“Come, gentle Spring! ethereal mildness, come!”—­
Oh!  Thomson, void of rhyme as well as reason,
How could’st thou thus poor human nature hum? 
There ’s no such season.
1788
HOOD:  Spring.

=Stage.=

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
1789
SHAKS.:  As You Like It, Act ii., Sc. 7.

=Stars.=

Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere. 1790 SHAKS.:  1 Henry IV., Act v., Sc. 4.

The stars of the night
Will lend thee their light,
Like tapers clear without number!
1791
HERRICK:  Aph.  Night Piece, To Julia.

Ye stars! which are the poetry of Heaven,
If in your bright leaves we would read the fate
Of men and empires,—­’t is to be forgiven,
That in our aspirations to be great,
Our destinies o’erleap their mortal state,
And claim a kindred with you.
1792
BYRON:  Ch.  Harold, Canto iii., St. 88.

Now only here and there a little star
Looks forth alone.
1793
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT:  The Constellations.

=State.=

A thousand years scarce serve to form a state: 
An hour may lay it in the dust.
1794
BYRON:  Ch.  Harold, Canto ii., St. 84.

=Statesman.=

An honest statesman to a prince,
Is like a cedar planted by a spring;
The spring bathes the tree’s root, the grateful tree
Rewards it with his shadow.
1795
WEBSTER:  Duchess of Malfi, Act iii., Sc. 2.

=Steed.=

Hurrah, hurrah for Sheridan! 
Hurrah, hurrah for horse and man! 
And when their statues are placed on high,
Under the dome of the Union sky,—­
The American soldier’s Temple of Fame,—­
There with the glorious General’s name
Be it said in letters both bold and bright: 
“Here is the steed that saved the day
By carrying Sheridan into the fight,
From Winchester,—­twenty miles away!”
1796
THOMAS BUCHANAN READ:  Sheridan’s Ride.

=Stones.=

Put a tongue
In every wound of Caesar that should move
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.
1797
SHAKS.:  Jul.  Caesar, Act iii., Sc. 2.

=Storms.=

We often see, against some storm,
A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still,
The bold winds speechless, and the orb below
As hush as death.
1798
SHAKS.:  Hamlet, Act ii., Sc. 2.

God moves in a mysterious way
  His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea
  And rides upon the storm.
1799
COWPER:  Light Shining out of Darkness.

Nail to the mast her holy flag,
  Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
  The lightning and the gale!
1800
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES:  Old Ironsides.