O thou, the friend of man assigned, With balmy hands his wounds to bind, And charm his frantic woe: When first Distress with dagger keen Broke forth to waste his destined scene, His wild unsated foe!

-Collins,William
  Odes on Several Descriptive and  Allegoric Subjects,'Ode to Pity', no.1.

La famille des Bourbons est un poignard que l'e¤  tranger en1814 a laisse¤   dans le c½ur de la France: changez le manche comme il vous plaira, dorez la lame si vous voulez, le poignard reste poignard. The Bourbon family is a dagger whichthe foreigner left in the heart of France in1814: changethe haft if you please, gild the blade if you will, the dagger remains a dagger.

-Quinet, Edgar
  ¼uvres, vol.3, p.267.