Top 15 Matthew Prior Quotes

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

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

For hope is but the dream of those that wake.

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

That air and harmony of shape express,
Fine by degrees, and beautifully less.

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

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

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?

Venus, take my votive glass;
Since I am not what I was,
What from this day I shall be,
Venus, let me never see.

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.

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

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

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.