"Espy" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... day, she chanced to espy the mouth of a cavern, within which (though it was bright noon everywhere else) there would have been only a dusky twilight: but it so happened that a torch was burning there. It flickered and struggled ...
— The Children's Hour, Volume 3 (of 10) • Various
... an hour in his new abode ere the sparrows and robins began to visit him. Even strange birds of passage flying in at his hospitable window, would espy him unscared, and sometimes partake of the food he had always at hand to offer them. He relied, indeed, for the pleasures of social intercourse with the animal world, on stray visits alone; he had no pets—dog ...
— Malcolm • George MacDonald
... "Like Dian' cinctur'd, she might Dian' seem, "Save that a golden bow the goddess bears; "The nymph a bow of horn: yet still to most "Mistake was easy. From Lycaeum's height, "His head encompass'd with the pointed pine, "Returning, her the lustful Pan espy'd, "And cry'd:—Fair virgin grant a god's request,— "A god who burns to wed thee. Here he stays. "Through pathless forests flies the nymph, and scorns "His warm intreaties, till the gravelly stream ...
— The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Vols. I & II • Ovid
... coat and vest and hat, and pair of trousers you espy, You can bet your bottom dollar there's ...
— The Arkansaw Bear - A Tale of Fanciful Adventure • Albert Bigelow Paine
... bright noble face we espy, 'Tis a boy of ten years we shall find; There's a spice of the rogue in that merry young eye, With good sense and good ...
— The Kings and Queens of England with Other Poems • Mary Ann H. T. Bigelow
... walked in the market-place, she used to like to look at the notary's house, and at him, if she could espy him in the street. The house was a fine one, and the notary, in spite of iron-grey hair and a keen eye, good-looking; but that was not why Marie was interested; it was because he and his office seemed connected with the romance of life—with ...
— A Dozen Ways Of Love • Lily Dougall
... 'face,' as it were, the moisture on which reflects the light. If you watch the farmers driving to market, you will see that they glance up the furrows to note the workmanship and look for game; you may tell from a distance if they espy a hare, by the check of the rein and the extended ...
— A Week's Tramp in Dickens-Land • William R. Hughes
... happen'd, but I suppose by not resisting the first impressions of this kind, I found my self far gone in an Intrigue, and that without either Thought or Design; but I understood afterwards that a Breach of Idleness being espy'd in my Conduct, the Roving Deity seiz'd the Advantage and enter'd Sword in Hand. The Gentlewoman who drew me into this Snare, was no otherwise my Acquaintance than by an accidental Visit; but I was ...
— Memoirs of Major Alexander Ramkins (1718) • Daniel Defoe
... youths accompany him with their play-clubs, and that was a third of the boy-troop of Ulster. The army saw them drawing near them over the plain. "A great army approaches us over the plain," spake Ailill Fergus goes to espy them. "Some of the youths of Ulster are they," said he, "and it is to succour Cuchulain they come." "Let a troop go to meet them," said Ailill, "unknown to Cuchulain; for if they unite with him ye will never overcome them." Thrice fifty warriors went ...
— The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Tain Bo Cualnge • Unknown
... dost espy a nose That bright with many a ruby glows, That nose thou mayest pronounce, nay safely swear, Is nursed on ...
— The Humourous Poetry of the English Language • James Parton
... number of victims to furnish forth pies for the supply of the whole mess during the ensuing fortnight. At length, however, all was said that could be said, even upon this interesting subject, and the narrator, casting his eyes around in search of wherewithal to amuse himself, chanced to espy my new writing-desk, a parting gift from my little sister Fanny, who, with the self-denial of true affection, had saved up her pocket-money during many previous months in order to provide funds for this ...
— Frank Fairlegh - Scenes From The Life Of A Private Pupil • Frank E. Smedley
... value of Woman's Work in Church Philanthropies. Mrs. May Wright Sewall (Ind.) demonstrated the wonderful Progress of Women in Education. The New Education possessed the charm of novelty in being presented by Miss Grace Espy Patton, State Superintendent of Public Instruction in Colorado, a lady so delicate and dainty that, when Miss Anthony led her forward and said, "It has always been charged that voting and officeholding will make women coarse and unwomanly; ...
— The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume IV • Various
... "If we don't espy our man at table," Captain Jack went on, "we'll have to try other means of finding him out. You two will know what to do when you're on the ground. If Millard is anywhere in the village that you go to look through, don't ...
— The Submarine Boys for the Flag - Deeding Their Lives to Uncle Sam • Victor G. Durham
... in all her glory crowned, Passing by that cleere fountain of thine eye, Her sun-shine face there chaunsing to espy, Forgot herselfe, and thought she had been drowned. And thus, whilst Beautie on her beauty gazed, Who then, yet liuing, deemd she had been dying, And yet in death some hope of life espying, At her owne rare perfections so amazed; Twixt ioy ...
— Minor Poems of Michael Drayton • Michael Drayton
... and favour show to me, * Laud to her All-creating Lord, laud to the Lord on high, She left me full of mourning, sleepless, sick with pine and pain * And ceaseth not my heart to yearn her mystery[FN208] to espy." ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 4 • Richard F. Burton
... prosperity." The Caliph resumed, "Verily my breast is straitened and it hath passed through my thought that we fare forth, I and thou (and Eunuch Masrur shall make a third), and we will promenade the main streets of Baghdad and solace ourselves with seeing its several places and peradventure I may espy somewhat to hearten my heart and clear off my care and relieve me of what is with me of straitness of breast." Ja'afar made answer, "O Commander of the Faithful, know that thou art Caliph and Regent and Cousin to the Apostle of Allah and haply ...
— Supplemental Nights, Volume 5 • Richard F. Burton
... a meadow by the river's side, A flock of nymphs I chanced to espy, All lovely daughters of the flood thereby, With goodly greenish locks all loose untied As each had been a bride; And each one had a little wicker basket Made of fine twigs, entrailed curiously, In which they gather'd flowers to fill their ...
— The Golden Treasury - Of the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language • Various
... the Scripture ascribes all things, they must again imagine, that upon his purpose of sending Christ to save sinners, he is yet undetermined about the particular end of particular men, but watches on the tower of foreknowledge to espy what they will do, whether men will believe on his Son or not, whether they will persevere in faith or not, and according to his observation of their doings, so he applies his own will to carve out their ...
— The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning • Hugh Binning
... no spirit who from heaven hath flown And is descending on his embassy; Nor traveler gone from earth the heaven t'espy! 'Tis Hesperus—there he stands with glittering crown, First admonition that the sun is down,— For yet it is broad daylight!—clouds pass by; A few are near him still—and now the sky, He hath it to himself—'tis all his own. O most ambitious star! an inquest wrought ...
— The Ascent of the Soul • Amory H. Bradford
... and we are happy in being able to gratify our readers with a similar entertainment. Already have the best-mounted men in the field attained the summit of one of the Mont Blancs of the country, when on looking down the other side of the "mountain's brow," they, to their infinite astonishment, espy at some distance our "Swell" dismounted and playing at "pull devil, pull baker" with the hounds, whose discordant bickerings rend the skies. "Whoo-hoop!" cries one; "whoo-hoop!" responds another; "whoo-hoop!" screams a third; and the contagion ...
— Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jollities • Robert Smith Surtees
... daybreak the herd moved on again, climbing ever higher in the mountains, the three men lay flat on Badshah's back and covered themselves with their grey blankets lest vigilant watchers on the peaks around might espy them. Thus do the mahouts of the koonkies, or trained female elephants employed in hunting and snaring wild tuskers, conceal ...
— The Jungle Girl • Gordon Casserly
... along the sound. Above a hedge below the lawn an apple-tree raised its branches. Within them he could espy a dark mass that as he approached ...
— Once Aboard The Lugger • Arthur Stuart-Menteth Hutchinson
... fortun'd that, from out the thicket wood A ramping lion rushed suddenly, And hunting greedy after savage blood, The royal virgin helpless did espy; At whom, with gaping mouth full greedily To seize and to devour her tender corse, When he did run, he stopp'd ere he drew nigh, And loosing all his rage in quick remorse, As with the sight amazed, forgot ...
— The Illustrated London Reading Book • Various
... and the power divine In a more bright and sweet reflection shine? Where do we finer strokes and colors see Of the Creator's real poetry. Than when we with attention look Upon the third day's volume of the book? If we could open and intend our eye We all, like Moses, might espy, E'en in a ...
— Flowers and Flower-Gardens • David Lester Richardson
... speaking, a certain heaviness of character. There are many flashes of wit; but the author has beaten his flint hard ere he struck them out. It is almost essential to the success of a jest, that it should at least seem to be extemporaneous. If we espy the joke at a distance, nay, if without seeing it we have the least reason to suspect we are travelling towards one, it is astonishing how the perverse obstinacy of our nature delights to refuse it currency. ...
— The Dramatic Works of John Dryden Vol. I. - With a Life of the Author • Sir Walter Scott
... not one in accordance with my notions of Arab hospitality. Perhaps he did not wish me to espy what was going on about him in company with Shaikh Fendi el Faiz, so I took my leave, riding towards Cocab. At an Arab encampment we got some Leben Sheneeni, (soured fresh milk, most delicious in hot weather,) and ...
— Byeways in Palestine • James Finn
... true And never can be borne of atomics That buzz about our slumbers like brain-flies Leaving us fancy-sick. No, I am sure My restless spirit never could endure To brood so long upon one luxury. Unless it did, though fearfully, espy A HOPE BEYOND ...
— Ardath - The Story of a Dead Self • Marie Corelli
... before. There was quite a crowd already. At least three or four hundred people had assembled in the Baron's reception-rooms, and among them were several former habitues of Madame d'Argeles's house; one could also espy M. de Fondege ferociously twirling his mustaches as usual, together with Kami-Bey, who was conspicuous by reason of his portly form and eternal red fez. However, among these men, all noticeable for their studied elegance of attire and manner, and all of them known to M. de Valorsay, there moved ...
— Baron Trigault's Vengeance - Volume 2 (of 2) • Emile Gaboriau
... by some eight or ten carriages, which formed, as it were, a funeral cortege behind us. But I could perceive that these carriages were filled for the most part by young men, and that there was no contemporary of Crasweller to be seen at all. As we went up the town hill, I could espy Barnes gibbering on the doorstep of his house, and Tallowax brandishing a large knife in his hand, and Exors waving a paper over his head, which I well knew to be a copy of the Act of our Assembly; but I could only pretend not to see them as our ...
— The Fixed Period • Anthony Trollope
... dog, who does espy Swine severed from his fellows, hunts him hard, And circles round about; but he lies by Till once the restless foe neglect his guard; So, while the sword descends, or hangs on high, Zerbino stands, attentive how to ward, How ...
— National Epics • Kate Milner Rabb
... curious castellated structure in which the Pommery establishment is installed, and whose tall towers command a view of the whole of Reims and its environs. As we drive up the Avenue Gerbert we espy on the right an isolated crumbling Roman tower, a remnant of the days when Reims disputed with Trves the honour of being the capital of Belgic Gaul. Close at hand, and almost under the walls of the old fortifications, is a grotto to which an ancient origin is likewise ascribed. In another minute ...
— Facts About Champagne and Other Sparkling Wines • Henry Vizetelly
... foreigner?" said he at length, and glowered the more into the interior as if he might espy him. ...
— Doom Castle • Neil Munro
... that's levelled high, Though dimly, can the hope espy So solid soon, one day; For every chain must then be broke, And hatred none will dare evoke, And ...
— Poems • Victor Hugo
... There breathed but few whose aspect could defy The full encounter of his searching eye; He had the skill, when cunning gaze to seek To probe his heart and watch his changing cheek, At once the observer's purpose to espy, And on himself roll back his scrutiny, Lest he to Conrad rather should betray Some secret thought, than drag ...
— The Life of Lord Byron • John Galt
... Valence, heard say that they were about to hang Aucassin his enemy, and came that way. Aucassin failed not to espy him; and gripping his sword, he smote him through the helmet so that he clave it to the skull. He was so stunned that he fell to earth; and Aucassin put out his hand and took him prisoner, and led him off by the nose-guard of his helmet, and ...
— Aucassin and Nicolette - translated from the Old French • Anonymous
... complete, and march them to meet me on fifth-day[FN37] at the Buk'at Nisrin. Moreover, when thou see me approach thee make thy many prepare for mimic onset as they were my adversaries and offer me sham fight; for that messengers from Pharaoh, King of Egypt, have been sent to espy the strength of our armies. Accordingly, let them stand in fear of us, for that they be our foes and our haters." Presently, sealing this epistle, he sent it to Haykar by one of the royal pages and himself carrying the other letters ...
— Supplemental Nights, Volume 6 • Richard F. Burton
... loved nature, but he was struck afresh with the vivacity of her observation of it, and with her knowledge of plants and stones. At that season the wild flowers had mostly departed, but a few of them lingered, and Miss Garland never failed to espy them in their outlying corners. They interested her greatly; she was charmed when they were old friends, and charmed even more when they were new. She displayed a very light foot in going in quest of them, and had soon covered the ...
— Roderick Hudson • Henry James
... Croker's Boswell, p. 837. The account given by Paoli to Miss Burney, shows that very early in life Boswell took out his tablets:—'He came to my country, and he fetched me some letter of recommending him; but I was of the belief he might be an impostor, and I supposed in my minde he was an espy; for I look away from him, and in a moment I look to him again, and I behold his tablets. Oh! he was to the work of writing down all I say. Indeed I was angry. But soon I discover he was no impostor and no espy; and I only ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 1 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill
... as these, the Thracian poet is leading the woods and the natures of savage beasts, and the following rocks, lo! the matrons of the Ciconians, having their raving breasts covered with the skins of wild beasts, from the summit of a hill, espy Orpheus adapting his voice to the sounded strings {of his harp}. One of these, tossing her hair along the light breeze, says, "See! see! here is our contemner!" and hurls her spear at the melodious mouth of ...
— The Metamorphoses of Ovid - Literally Translated into English Prose, with Copious Notes - and Explanations • Publius Ovidius Naso
... he is[24:2] he do espy Some Apricot upon a bough thereby Which overhangs the tree on which he stands, Climbs up, and strives to ...
— The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare • Henry Nicholson Ellacombe
... manner of catching the queen. I seize her very gently, as I espy her among the bees, and by taking care to crush none of them, run not the least risk of being stung. The queen herself never stings, even if handled ever ...
— Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee - A Bee Keeper's Manual • L. L. Langstroth
... which God's people are commanded to resort; yea, within which they are commanded to close themselves in the time of greatest adversity. The manner of speaking is borrowed from that judgment and foresight which God has printed in this our nature; for when men espy great tempests appearing to come, they will not willingly remain uncovered in the fields, but straightway they will draw them to their houses or holds, that they may escape the vehemence of the same; ...
— The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. • John Welch, Bishop Latimer and John Knox
... not object, although he was not altogether pleased. For Mr. Brooke's house was immediately opposite the Kenyons', and Miss Ethel was as likely as not to be sitting at the drawing-room window. Her sharp eyes would espy him from afar, and she might ask Lesley if he had been to church with her. Not a very great difficulty, but Oliver had a far-seeing mind, and one question might lead to others of a more ...
— Brooke's Daughter - A Novel • Adeline Sergeant
... circulation of the tale itself. At La Union, the port of San Miguel, he stayed at the house of the commandant of the place. His (p. 038) apartments he found well stocked with books, and among them was this particular novel. "The 'Espy,'" he went on to say, "of the lamented Cooper, I may mention, seems to be better known in Spanish America than any other work in the English language. I found it everywhere; and when I subsequently visited the Indian pueblo ...
— James Fenimore Cooper - American Men of Letters • Thomas R. Lounsbury
... upon the wave, Braziliano and his companions put to sea again, directing their course to his old haunts about Campeachy. Shortly after his arrival, while looking into the port, in a small boat, to espy what ships were offering for prizes, he was captured and thrown into prison. The Spanish authorities determined upon his execution; but in consequence of an admonition that terrible vengeance would ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol III, Issue VI, June, 1863 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various
... into Wiegard's. In order to get a seat at a table it was necessary to pass the table at which Dan and his handsome friend were seated. As Dalzell's back was toward the door he did not espy his friends until they were ...
— Dave Darrin's Fourth Year at Annapolis • H. Irving Hancock
... the Tramps with jaded eye Their destined provinces espy. Long through the hills their way they took, Long camped beside the mountain brook; 'Tis over; now with rising hope They pause upon the downward slope, And as their aching bones they rest, Their anxious captain scans ...
— Moral Emblems • Robert Louis Stevenson
... have never been false to my worthy lords even in thought, so by that merit shall I now have the pleasure of beholding thee vanquished and dragged by the sons of Pritha. Thou canst not, cruel as thou art, frighten me by seizing me with violence, for as soon as those Kuru warriors will espy me they will bring me back to the ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli
... there was a page, a little fause page, Lord Ronald did espy, An' he has told his baron all, Where the hind and hart did lie. "It is na for thee, but thine, Lord Ronald, Thy father's deeds o' weir; But since the hind has come to my faul', His ...
— The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volumes I-VI. - The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century • Various
... were not left quiet. The beating of gongs, shouts, and an occasional shot, gave life to the scene. With my glass I could espy our forces at the top of the hill, pleased no doubt to see us coming to their support. At night loud shouts and firing from the rebels caused us to prepare for an attack; but it proved to be nothing but lights moving about the hill-side, with what intent we were ignorant. The jungle on the ...
— The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido - For the Suppression of Piracy • Henry Keppel
... would have smiled In such a presence! yet despite Her dimpled cheek, her soft blue eye, Her voice so fraught with music's thrill, The shrewd observer might espy The traces therein of a will That scorned restraint, the soul of fire That slumbered in her ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 32, June, 1860 • Various
... remaining here till I return. I care not to trust the faith of those idle soldiers, who, perchance, think they have done enough of duty to-day, and your keener eyes may keep a closer watch on the landing place, and sooner espy the motions of the enemy, who still hold ...
— The Rivals of Acadia - An Old Story of the New World • Harriet Vaughan Cheney
... which was the 14th of September, in the year of our Lord 1585, and taking our course towards Spain, we had the wind for a few days somewhat scant, and sometimes calm. And being arrived near that part of Spain which is called the Moors [Muros, S. of Cape Finisterre.], we happened to espy divers sails, which kept their course close by the shore, the weather being fair and calm. The General caused the Vice-Admiral to go with the pinnaces well manned to see what they were; who upon sight ...
— Drake's Great Armada • Walter Biggs
... see the Pope pass by. Then were the Cow-boys cowed by the POPE'S eye, With which, like many an English-speaking glutton, They'd often met, and fastened on, in mutton. The difference vast at once they did espy, Betwixt a sheep's eye and a Leo's eye. Says Shiney WILLIAM to himself, "I'm blest!" And so he was, and so ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, March 15, 1890 • Various
... Stanley, on!" Were the last words of Marmion. Were I in gallant Stanley's place, When Marmion urged him to the chase, A word you then would all espy, That brings a tear ...
— Storyology - Essays in Folk-Lore, Sea-Lore, and Plant-Lore • Benjamin Taylor
... The fire of love, the fiercer still it raged in their breast. The wall that parted house from house had riven therein a cranny, Which shrunk at making of the wall: this fault not marked of any Of many hundred years before (what doth not love espy?) These lovers first of all found out, and made a way whereby To talk together secretly, and through the same did go Their loving whisp'rings very light and safely to and fro. Now as at one side Pyramus, and Thisbe on the tother Stood often drawing one of them the pleasant breath ...
— The Sources and Analogues of 'A Midsummer-night's Dream' • Compiled by Frank Sidgwick
... queen, La Beale Isoud; for him seemed that there was too much love between them both. So when Sir Tristram departed out of Cornwall into England King Mark heard of the great prowess that Sir Tristram did there, the which grieved him sore. So he sent on his part men to espy what deeds he did. And the queen sent privily on her part spies to know what deeds he had done, for great love was between them twain. So when the messengers were come home they told the truth as they had heard, ...
— Le Morte D'Arthur, Volume II (of II) - King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table • Thomas Malory
... little town such things cannot be done without remark. We know there the quantity of milk our neighbour takes and espy the joint or the fowls which are going in for his dinner. So, probably, 200 and 202 in Curzon Street might know what was going on in the house between them, the servants communicating through the area-railings; but Crawley ...
— Vanity Fair • William Makepeace Thackeray
... windows incrusted with the accumulated dust of a century, hem you in on either side, and oppress your breathing as with the mildewy atmosphere of a vault. The dingy ranks of brick are broken by very narrow alleys; and here and there, peeping under archways, you may espy little paved court-yards, with great pumps scattering continual damp in the midst of them, and enclosed with just such dusky walls and dirty windows as you have already noticed. You are amazed at the silence that prevails in these retreats, so near the ...
— Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 461 - Volume 18, New Series, October 30, 1852 • Various
... as Chia Lien reached the reception hall, he trod with a light step. Then peeping in he saw Madame Hsing standing inside. Lady Feng, with her eagle eye, was the first to espy him. But she winked at him and dissuaded him from coming in, and next gave a wink to Madame Hsing. Madame Hsing could not conveniently get away at once, and she had to pour a cup of tea, and place it in front of dowager lady Chia. But old lady Chia jerked suddenly round, and took ...
— Hung Lou Meng, Book II • Cao Xueqin
... call me heretical? who dares call me rabbi? who dares call me Scotus? Spider! spider! yea, thou hast one corner left; I espy thee, and my ...
— Citation and Examination of William Shakspeare • Walter Savage Landor
... covenant with trim, the king honoured them with the highest honours and presently retired to his own apartments. But the officers deserted him and the troops refused their service and would neither mount nor dismount until they should espy what might befal, for they saw that most of the army was with the Wazir Dandan. Presently, the news of these things came to Kuzia Fakan and caused her much concern; so that she sent for the old woman who was wont to carry messages between her and ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 3 • Richard F. Burton
... the flattering table of her eye!— Hang'd in the frowning wrinkle of her brow, And quarter'd in her heart!—he doth espy Himself love's traitor! This is pity now, That, hang'd, and drawn, and quarter'd, there should be In such a love so ...
— King John • William Shakespeare [Collins edition]
... could now see him more distinctly, and he was truly a pitiable object, with his ragged black coat and trousers, through the rents in which you could espy his scraggy limbs. Underneath a black cloth cap, which was drawn low over his brows, as though he were afraid of being recognised, could be seen two large brown eyes, gleaming with peculiar softness in his otherwise stern and harassed ...
— The Fat and the Thin • Emile Zola
... Basil, having loaded his rifle, in order to put an end to his agony, sent a bullet through his heart. The shot did not alter his position—as the horn still held on to the branch—but the animal ceased struggling and hung down dead,—to remain there, doubtless, until some hungry vulture should espy him from afar, and, swooping down, strip the flesh from his ...
— The Boy Hunters • Captain Mayne Reid
... at Delft, waiting, by direction of the States, for an answer to his propositions, and doing his best according to the instructions of his own Government to espy the condition and sentiments of the enemy. Becoming anxious after the lapse of a fortnight, he wrote to Barneveld. In reply the Advocate twice sent a secret messenger, urging, him to be patient, assuring him that the affair was working well; that ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley
... pitcher of freshly clipped roses, the morning dew still upon them, and you only cease to admire as you espy your mail that lies there awaiting your hand. News from home and loved ones greets you before these new-found friends do! You have not seen the good folks who live here, only the old colored man who pretended that he was going to kill cock-robin, and didn't. The hospitality is not gushing ...
— Little Journeys To the Homes of the Great, Volume 3 (of 14) • Elbert Hubbard
... on a mountain's highest ridge, Where oft the stormy winter gale Cuts like a scythe, while through the clouds 25 It sweeps from vale to vale; Not five yards from the mountain path, This Thorn you on your left espy; And to the left, three yards beyond, You see a little muddy pond 30 Of water—never dry Though but of compass small, and bare To thirsty suns ...
— The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth - Volume 1 of 8 • Edited by William Knight
... with every breath of air, and the hollows are knee-deep with painted leaves, has joys the eager tongue trips over itself in the endeavor to recount. Boy and Boy's mother took the six o'clock train to town last night. This morning, throwing open the parlor blinds, I espy the six flat, white beans and the three red-speckled crab-apples. They were so much to the owner; except for the value imparted by association with the dancing blue eyes and the tight clutch of fingers that had green stains on them when the wrestle with the ...
— The Secret of a Happy Home (1896) • Marion Harland
... found in the bed of this brook; so we had the curiosity to wade several hundred yards through the icy cold waters in search of it. Mr. Leavens seemed very much interested in the matter. He picked up all the shining stones he could espy in the pebbly bottom, in hopes of finding diamonds also. There is, in fact, no reason why both gold and diamonds should not be found here, the hills being a continuation of those of the mining countries of interior Brazil, and the brooks flowing through the ...
— The Naturalist on the River Amazons • Henry Walter Bates
... envelope, not very bulky to be sure, wherein lay his first week's wages, and as often as he turned to glance at the tilt of the straw hat or heed the set of his tie, his hand must needs steal to this envelope to make sure of its safety. His fingers were so employed when he chanced to espy a certain article exposed for sale in an adjacent shop window; whereupon, envelope in hand, he incontinent entered and addressed the plump Semitic merchant in ...
— The Definite Object - A Romance of New York • Jeffery Farnol
... of Humboldt, Herschel, Dove, Sabine, Reid, Redfield, Espy, and others, are appealed to ...
— Barometer and Weather Guide • Robert Fitzroy
... arms! A careless shepherd I! I must have been asleep or dreaming ... dreaming foolish dreams about that cottage, on which the sun might shine unheeded now, I cared not for it, being full of other thoughts. No sooner did I espy the brand on the lamb than I rose to my feet, and, even as I ran nimbly down the slope towards the stranger, my eyes roamed over the hillside to discover which of my lambs had strayed:—Rosamond, Cowslip, Eglantine and Gillyflower—I could see them all safe with their ...
— A Book of Quaker Saints • Lucy Violet Hodgkin
... lost in the same way; and returning to the lodge to replenish his quiver, he happened to espy one of the lucky arrows, which the first Weendigo had given to his father, hanging upon the side of the lodge. He reached up, and having secured it, he shot it out at the opening, and immediately running out to find where it fell, he was surprised to see a beautiful boy just in the act of ...
— The Indian Fairy Book - From the Original Legends • Cornelius Mathews
... a budget full of news beside. Two thousand soldiers are safely smuggled into the city. I've lodged them with the Capuchins, where not even a prying sunbeam can espy them. They burn with eagerness to see their leader. They ...
— The Works of Frederich Schiller in English • Frederich Schiller
... scarcely perceptible in the distant horizon: they now unfold themselves on either side, forming as it were a double amphitheatre. The sun bursts through the clouds, and gilds alternately the shrubs and meadows on the distant shores, and we now espy the tops of two masts of ships just peeping above the surface of the deep. What an awful warning to adventurous men! We now sail close by those very sands (the Goodwin) where so many unfortunate persons ...
— Travels in England in 1782 • Charles P. Moritz
... ennemyes and sometymes freindis, sometymes fervent, sometymes cold, sometymes constant, and sometymes changeable in the cause of God and of his holy religioun: for, in this our simplicitie, we suppoise that the Godlie shall espy our purpose, which is, that God may be praised for his mercy schawin, this present age may be admonished to be thankfull for Goddis benefittis offerred, and the posteritie to cum may be instructed how wonderouslie hath the light of Christ Jesus prevailled ...
— The Works of John Knox, Vol. 1 (of 6) • John Knox
... room to room I stray, Yet my Host can ne'er espy, And I know not to this day Whether guest or ...
— The Poems of William Watson • William Watson
... expected from Peru, and he offered to be our guide to the Isle of Pearls, situated about five-and-twenty leagues from Panama itself, and in the direct line of sailing to the city. We accepted his offer gladly, and the fellow led us to a snug anchorage whence we could espy our prey and make ready to sally forth ...
— Sea-Dogs All! - A Tale of Forest and Sea • Tom Bevan
... care!" cried an aged old crone, "Take care what you promise," said she. "At first 'twill be fun, But, in the long run, You'll wish you had let the thing be. Through this stick with an eye I look and espy That for ages and ages you'll sit and you'll sew, And longer and longer the seams will grow, And you'll wish you never had asked to sew. But naught that I say Can keep back the day, For the men will ...
— The Wit of Women - Fourth Edition • Kate Sanborn
... poor wretch! that at one and the same time hast lost thy too dearly cherished gallant and thine own honour! And therewith she was taken with such a transport of grief, that she was like to cast herself from the tower to the ground. Then, bethinking her that if she might espy some lad making towards the tower with his sheep, she might send him for her maid, for the sun was now risen, she approached one of the parapets of the tower, and looked out, and so it befell that the scholar, awakening from a slumber, in which he had lain a while at ...
— The Decameron, Vol. II. • Giovanni Boccaccio
... frolicking and enjoying the balmy evening. Here six or eight midgets were jumping the rope, while papa and mamma swung it for them. Pretty little things, with their flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes, how they did seem to enjoy themselves! What parent was ever far from home that did not espy in every group of children his own little ones—his Mary or his Nelly, his Henry or Charlie? So it was with me. There was a ring of twenty or thirty singing and dancing, with a smaller ring in the centre, ...
— Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands V2 • Harriet Beecher Stowe
... huge stone is sometimes seen to lie Couched on the bald top of an eminence, Wonder to all who do the same espy By what means it could thither come, and whence; So that it seems a thing endued with sense: Like a sea-beast crawled forth, that on a shelf Of rock or sand reposeth, there ...
— Town Geology • Charles Kingsley
... which by law are condemned to groan in a crowd of nobles and courtiers, and do writhe with shame as, well as sorrow, being come of decent mothers, whereas these gipsy women have no more shame under their skins than a wolf ruth, or a hare valour. And, Bon Bec,' quoth he, 'I espy in thee a lamentable fault. Wastest thy bowels, wilt have none left for thy poor good master which doeth thy will by night and day.' Then we came forward; and he talked with the men in some strange Hebrew cant whereof no word knew I; and the poor knaves bade us welcome and denied us nought. ...
— The Cloister and the Hearth • Charles Reade
... smiles at his Religion, And vows he's but a learned Widgeon: And when they have empty'd all their Stoar From Books or Fathers, are not more Convinc'd or wiser than before. Scarce had we finish'd serious Story, But I espy'd the Town before me, And roaring Planters on the ground, Drinking of Healths in Circle round: Dismounting Steed with friendly Guide, Our Horses to a Tree we ty'd, And forwards pass'd among the Rout, To chuse convenient Quarters ...
— The Sot-weed Factor: or, A Voyage to Maryland • Ebenezer Cook
... smallest nook She could in the house espy: She bade him for sake of the highest God, Neither ...
— Young Swaigder, or The Force of Runes - and Other Ballads • Anonymous
... round tables, low, chair-surrounded, each laden with a due complement of plates, glasses, victuals, and so on, and each capable of accommodating three or four couples at a time. To one of these, if you are wise, and have the luck to espy any vacant chairs, you will surely—I am of course addressing my male readers—lead your partner. I assume that, with an experienced eye to this very thing, you have purposely contrived to engage one with whom you specially ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 12, No. 32, November, 1873 • Various
... and meting of dues, and some make wax of flowers, and some make cells now round, now square with wonder binding and joining, and evenness. And yet nevertheless, among so diverse works none of them doth espy nor wait to take out of other's travail, neither taketh wrongfully, neither stealeth meat, but each seeketh and gathereth by his own flight and travail among herbs and flowers that are ...
— Mediaeval Lore from Bartholomew Anglicus • Robert Steele
... swords, and went about the ways and compassed the city, till we came to the street[FN19] where was the woman, and it was the middle of the night. Here we smelt mighty rich scents and heard the clink of rings: so I said to my comrades, "Methinks I espy a spectre;" and the Captain of the watch cried, "See what it is." Accordingly, I undertook the work and entering the thoroughfare presently came out again and said, "I have found a fair woman and she telleth me that she is from the Citadel and that dark night surprised her and she saw ...
— Supplemental Nights, Volume 2 • Richard F. Burton
... their order; not to be disturbed, and none of them to sail out and offer battle. So about evening, the Athenians sailing back, he would not let the seamen go out of the ships before two or three, which he had sent to espy, were returned, after seeing the enemies disembark. And thus they did the next day, and the third, and so to the fourth. So that the Athenians grew extremely confident, and disdained their enemies, as if they had been afraid and daunted. At this time, Alcibiades, who was in his ...
— Plutarch's Lives • A.H. Clough
... face: 860 Time hath not yet the features fixed, But brighter traits with evil mixed; And there are hues not always faded, Which speak a mind not all degraded Even by the crimes through which it waded: The common crowd but see the gloom Of wayward deeds, and fitting doom; The close observer can espy A noble soul, and lineage high: Alas! though both bestowed in vain, 870 Which Grief could change, and Guilt could stain, It was no vulgar tenement To which such lofty gifts were lent, And still with little less than dread On such the sight is riveted. The roofless cot, ...
— The Works Of Lord Byron, Vol. 3 (of 7) • Lord Byron
... (Forsaken, silent lady) on the strand Of farthest India, sick'ning at the roar Of each dull wave, slow dash'd upon the shore; Sending, at intervals, an aching eye O'er the wide waters, vainly, to espy The long-expected bark, in which to find Some tidings of a world she left behind. At such a time shall start the gushing tear, For scenes her childhood lov'd, now doubly dear. At such a time shall frantic mem'ry wake Pangs of remorse, for slighted England's sake; And for the sake ...
— The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb IV - Poems and Plays • Charles and Mary Lamb
... that law, which was enacted by Europe for its own emolument, to the prejudice of the other three parts of the globe, and which bestows the property of whole realms on the first person who happens to espy them, who can annex them to the crown of Great Britain, in lieu of those it has ...
— Letters of Horace Walpole, V4 • Horace Walpole
... sickness add more feebleness Unto your weaken'd age; but give me leave To cure thy vain suspicious malady. Thy eyes shall witness how thou art deceiv'd, Misprizing thy fair lady's chastity: For whilst we two stand closely here unseen, We shall espy them presently approach. ...
— A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Vol. VIII (4th edition) • Various
... and did not leave off till he came to the rafters, and by then the day was spent; then he tore away the rafters, and now Audun prayed him hard not to go into the barrow; Grettir bade him guard the rope, "but I shall espy what ...
— The Story of Grettir The Strong • Translated by Eirikr Magnusson and William Morris
... thought it is an affirmation, it is a false judgement; but if I pursue the examination, if some reflexion causes me to perceive that appearances deceive me, lo and behold, I abandon my error. To abide in a certain place, or not to go further, not to espy some landmark, ...
— Theodicy - Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil • G. W. Leibniz
... lists for all comers to tilt against each other. We invite litterateurs to a re-union, in which they may give and receive mutual help and aid; but, in order to do so, they must tolerate each others' little peculiarities, and not espy ...
— Notes & Queries, No. 4, Saturday, November 24, 1849 • Various
... search. But they are gone Whom she did brood and dote upon. Oh! if there be a mortal ear My sorrowful complaint to hear; If manly breast is ever stirred By wrong done to a helpless bird, To them for quick redress I cry." Moved by the tale, and drawing nigh, On alder branch thou didst espy How, sitting lonely and forlorn, His breast was pressed upon a thorn, Unknowing that he leant thereon; Then bidding him take heart again, Thou rannest down into the lane To seek the doer of this ...
— Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 1 July 1848 • Various
... from scythe released, On these scorched fields were known! Death hovered o'er the maddening rout, And, in the thrilling battle-shout, Sent for the bloody banquet out A summons of his own. Through rolling smoke the Demon's eye Could well each destined guest espy, Well could his ear in ecstasy Distinguish every tone That filled the chorus of the fray - From cannon-roar and trumpet-bray, From charging squadrons' wild hurra, From the wild clang that marked their way, - Down to the dying groan, And ...
— Some Poems by Sir Walter Scott • Sir Walter Scott
... him every means she'd take, And a pudding large did for him make; But in trying to obtain a sip, Into the batter did he slip! The batter in the pot went plump; Tom made the pudding skip and jump! His mother, with affright, did this espy, And gave it to a tinker passing by; Tom scream'd so loud, that, in dismay, He threw it down, and ...
— An Entertaining History of Tom Thumb - William Raine's Edition • Unknown
... arrived there so late that, the gates being shut and the draw-bridges raised, he could get no admission. Thereupon, despairing and disconsolate, he looked about, weeping, for a place where he might shelter, so at the least it should not snow upon him, and chancing to espy a house that projected somewhat beyond the walls of the town, he determined to go bide thereunder till day. Accordingly, betaking himself thither, he found there a door, albeit it was shut, and gathering at foot ...
— The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio • Giovanni Boccaccio
... that we have taken the reader, from the days of Columbus to where we can espy the dawn of the twentieth century. Yet, in comparison with the times which our narrative has here reached, those of three decades earlier would seem almost as remote as Columbus's own, so swiftly did the wheels ...
— History of the United States, Volume 4 • E. Benjamin Andrews
... permanent dye to ladies' dresses, in the gorgeous clouds of sunset. There were at least fifty kinds of perpetual motion, one of which was applicable to the wits of newspaper editors and writers of every description. Professor Espy was here, with a tremendous storm in a gum-elastic bag. I could enumerate many more of these Utopian inventions; but, after all, a more imaginative collection is to be found in the Patent Office ...
— The Hall of Fantasy (From "Mosses From An Old Manse") • Nathaniel Hawthorne
... lyric inspiration should not chide and insult, but should announce and lead the civil code and the day's work. But now the two things seem irreconcilably parted. We have violated law upon law until we stand amidst ruins, and when by chance we espy a coincidence between reason and the phenomena, we are surprised. Beauty should be the dowry of every man and woman, as invariably as sensation; but it is rare. Health or sound organization should be universal. Genius should be the child of genius, and every child ...
— Essays • Ralph Waldo Emerson
... goodly time and served with capers on his head; A rayless eye, a bead-like eye, whose famisht aspect shows It hungereth for ye verdant banks whereon ye wild time grows; An eye that hawketh up and down for evereche kind of game, And, when he doth espy ye which, he tumbleth to ...
— A Little Book of Western Verse • Eugene Field
... a glass window not far from the hotel, I was fortunate enough to espy a young girl seated in a sewing shop. She is decidedly pretty and not altogether unaware of the fact, though still a child. We have entered upon an elaborate, classical flirtation. With all the artfulness of her years she is using me to practise on, as a dummy, for future occasions ...
— Alone • Norman Douglas
... man with half an eye What stands before him may espy; But optics sharp it needs, I ween, To see what ...
— Brief History of English and American Literature • Henry A. Beers |
