alive.

A Rechabite poor Will must live,
And drink of Adam's ale.

The end must justify the means.

Forbear to mention what thou canst not praise.