A single rifle flashed in a thicket before the regiment. - Stephen Crane

There was a man with tongue of wood who essayed to sing,
and in truth it was lamentable;
but there was one who heard the clip-clapper of this tongue of wood,
and knew what the man wished to sing,
and with that the singer was content.

if a man loves a woman better than the whole universe, how much does he love the whole universe?

The youth perceived that the time had come. He was about to be measured. For a moment he felt in the face of his great trial like a babe, and the flesh over his heart seemed very thin.