water

Something of glass about her, of dead water, Chills and holds us, Far more fatal than painted flesh or the lodestone of live hair This despair of crystal brilliance.

—MacNeice, (Frederick) Louis

He asked for water, and she brought him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen's hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples. At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead. The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice,Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots?

—Bible (Old Testament)

   For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again: neither doth God respect any person.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Just when you thought it was safe to get back into the water.

—Anonymous

The widening river's slow presence, The piled gold clouds, the shining gull-marked mud, Gathers to the surprise of a large town: Here domes and statues, spires and cranes cluster Beside grain-scattered streets, barge-crowded water, And residents from raw estates.

—Larkin, Philip Arthur

By the shore of Gitche Gumee By the shining Big-Sea-Water, Stood the wigwam of Nokomis, Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis. Dark behind it rose the forest, Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees, 516 Rose the firs with cones upon them; Bright before it beat the water, Beat the clear and sunny water, Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

—Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

   The benison of hot water; furs to touch; The good smell of old clothes.

—Brooke, Rupert Chawner

His blade struck the watera full second before any other†until, as the boats began to near the winning post his ownwas dipping inthe water twiceas fast as anyother.

—Coke, F T Desmond

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

—Bible (NewTestament)

'I call it a criminal thing in any one's great-great- grandfather to rear up a preposterous troop of sons and plant them all out in his own country', Lady Knox said to me with apparent irrelevance.'I detest collaterals. Blood may be thicker than water, but it is also a great deal nastier.'

—Martin Ross

Then the wet, winding roads, Brown bogs with black water; And my thoughts on white ships And the King o' Spain's daughter.

—Colum, Padraic

'In about half a mile you cross the river by an Irish bridgeö' 'Whatever is that?' 'It'sjust a bridge, but built under thewater instead ofover it.' 'Extremely sensible.'

—Stewart,John Innes Mackintosh

   I always love to begin a journey on Sundays, because I shall have the prayers of the church, to preserve all that travel by land, or by water. 832

—Swift,Jonathan

The Church's one foundation Is Jesus Christ, her Lord; She is his new creation By water and the word; From heaven he came and sought her To be his holy bride, With his own blood he bought her. And for her life he died.

—Stone, Samuel John

Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit. The conscious water saw its God, and blushed.

—Crashaw, Richard

It is the drawback of all sea-side places that half the landscape is unavailable for purposes of human locomotion, being covered by useless water.

—Douglas, (George) Norman

I am the daughter of Earth and Water, And the nursling of the Sky; I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores; I change, but I cannot die, For after the rain when with never a stain The pavilion of Heaven is bare, And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams Build up the blue dome of air, I silently laugh at my own cenotaph, And out of the caverns of rain, Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb, I arise and unbuild it again.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Then, the calm And dead still water lay upon my mind Even with a weight of pleasure, and the sky, Never before so beautiful, sankdown Into my heart, and held me like a dream.

—Wordsworth,William

All your better deeds Shall be in water writ, but this in marble.

—Beaumont, Francis and Fletcher,John

Virginity, albeit some highly prize it, Compared with marriage, had you tried them both, Differs as much as wine and water doth.

—Marlowe, Christopher

   why talk of beauty what could be more beaut- iful than these heroic happy dead who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter they did not stop to think they died instead then shall the voices of liberty be mute? He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water.

—cummings, e e pen name of  Edward Estlin Cummings

Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.

—Bible (NewTestament)

Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness.

—Bible (Old Testament)

  And there he bounde the gyrdyll aboute the hyltis, and threw theswerde as farre intothewatirashemyght. And there cam an arme and an honde above the watir, and toke hit and cleyght hit, and shoke hit thryse and braundysshed, and than vanysshed with the swerde into the watir.

—Malory, SirThomas   d.1471

Away with systems! Away with a corrupt world! Let us breathe the air of the Enchanted island.Golden lie the meadows; golden run the streams; red gold is on the pine-stems. The sun's coming down to earth, and walks the fields and the waters. The sun is coming down to earth, and the fields and the waters shout to him golden shouts.

—Meredith, George

So this is what our lives have been given to find, A language that can serve our purposes, A marvellous lucidity, a quality of fieryaery light, Flowing like clear water, flying like a bird Burning like a sunlit landscape.

—Grieve

There's Carol like a rolling car, And Martin like a flying bird, And Adam like the Lord's First Word, And Raymond like the Harvest Moon, And Peter like a piper's tune, And Alan like the flowing on Of water. And there's John, like John.

—Farjeon, Eleanor

I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

—Bible (NewTestament)

If thine enemy behungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the L shall reward thee.

—Bible (Old Testament)

If it was ever intended that I should go across salt water, doyou suppose Providence would have cast my lot inan island?

—Dickens, CharlesJohn Huffam

   A man that is born falls into a dream like a man who falls

—Korzeniowski

Asthehart pantethafter thewaterbrooks, sopantethmy soul after thee,O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

—Bible (Old Testament)

It's funny when you feel as if you don't want anything more in your life except to sleep, or else to lie without moving. That's when you can hear time sliding past you, like water running.

—Rhys,Jean pseudonym of  Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams

There is no hope of bailing out of a speedboat.You hit the water and become so much pulp.

—Campbell, Donald Malcolm

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting uponhim: And loavoicefromheaven, saying,This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

—Bible (NewTestament)

On one side lay the Ocean, and on one Laya great water, and the moon was full.

—Tennyson

I just led them to the wateröand they drank copiously.

—Torrance, Sam

The aloe seemed to ride†like a ship with the oars lifted. Bright moonlight hung upon the lifted oars like water, and on the green wave glittered the dew.

—Beauchamp

Here they have no time for the fine graces of poetry, unless it freely grows in deep compulsion, like water in the well, woven into the texture of the soil in a strong pattern.

—A'Ghobhainn

I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they've gone through and through me, like winethrough water, and altered the colour of my mind.

—Bronte«  , EmilyJane

I like to make running water walk.

—Rayburn, Sam(uel Taliaferro)

From the waterfall he named her, Minnehaha, Laughing Water.

—Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

I have sat by night beside a cold lake And touched things smoother than moonlight on still water, But the moon on this cloud sea is not human, And here is no shore, no intimacy, Only the start of space, the road to suns.

—Scott, F(rancis) R(eginald)

Bill was a tropical fish. His native habitat was hot water.

—Anonymous

   That vessel in which the powers of steam are to be employed to work the engine, which is called the Cylinder in common fire engines, and which I call the SteamVessel, must, during the whole time the engine is at work, be kept ashot asthesteamthat entersit; first, by enclosing it ina case of wood, oranyother materialsthat transmit heat slowly; secondly, by surrounding it with steam or other heated bodies; and thirdly, by suffering neither water noranyother substance colder thansteam to enter and touch it during that time.

—Watt,James

The word, it is to be observed, has two different meanings, and sometimes the utility of some particular object, and sometimes the power of purchasing other goods which the possession of that object conveys. This one may be called 'value in use'; the other,'value in exchange'. The things which have the greatest value in usehave frequently little or novalue in exchange; and on the contrary, those which have the greatest value in exchange have frequently little or no value in use. Nothing is more useful than water: but it will purchase scarce any thing; scarce any thing can be had in exchange for it. A diamond, on the contrary, has scarce any value in use; but a very great quantity of other goods may frequently be had in exchange for it.

—Smith, Adam

Many politicians of our time are in the habit of laying it Macaulay down as a self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free till theyare fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story, who resolved not to go into the water till he had learnt to swim. If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed wait for ever.

—1st Baron

Here lies one whose name was writ in water.

—Keats,John

Yo no digo por eso que el te¤   no sea saludable†cuando duelen las tripas†pero al cabo no pasa de ser agua caliente; so¤  lo pod|¤a habernos venido de Inglaterra, que como all |¤ son herejes, ni tendra¤  n vino, ni bueyes cebones. I'm not saying that tea is not healthy†when you have a stomach ache†but, all in all, it is only hot water; it could only come from the English, who, being heretics as they are, probably have no wine or good beer.

—Gorostiza, Manuel Eduardo de

Have you seen the bush by moonlight, from the train, go running by? Blackened log and stump and sapling, ghostly trees all dead and dry; Here a patch of glassy water; there a glimpse of mystic sky? Have you heard the still voice callingöyet so warm, and yet so cold: 'I'm the Mother-Bush that bore you! Come to me when you are old'?

—Lawson, Henry Hertzberg

Some poems have form as a tree has form and some as water poured into a vase.

—Pound, Ezra Loomis

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Information, freefrominterestorprejudice, freefromthe vanity of the writer or the influence of a Government, is as necessary to the human mind as pure air and water to the human body.

—Rees-Mogg,William Rees-Mogg, Baron

Riveris ran reid on spate with water broun, And burnis hurlis all their bankis doun.

—Douglas, Gavin

And a manshall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

—Bible (Old Testament)

Who hath desired the Sea?öthe sight of salt water unboundedö The heave and the halt and the hurl and the crash of the comber wind-hounded? The sleek-barrelled swell before storm, grey, foamless, enormous, and growingö Stark calm on the lap of the Line or the crazy-eyed Hurricane blowing.

—Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard

Our disputants put me in mind of the skuttle fish, that when he is unable to extricate himself, blackens all the water about him, till he becomes invisible.

—Addison,Joseph

The trouble with women like me isöthey can't keep their nerves out of the job in hand† I walk about with a mind full of ghosts of saucepans and primus stoves and 'Will there be enough to go round?' I loathe myself, today. I detest this woman who'superintends' you and rushes about, slamming doors and slopping wateröall untidy with her blouse out and her nailsgrimed.

—Beauchamp

But peaceful was the night Wherein the Prince of Light His reign of peace upon the earth began: The winds, with wonder whist, Smoothly the waters kissed, Whispering new joys to the mild ocea'  n, Who now hath quite forgot to rave, While birds of calm sit brooding on the charme'  d wave.

—Milton,John

Shehad the rippling muscles of a panther, thesolidityof a water buffalo, and the lazy insolence of a shoe salesman.

—Perelman, S(ydney) J(oseph)

An old pond A frog jumps in The sound of water

—Basho, Matsuo

I dreamed that, as I wandered by the way, Bare Winter suddenly was changed to Spring, And gentle odours led my steps astray, Mixed with a sound of water's murmuring Along a shelving bankof turf, which lay Under a copse, and hardly dared to fling Its green arms round the bosom of the stream, But kissed it and then fled, as thou mightst in dream.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Praise the sports of the land And water, each oneö The bath by the beach, or the yacht on the seaö But of all the sweet pleasures Known under the sun; A good game of Croquet's the sweetest to me.

—Reid,Thomas Mayne

Just as a stone flung into the water becomes the centre and cause of many circles, and as sound diffuses itself in circles in the air; so any object, placed in the luminous atmosphere, diffuses itself in circles, and fills the surrounding air with infinite images of itself.

—Leonardo daVinci

Is not a Patron, my lord, one who looks with unconcern ona manstruggling for life inthewater, and,whenhehas reached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it.

—Johnson, Samuel known as Dr Johnson

   An open place it was, and overlooked, From high, the sullen water far beneath, On which a dull red image of the moon Lay bedded, changing oftentimes its form Like an uneasy snake.

—Wordsworth,William

In the later nineteenth century, the tops of skyscrapers often took the shape of domes, surmounted by jaunty gilded lanterns; later came ziggurats, mausoleums, Alexandrian lighthouses, miniature Parthenons. These charming follies contained neither royal corpses nor effigies of gods and goddesses; rather they contained large wooden tanks filled with water.

—Gill, Brendan

But when I plead, she bids me play my part, And when I weep, she says tears are but water: And when I sigh, she says I know the art, And when I wail, she turns herself to laughter.

—Spenser, Edmund

There is no manner of doubt that a town surrounded by water is a very fine sight; but a town surrounded by land is much finer.Can there be any comparison in point of beauty, between the dull monotony of a watery surface, and the delightful variety of gardens, meadows, hills and woods ?

—Moore,John

  He who drinks a tumbler of London Water has literally in his stomach more animated beings than there are men, Women and Children on the face of the globe.

—Smith, Rev Sydney

   Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.

—Bible (Old Testament)

'The name of those fabulous animals (pagan, I regret to say) who used to sing in the water, has quite escaped me.'Mr George Chuzzlewit suggested 'Swans'.'No,'said Mr Pecksniff.'Not swans.Very like swans, too. Thank you.' The nephew†propounded 'Oysters'.'No,'said Mr Picksniff†'nor oysters.But by no means unlike oysters† Wait! Sirens. Dear me! sirens, of course.'

—Dickens, CharlesJohn Huffam

There is no disease, bodily or mental, which adoption of vegetable diet and pure water has not infallibly mitigated, wherever the experiment has been fairly tried.

—Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Fabulous the insects Stud the air Or walk on running water, Klee-drawn saints And bright as angels are.

—Wilkinson, Anne

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself inThee, Let the water and the blood, From thy riven side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, Cleanse me from its guilt and power.

—Toplady, Augustus Montague

The air moves like a river and carries the clouds with it; just as running water carries all the things that float upon it.

—Leonardo daVinci

   The land may vary more; But wherever the truth may beö The water comes ashore, And the people look at the sea.

—Frost, Robert Lee

Quand l'eau courbe un ba"  ton, ma raison la redresse. When water curves a stick, my reason straightens it out.

—La Fontaine,Jean de

'A chilli,'said Rebecca, gasping,'Oh, yes!' She thought a chilli wassomething cool, asitsname imported, and was served with some.'How fresh and green they look,'she said, and put one into her mouth. It was hotter than the curry; flesh and blood could bear it no longer. She laid down her fork.'Water, for Heaven's sake, water!'she cried.

—Thackeray,William Makepeace

In the bleak mid-winter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak mid-winter, Long ago.

—Rossetti, Christina Georgina

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

—Bible (Old Testament)

   In all the events of life, we ought still to preserve our scepticism. If we believe that fire warms, or water refreshes, it is only because it costs us too much pains to think otherwise.

—Humboldt, Alexander, Baron von

Rose of all Roses,Rose of all the World! The tall thought-woven sails, that flap unfurled Above the tide of hours, trouble the air, And God's bell buoyed to be the water's care.

—Yeats,W(illiam) B(utler)

When Winter scourged the meadow and the hill And in the withered leafage worked his will, Then water shrank, and shuddered, and stood still,ö Then built himself a magic house of glass, Irised with memories of flowers and grass, Wherein to sit and watch the fury pass.

—Roberts, Sir Charles George Douglas

I will not look upon the quickening sun, But straight her beauty to my sense shall run; The air shall note her soft, the fire most pure; Water suggest her clear, and the earth sure; Time shall not lose our passages.

—Donne,John

When therulerof the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

—Bible (NewTestament)

Water too pure breeds no fish.

—Mao Zedong or MaoTse-tung

He may be more potent than any other man. The damnable iteration dayafter day of earnest conviction wears like the dropping of the water upon the stone.

—Stead,WilliamThomas

Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink. The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yes, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea.

—Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

But somewhere, beyond Space and Time Is wetter water, slimier slime!

—Brooke, Rupert Chawner

If the ocean was pure mind and I was a wave, I would be in terror if Itried to distinguish myself fromthe water that produced me.What is a wave without water, and what is a mind without God?

—Prather, Hugh

When I makes tea I makes tea, as old mother Grogan said. And when I makes water I makes water†Begob, ma'am, says Mrs.Cahill, God send you don't make them in the one pot.

—Joyce,James Augustine Aloysius

A woman is like a tea bag; when she is in hot water she just gets stronger.

—Roosevelt, (Anna) Eleanor

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dryand thirsty land, where no water is.

—Bible (Old Testament)