Every day brings a ship,
Every ship brings a word:
Well for those who have no fear,
Looking seaward well assured
That the word the vessel brings
Is the word they wish to hear.
Letters. R.W. EMERSON.
And oft the pangs of absence to remove
By letters, soft interpreters of love.
Henry and Emma. M. PRIOR.
Here are a few of the unpleasant'st words
That ever blotted paper!
Merchant of Venice, Act iii. Sc. 2. SHAKESPEARE.
I will touch
My mouth unto the leaves, caressingly;
And so wilt thou. Thus from these lips of mine
My message will go kissingly to thine.
With more than Fancy's load of luxury,
And prove a true love-letter.
Sonnet (With a Letter). J.G. SAXE.
Jove and my stars be praised! Here is yet a postscript.
Twelfth Night, Act ii. Sc. 5. SHAKESPEARE.
Go, little letter, apace, apace,
Fly;
Fly to the light in the valley below—
Tell my wish to her dewy blue eye.
The Letter. A. TENNYSON.
LIFE.
Let observation, with extensive view,
Survey mankind from China to Peru;
Remark each anxious toil, each eager strife,
And watch the busy scenes of crowded life.
The Vanity of Human Wishes. DR. S. JOHNSON.
It matters not how long we live, but how.
Festus, Sc. Wood and Water. P.J. BAILEY.
Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou liv'st
Live well; how long or short permit to heaven.
Paradise Lost, Bk, XI. MILTON.