Dictionary Poems

Great men are seldom over-scrupulous in the arrangement of their attire. Discuss Charles Dickens

One cannot fix one’s eyes on the commonest natural production without finding food for a rambling fancy. Discuss Jane Austen

A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal. Discuss Oscar Wilde

Humor is the spiciest condiment in the feast of existence. Laugh at your mistakes but learn from them, joke over your troubles but gather strength from them, make a jest of your difficulties but overcome them. Discuss Lucy Maud Montgomery

By a curious confusion, many modern critics have passed from the proposition that a masterpiece may be unpopular to the other proposition that unless it is unpopular it cannot be a masterpiece. Discuss Gilbert Chesterton

Unto my books so good to turnFar ends of tired days;It half endears the abstinence,And pain is missed in praise. As flavors cheer retarded guestsWith banquetings to be,So spices stimulate the timeTill my small library. It may be wilderness without,Far feet of failing men,But holiday excludes the night,And it is bells within. I thank these … Continued

I heard an Angel singingWhen the day was springing:`Mercy, Pity, PeaceIs the world’s release.’Thus he sang all dayOver the new-mown hay,Till the sun went down,And haycocks lookèd brown. I heard a Devil curseOver the heath and the furze:`Mercy could be no moreIf there was nobody poor, `And Pity no more could be,If all were as … Continued

You, who are blessed with shade as well as light, you, who are gifted with two eyes, endowed with a knowledge of perspective, and charmed with the enjoyment of various colors, you, who can actually see…the Three Dimensions—how shall I make clear to you the extreme difficulty which we in Flatland experience in recognizing one … Continued

I could take the Harlem nightand wrap around you,Take the neon lights and make a crown,Take the Lenox Avenue busses,Taxis, subways,And for your love song tone their rumble down.Take Harlem’s heartbeat,Make a drumbeat,Put it on a record, let it whirl,And while we listen to it play,Dance with you till day–Dance with you, my sweet brown … Continued

When he applied his mind to a problem, it became at once an enthralling arena, in which there went whirling a chariot-race of ideas and inventive fancies. Discuss Herbert N. Casson