Matthew Prior Quotes

For hope is but the dream of those that wake.

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

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

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.

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?

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

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.

Be to her virtues very kind;
Be to her faults a little blind;
Let all her ways be unconfined;
And clap your padlock — on her mind!

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

Abra was ready ere I called her name;
And though I called another, Abra came.

Odds life! must one swear to the truth of a song?

From ignorance our comfort flows.
The only wretched are the wise.

Now fitted the halter, now traversed the cart,
And often took leave, but was loth to depart.

Cured yesterday of my disease,
I died last night of my physician.

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