"Espy" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... am ashamed! I am afeared that I shall die; All my sins even properly named Yon prophet did write before mine eye. If that my fellows that did espy, They will tell it both far and wide; My sinful living if they outcry, I wot not where my ...
— England's Antiphon • George MacDonald
... Now well-known sounds salute him, as more near The citadel and battlements appear; 10 The approaching trumpets ring at intervals; The trumpet answers from the rampart walls, Where many a maiden casts an anxious eye, Some long-lost object of her love to espy, Or watches, as the evening light illumes The points of lances, or the passing plumes. The grating drawbridge and the portal-arch, Now echo to the long battalion's march; Whilst every eye some friend remembered greets, Amid the gazing crowd that throngs the streets. 20 As ...
— The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 1 • William Lisle Bowles
... mount; and lo, How small the biggest parts of earth's proud title shew! Where shall I find the noble British land? Lo, I at last a northern speck espy, Which in the sea does lie, And seems a grain o' the sand. For this will any sin, or bleed? Of civil wars is this the meed? And is it this, alas, which we, Oh, irony of ...
— Stories from the Italian Poets: With Lives of the Writers, Volume 1 • Leigh Hunt
... judges advised, for that he was a foreigner, and condemned, and a few days after executed at Tyburn; where he did again openly read his confession, and take it upon his death to be true. This was the end of this little cockatrice of a king that was able to destroy those that did not espy him first. It was one of the longest plays of that kind that had been in memory, and might perhaps have had another end if he had not met with a ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 8 - The Later Renaissance: From Gutenberg To The Reformation • Editor-in-Chief: Rossiter Johnson
... knew them. (Dionysus was the patron and protector of theatres.) "The purport of the song was that Bacchus imparted his secret of the cultivation of vines to a petty prince in Attica, named Icarius, who happened one day to espy a goat brouzing upon his plantations, immediately seized, and offered it up as a sacrifice to his divine benefactor; the peasants assembled round their master, assisted in the ceremony, and expressed their joy and gratitude in music, songs, dances, ...
— A History of Pantomime • R. J. Broadbent
... drawing stars from heaven, I, And turning the course of rivers, did espy. She parts the earth, and ghosts from sepulchres Draws up, and fetcheth bones away from fires, And at her pleasure scatters clouds in the air, And makes it snow in summer ...
— The Complete Works of Whittier - The Standard Library Edition with a linked Index • John Greenleaf Whittier
... man with half an eye What stands before him may espy; But optics sharp it needs, I ween, To see what is not to ...
— Brief History of English and American Literature • Henry A. Beers
... Wilkie as if he had never seen him 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. ...
— Baron Trigault's Vengeance - Volume 2 (of 2) • Emile Gaboriau
... and lie a hull all that night. But the storm so increased, and the waves began to mount aloft, which brought the ice so near us, and coming in so fast upon us, that we were fain to bear in and out, where ye might espy an open place. Thus the ice coming on us so fast we were in great danger, looking every hour for death, and thus passed we on in that great danger, seeing both ourselves and the rest of our ships so troubled and tossed ...
— Voyages in Search of the North-West Passage • Richard Hakluyt
... 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; and if they fear any enemy pursues them, they will shut their ...
— The Pulpit Of The Reformation, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. • John Welch, Bishop Latimer and John Knox
... travel back along the chain of causation to discover God? What is gained by travelling along an infinite series, and saying suddenly, "At this point I espy God." Confessedly we may trace back phenomena as far as we will without finding ourselves a step nearer a commencement. All we get is a transformation of pre-existing material into new forms. Consequently all the evidence that exists at the moment we cease our journey existed ...
— Theism or Atheism - The Great Alternative • Chapman Cohen
... of the clump on the farther side, and proceeded to lay a train of raisins down the ditch of the hedge to the wood. He did not lay it right down to the wood lest some inquisitive gamekeeper might espy it. Then he returned with fine, red Indian caution to Erebus. They rode ...
— The Terrible Twins • Edgar Jepson
... Marie 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 ...
— A Dozen Ways Of Love • Lily Dougall
... And would not let us sacrifice or pour Libations undisturbed, but filled the camp With lamentations wild and blasphemous, Yelling in agony. Yet why dilate, On what has happened? We will stint our words; He may espy my presence, and my plan Of capturing him be ruined utterly. Now must thy part be done; look round and see Where is a rocky cave with double mouth, So formed that in the winter twice the sun Falls on the ...
— Specimens of Greek Tragedy - Aeschylus and Sophocles • Goldwin Smith
... gentleman demonstrated the practicability of giving a 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 ...
— The Hall of Fantasy (From "Mosses From An Old Manse") • Nathaniel Hawthorne
... Sun, the world's bright eye, In at our window peeping! Lo, how he blusheth to espy Us idle ...
— A Collection Of Old English Plays, Vol. IV. • Editor: A.H. Bullen
... inhabited by men and women, and protected by the law of nations;(555) 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
... Mother Society,'—this being the burden of his song. When he leaves, Khalid, with a scowl on his brow, paces up and down the room, saying, 'They would treat me like a school boy; they would have me speak by rule, and according to their own dictation. They even espy my words and actions as if I were an enemy of the Constitution. No; let them find another. The servile spouters in the land are as plenty as summer flies. After I deliver my address to-day, Shakib, we will take the first train for Baalbek. I want to see my mother. No, billah! ...
— The Book of Khalid • Ameen Rihani
... songs such 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 ...
— The Metamorphoses of Ovid - Literally Translated into English Prose, with Copious Notes - and Explanations • Publius Ovidius Naso
... were 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, while old folks and boys stood outside. But I heard not a single ...
— Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands V2 • Harriet Beecher Stowe
... seemed not unsubstantial as the air. At otherwhiles he wandered all alone About a lonely land, and heard a moan As of some bird that sang and singing grieved; And peering all about the woods thick-leaved If so he might espy the bird, he found At length, after long searching, that the sound Even from the bottom of his own heart came, And unawares his own mouth sang the same. And then in dream 'twas like as years went by, ...
— The Poems of William Watson • William Watson
... rough-handed enough thereat, 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 ...
— The Story of Grettir The Strong • Translated by Eirikr Magnusson and William Morris
... shall soone espy their lodging by their web, or the decay of leaues eaten around about them. And being seene, they are easily destroyed with your hand, or rather (if your tree may spare it) take sprig and all: ...
— A New Orchard And Garden • William Lawson
... saw such general joy as appeared through the village at sight of the Dean.—The first person who espy'd him ran with such speed into every house, that by the time we reached Mr. Gardener's gate, the chaise was surrounded by a hundred people.—Mr. and Mrs. Gardener stepping out, were saluted by the Dean. ...
— Barford Abbey • Susannah Minific Gunning
... two ships and, despite the distance, I knew the foremost for the "Faithful Friend." Ever and anon would come the faint crack of caliver or petronel from her high poop, and the thunder of her stern-chase guns. And with my mind's eyes I seemed to espy Adam firing from his loopholes to sweep the decks forward, the while Godby and his few gunners served the great basilisks aft, aiming them at a tall, black ship that stood hard in their wake, yawing now and then to bring her fore-chase to bear on ...
— Black Bartlemy's Treasure • Jeffrey Farnol
... send furth Corbie Messingeir, Into the air to espy Gif he saw ony mountains dry. Sum sayis the Rauin did furth remane, And com nocht to the ark ...
— The Proverbs of Scotland • Alexander Hislop
... to observe, not to feel, Not to fancy, if simple of eye One may be among images reaped For a shift of the glance, as grain: Profitless froth you espy Ashore after billows have leaped. I fled nothing, nothing pursued: The changeful visible face Of our Mother I sought for my food; Crumbs by the way to sustain. Her sentence I knew past grace. Myself I had lost of us twain, Once bound ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... "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 fail to ...
— The Submarine Boys for the Flag - Deeding Their Lives to Uncle Sam • Victor G. Durham
... Skinner began to throw fearful glances around, to espy the hiding places of his tormentors. For the first time the horrid idea seemed to shoot through his brain that something serious was intended by the Cowboy. He called entreatingly to be released, and made rapid and incoherent promises of important information, mingled with affected pleasantry ...
— The Spy • James Fenimore Cooper
... animals as when regularly fed in the summer. No wonder therefore that they will eat almost anything however tough or filthy, and that neither whipping nor shouting will prevent their turning out of the road, even when going at full speed, to pick up whatever they espy. When at the huts they are constantly creeping in to pilfer what they can, and half the time of the people sitting there is occupied in vociferating their names and driving them by most unmerciful blows out of the apartments. The dogs ...
— Journal of the Third Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage • William Edward Parry
... flow of that perennial well; And so the youths and maidens soon regained The wonted gayety that late had fled. All save Winona, in whose face and mien, Unto the careless eye, no change was seen; But one that noted might sometimes espy A furtive fear that shot across her eye, As in a forest, 'thwart some bit of blue, Darts a rare bird that shuns the hunter's view. Her laugh, though gay, a subtle change confessed, And in her attitude a vague unrest Betrayed a world of feelings unexprest. ...
— Indian Legends of Minnesota • Various
... people from uncivilized, ignorant, unwarlike Algeria was drunk and knew it, as did two of his very fine friends who announced that as there was no train he should have a good sleep at a farmhouse hard by, which farmhouse one of them claimed to espy through the impenetrable night. The drunk was accordingly escorted into the dark, his friends' abrupt steps correcting his own large slovenly procedure out of earshot.... Some of the Black People sat down near me and smoked. Their enormous faces, wads of vital darkness, swooned ...
— The Enormous Room • Edward Estlin Cummings
... angels there came a company With merry songs and melody, The shepherds anon gan them espy, ...
— In The Yule-Log Glow—Book 3 - Christmas Poems from 'round the World • Various
... power divine In a more bright and sweet reflection shine? Where do we finer strokes and colours 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 should espy Even in a bush the radiant Deity. But we despise these his inferior ways Though no less full of miracle and praise; Upon the flowers of heaven we gaze, The stars of earth no wonder in us raise, Though these ...
— Cowley's Essays • Abraham Cowley
... 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 be inflicted upon all Spanish prisoners falling into the hands of the pirates, in the event of his ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol III, Issue VI, June, 1863 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various
... 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
... 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 ...
— The Secret of a Happy Home (1896) • Marion Harland
... is perhaps an exaggeration to say that Maury alone laid the foundation for our present Weather Bureau, he certainly shares with Professors Redfield, Espy, Loomis, Joseph Henry, Dr. Increase Lapham, and others, the honor of having been one of the first to suggest the feasibility of our present ...
— American Adventures - A Second Trip 'Abroad at home' • Julian Street
... Poet's eye Can only outward charms espy, Thy form alone adoring— Ah, Lady, no: though fair they be. Yet he a fairer sight may see, Thy lovely ...
— The Sylphs of the Season with Other Poems • Washington Allston
... and Butterflies And levities of Yester-year! For we espy, and hold more dear, The Wicket of ...
— The Cords of Vanity • James Branch Cabell et al
... 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
... sufficient 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
... a 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
... 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, ...
— The Illustrated London Reading Book • Various
... the battlement, Looks the Damsel towards the strand: “Yonder I my youth espy, See ...
— Grimmer and Kamper - The End of Sivard Snarenswayne and other ballads - - - Translator: George Borrow • Thomas J. Wise
... she turn aside? Will she espy the dark form in the deep shade of the orange, and, with one piercing scream, wheel and vanish? She draws near. She approaches the jasmine; she raises her arms, the sleeves falling like a vapor down to the shoulders; rises upon tiptoe, ...
— Madame Delphine • George W. Cable
... 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 out to meet them. They fell at one another's hands, ...
— The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Tain Bo Cualnge • Unknown
... fortunately at home; and after a very brief interval, made his appearance, entering with a short professional bow to me, and a very profound one to the lady, in whom his quick gray eye seemed intuitively to espy a client. As soon as he was seated, I handed him Sir Jasper's letter. He perused it carefully three times, examined the seal attentively, and handed it back with—"An excellent letter as far as it goes, and very much ...
— The Experiences of a Barrister, and Confessions of an Attorney • Samuel Warren
... day we 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 ...
— The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido - For the Suppression of Piracy • Henry Keppel
... Hood next morning stood Amongst the leaves so gay, There did he espy the same young man, Come ...
— The Children's Garland from the Best Poets • Various
... 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 some of the ...
— Supplemental Nights, Volume 5 • Richard F. Burton
... espy out in all the land fifty knights of most prowess and honour, who should make up the full number for the Round Table. Only twenty-eight could he find worthy enough, and these Merlin fetched to Arthur's court. And Merlin made sieges (seats), an hundred and fifty in all, for the knights, and he ...
— Stories of King Arthur and His Knights - Retold from Malory's "Morte dArthur" • U. Waldo Cutler
... blessing? Suppose one of those wretches who are engaged in this nefarious commerce were brought before the Supreme Court, and being convicted, should be asked by the Judge, whether he had aught to say why sentence of death should not be pronounced upon him? And suppose the culprit should espy some of his sable victims in court, whom he knew had made a profession of faith, and he should boldly reply—'May it please your Honor, I abducted these people away from their homes, it is true; but they were poor, miserable, ...
— Thoughts on African Colonization • William Lloyd Garrison
... and filthy creatures), should presently affirm these to be the occasion of all that is amiss, or of any want or defect that may happen. Or as if indeed one contemplating this land or ground, how full it is of tame fruits, and how heavy with ears of corn, should afterwards espy somewhere in these same cornfields an ear of darnel or a wild vetch, and thereupon neglect to reap and gather in the corn, and fall a complaining of these. Such another thing it would be, if one—listening ...
— Essays and Miscellanies - The Complete Works Volume 3 • Plutarch
... In a more bright and sweet Reflection shine? Where do we finer Strokes and Colours see Of the Creator's real Poetry, Than when we with attention look Upon the third days Volume of the Book? If we could open and intend our Eye, We all like Moses should espy Ev'n in a Bush the radiant Deity. But we despise these his inferior ways, (Though no less full of Miracle and Praise) Upon the Flowers of Heaven we gaze; The Stars of Earth no wonder in us raise, Though these perhaps do more than they, The Life of Mankind sway. Although ...
— Sylva, Vol. 1 (of 2) - Or A Discourse of Forest Trees • John Evelyn
... me your ring, lest ye lose it while ye drink." So Sir Gareth took it off. And when he had finished drinking, he rode back eagerly to the field, and in his haste forgot to take the ring again. Then all the people saw that he wore yellow armour. And King Arthur told a herald, "Ride and espy the cognizance of that brave knight, for I have asked many who he is, ...
— The Legends Of King Arthur And His Knights • James Knowles
... 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 and his wife and his friends did not know ...
— Vanity Fair • William Makepeace Thackeray
... 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 ...
— The Fixed Period • Anthony Trollope
... we could hear the rustling sound of the leaves, as the rogue, as we supposed, moved his head or perhaps only his ears among them. I held my breath. There were no tall trees near behind which we could run should he espy us. Our only chance of safety was in bringing him down by a shot. We were well to windward of him, and he had not yet discovered us. We all stopped, holding our breath, with our rifles cocked, ready to fire. We were not a dozen yards ...
— My First Voyage to Southern Seas • W.H.G. Kingston
... 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, ...
— Some Poems by Sir Walter Scott • Sir Walter Scott
... of March. The Line was passed. Far off, on the starboard bow, the lofty headland of Cape Francisco was seen, though dim and indistinct. All day long the seamen, with eager eyes, had been looking out ahead and on either side, hoping to espy the tiny speck of white just above the horizon. The day was clear, the sun shone brightly down from an unclouded sky, and the Golden Hind in hot haste sped on, her canvas spread wide on either side to catch the breeze. Midday was passed. In spite of the heat every one was on deck, the ...
— Notable Voyagers - From Columbus to Nordenskiold • W.H.G. Kingston and Henry Frith
... remained 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; ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley
... thou should kiss me, love, Wha could espy thee? If thou wad be my love, Jamie, come try me. Jamie, come try me, Jamie, come try me; If thou would win my ...
— The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. • Robert Burns and Allan Cunningham
... 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
... 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 flasket, And with fine ...
— The Golden Treasury - Of the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language • Various
... at the Roost, the stout Jacob was not idle; but was prone to carry on a petty warfare of his own, for his private recreation and refreshment. Did he ever chance to espy, from his look-out place, a hostile ship or galley anchored or becalmed near shore, he would take down his long goose-gun from the hooks over the fire-place, sally out alone, and lurk along shore, dodging behind rocks and trees, and watching for hours together, like ...
— Wolfert's Roost and Miscellanies • Washington Irving
... was confirmed by the lawyer's behaviour. No sooner did Ocock espy him than up he rushed, brandishing the note that had been got to him early that morning—and now his eyes looked like little dabs of pitch in his chalk-white face, and his manner, stripped of its veneer, let the real man ...
— Australia Felix • Henry Handel Richardson
... Not I! and if I were, what is there to espy in you? Although, I recollect, his frequent question About you and your spouse might lead to some Suspicion; but you best know—what—and why. ...
— The Works of Lord Byron - Poetry, Volume V. • Lord Byron
... as to the 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 ...
— Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee - A Bee Keeper's Manual • L. L. Langstroth
... heard in the shrubbery; the flashing barrel of a rifle was then seen, and it seemed as though the fleet-footed chamois appeared on the heights above. But they were Tyrolese sharpshooters who had climbed up to the watch-towers of their natural fortresses to espy the enemy and on his appearance to welcome him with the bullets of ...
— Andreas Hofer • Lousia Muhlbach
... 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 with the duskiness, but could not half ...
— The Children's Hour, Volume 3 (of 10) • Various
... the tepid surf. The population must have increased not a little since those days, nearly a century ago, when the unhappy Shelley could find peace and solitude in his darkest hours of unrest upon these shores, where it would be well-nigh impossible for a twentieth-century poet to espy a retreat for soothing his soul in verse. Yet somehow, during the drowsy noontide rest when the active life of the South ceases, if only for an hour or so, it is still possible to catch the spirit in which that melancholy wanderer indited one of his most exquisite lyrics:—sunshine, ...
— The Naples Riviera • Herbert M. Vaughan
... wronged conceit? Be that as it may, my book no longer interested me, and finally I rose up and went away after having deposited all my nuts on the grass in the hope that the little maid might chance that way and espy them. ...
— The Heart's Highway - A Romance of Virginia in the Seventeeth Century • Mary E. Wilkins
... 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 nor cat nor bird; for his wandering and danger haunted life did ...
— Malcolm • George MacDonald
... but my eye Can map its confines and its courses; Yet on life's map who can espy Where hides his foe—where he shall die?" So Herman said, and his resources Resigned ...
— Tales of the Chesapeake • George Alfred Townsend
... that seems odd to him, and is in itself really extravagant, in the opinions, reasonings, and actions of other men. The least flaw of this kind, if at all different from his own, every one is quick-sighted enough to espy in another, and will by the authority of reason forwardly condemn; though he be guilty of much greater unreasonableness in his own tenets and conduct, which he never perceives, and will very hardly, if ...
— An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume I. - MDCXC, Based on the 2nd Edition, Books I. and II. (of 4) • John Locke
... dismissing the school. Our class got out before the others. As soon as we were outside the door, whom should we espy there, in the large hall, just at the entrance? The father of Precossi, the blacksmith, pallid as was his wont, with fierce face, hair hanging over his eyes, his cap awry, and unsteady on his legs. The teacher caught sight of him instantly, and whispered ...
— Cuore (Heart) - An Italian Schoolboy's Journal • Edmondo De Amicis
... pound: these and five thousand mo So oft he hath recited to his friends, That now himself persuades himself 'tis so. But why doth Crassus tell his lies so rife, Of bridges, towns, and things that have no life? He is a lawyer, and doth well espy That for such lies an ...
— The Works of Christopher Marlowe, Vol. 3 (of 3) • Christopher Marlowe
... observer might espy Strange passions lurking in her deep black eye, And in the lines of her fine lip, a soul That in its every feeling spurned control. They passed unnoted—who will stop to trace A sullying spot on beauty's sparkling face? And no one deemed, amid her glances sweet, Hers was ...
— The Culprit Fay - and Other Poems • Joseph Rodman Drake
... below me drifted, so that I could just espy, as in a frame of cloud, a little spot on the deck of the Rata, where stood a man. He was tall like a giant. The tawny hair waved carelessly in the wind. He carried no weapon, but leaned with both hands heavily on the rail, like a man wounded, and his face, when he turned it, ...
— Sir Ludar - A Story of the Days of the Great Queen Bess • Talbot Baines Reed
... way by a big wall, hears us pass. She stops and would look if she could. We espy her figure in that twilight of which she is beginning to make a part, though fine and ...
— Light • Henri Barbusse
... goes into a house, should look to and espy all the doorways (so that he can find his way out quickly again), for he can never know where foes may be sitting in ...
— Books and Habits from the Lectures of Lafcadio Hearn • Lafcadio Hearn
... 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
... this Lent, 1594, when it became void again (says Dee), I made a motion for it, but I came too late; for one that might spend 400 or 500 lib. a year already, had more need of it than I belike; or else this former gift was but words only to me, and the fruit ever due to others, that can espy and catch better than I for these 35 years could do." Mistris Blanche a Parry came to his house with an offer from the Queen of "any ecclesiastical dignity within her kingdom, being then, or shortly becoming, void and vacant"—but "Dee's most humble and thankful answer to her Majesty, by the same ...
— Bibliomania; or Book-Madness - A Bibliographical Romance • Thomas Frognall Dibdin
... must necessarily be attended by precipitation of moisture. This idea was advanced by Doctor Hutton, and considered competent to account for the prominent meteorological phenomena, until Professor Espy broached a questionable principle, (and which is rendered still more so by the late investigations of Regnault,) in opposition to Hutton's theory. That the theory is deficient, no one can gainsay. That Espy has rendered ...
— Outlines of a Mechanical Theory of Storms - Containing the True Law of Lunar Influence • T. Bassnett
... 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 ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 1 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill
... was empty, as we know, and Mrs Prothero was about to leave it again, when she went to the open window to see if she could espy Netta from it. She passed the dressing-table as she did so, and perceiving a letter, glanced at the direction. She was surprised to find it addressed to herself, and on a nearer examination saw ...
— Gladys, the Reaper • Anne Beale
... pleasant smell of roses must emanate from some other spot; still, he was making the round of the hall, which was lighted by four smoky lanterns, and which he believed to be altogether unoccupied, when, against the left-hand wall, he was surprised to espy the vague figure of a woman in black, with what seemed to be a white parcel lying on her lap. She was all alone in that solitude, and did not stir; however, ...
— The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete - Lourdes, Rome and Paris • Emile Zola
... half an eye What stands before him can espy; But optics sharp it needs, I ween, To see what ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 88, February, 1865 • Various
... their reputation. Rowland knew that she 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 front seat of the carriage with a tangle of strange ...
— Roderick Hudson • Henry James
... yield you passage safe. Yesterday, later by five hours than now, Twelve hundred threescore years and six had fill'd The circuit of their course, since here the way Was broken. Thitherward I straight dispatch Certain of these my scouts, who shall espy If any on the surface bask. With them Go ye: for ye shall find them nothing fell. Come Alichino forth," with that he cried, "And Calcabrina, and Cagnazzo thou! The troop of ten let Barbariccia lead. With Libicocco Draghinazzo ...
— The Divine Comedy • Dante
... 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 ...
— Hung Lou Meng, Book II • Cao Xueqin
... Mavis, sorry to lose the sunlight, if only for a few minutes, was yet pleased at exploring this mysterious waterway. Now and again, where the water had collected in wide pools, she had, with Perigal's assistance, to make use of stepping stones, to espy which was often difficult. They picked their way down and down for quite a long time, till Mavis began to wonder if they would ever discover an outlet. When, at last, the passage was seen to emerge into a blaze of sunlight, they ran like children to see who would be out first. In a few moments they ...
— Sparrows - The Story of an Unprotected Girl • Horace W. C. Newte
... church; some of these old country churches have singular bits about them. Mr Bradshaw kindly directed me part of the way, but I was so much puzzled by 'turns to the right,' and 'turns to the left,' that I was quite glad to espy ...
— Ruth • Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
... 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 themselves during ...
— The Jungle Girl • Gordon Casserly
... We espy at last the long-sought oasis. Beyond a hill, on a still higher one, some slated roofs peep from clusters of foliage as brightly green as a salad. The village is there, and our looks embrace it, but we are not there yet. ...
— Under Fire - The Story of a Squad • Henri Barbusse
... entertayne. 1085 Thenceforth proceeding with his princely trayne, He shortly met the Tygre, and the Bore, Which with the simple Camell raged sore In bitter words, seeking to take occasion Upon his fleshly corpse to make invasion: 1090 But soone as they this mock-king did espy, Their troublous strife they stinted by and by, [Stinted by and by, stopped at once.] Thinking indeed that it the Lyon was. He then, to prove whether his powre would pas As currant, sent the Foxe to them streight way, 1095 ...
— The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Volume 5 • Edmund Spenser
... children espy, but a nice firm deal box, containing a little saw, a little plane, a hammer, a gimlet, a chisel, and sundry different sizes of nails. Was there ever anything so delightful, especially to David, who loved nothing so well as running after George Bowles the carpenter, and ...
— The Stokesley Secret • Charlotte M. Yonge
... feet. Lancelot saluteth him right nobly, and the King answereth him full fairly as one that is a right worshipful man. And such a brightness of light was there in the chamber as that it seemed the sun were beaming on all sides, and albeit the night was dark, no candles, so far as Lancelot might espy, ...
— High History of the Holy Graal • Unknown
... mountain's highest ridge, Where oft the stormy winter gale Cuts like a scythe, while through the clouds 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 Of water, never dry; I've measured it from side to side: 'Tis three feet long, and ...
— Lyrical Ballads 1798 • Wordsworth and Coleridge
... four men who appreciated what peril to their plans inhered in the Lone Wolf, even four made a ponderable array of desperate enemies to have at large in New York, apt to be encountered at any corner, apt at any time to espy and ...
— The False Faces • Vance, Louis Joseph
... make pretence, to tear him limb from limb. Zadkiel defends himself gallantly, but has to succumb at last, for he is fairly rolled on his back, and in a few minutes is, figuratively speaking, turned inside out. Then they espy the good-natured admiring face of their mother, peering at them over the corner of the straw, and at her they all rush. They make believe that she is a fox, and her life is accordingly not worth an ...
— Little Folks (Septemeber 1884) - A Magazine for the Young • Various
... above it is strong dark mountain, spread with heath, and desolate, but near our house the valleys cove, and open warmth and shelter. Here are trees, and bright green grass, and orchards full of contentment, and a man may scarce espy the brook, although he hears it everywhere. And indeed a stout good piece of it comes through our farm-yard, and swells sometimes to a rush of waves, when the clouds are on the hill-tops. But all below, where the valley bends, and the Lynn stream comes along with ...
— Lorna Doone - A Romance of Exmoor • R. D. Blackmore
... did espy lights ahead. It was then almost midnight. A group of horsemen arose suddenly like shadows out of the mesquite and ...
— The Mission of Janice Day • Helen Beecher Long
... lawgivers; that is, the boldest 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. ...
— Essays • Ralph Waldo Emerson
... is a 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, ...
— Little Journeys To the Homes of the Great, Volume 3 (of 14) • Elbert Hubbard
... while I am talking here that serpent! that copperhead! that cobra capella! is coming round again! How astonishingly tenacious of life all foul, venomous creatures are!" exclaimed Cloudesley, as he happened to espy Throg moving slightly where he lay, and rushed out to ...
— The Missing Bride • Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
... earnestly did he now wish to get out from among the thick and close trees; for his heart beat high, and he felt as if he should breathe freer in the open ground. The dragon-fly flew on before and showed him the way as far as the outermost verge of the wood, whence the Child could espy his own little hut, and then flew away ...
— Peter Schlemihl etc. • Chamisso et. al.
... that looks on glass, On it may stay his eye, Or, if he pleaseth, through it pass, And the heavens espy." ...
— A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers • Henry David Thoreau
... espy some shadow moving behind the veil. A tinkling sound would come to his car from afar, and would set him dreaming of the ankles whose tiny golden bells sang at each step. Ah, the rosy red tender feet that walked the dust of the earth ...
— The Hungry Stones And Other Stories • Rabindranath Tagore
... weather-bow, the topsails of which were just clear of the horizon. The trades were at this time blowing fresh, and the barque was thrashing along under her main-topgallantsail, with the flying-jib stowed. No sooner, however, did Roberts come on deck and espy the stranger—which was steering the same way as ourselves—than he must needs give orders to loose and set the fore-topgallantsail and flying-jib; and while I was in the saloon at breakfast, I heard him give orders to set the two royals. Under this additional canvas, ...
— The Cruise of the "Esmeralda" • Harry Collingwood
... 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 Works Of Lord Byron, Vol. 3 (of 7) • Lord Byron
... was taking a solitary Walk by the Side of a Thicket, he espy'd one of the Queen's Eunuchs, with several of his Attendants, coming towards him, hunting about, in deep Concern, both here and there, like Persons almost in Despair, and seeking, with Impatience, for something lost of the utmost Importance. ...
— Zadig - Or, The Book of Fate • Voltaire
... 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 ...
— The Cloister and the Hearth • Charles Reade
... Flanders, joined in commission with Cuthbert Tunstall, whose virtue and learning be of more excellency than that I am able to praise them. And whiles I was abiding at Antwerp, oftentimes among other did visit me one Peter Gyles, a citizen thereof, whom one day I chanced to espy talking with a stranger, with whom he brought me to speech. Which Raphael Hythloday had voyaged with Master Amerigo Vespucci, but parting from him had seen many lands, and so returned home by way of Taprobane ...
— The World's Greatest Books—Volume 14—Philosophy and Economics • Various
... set out to meet your white friend," said the Indian; "for should he be coming over the ice to-day, the wolves are certain to espy him." ...
— Afar in the Forest • W.H.G. Kingston
... take 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 return to their hunting and rowing, And leave ...
— The Wit of Women - Fourth Edition • Kate Sanborn
... eye, eagle eye, piercing eye, penetrating eye; perspicacity, discernment; catopsis^. eagle, hawk; cat, lynx; Argus^. evil eye; basilisk, cockatrice [Myth.]. V. see, behold, discern, perceive, have in sight, descry, sight, make out, discover, distinguish, recognize, spy, espy, ken [Scot.]; get a sight of, have a sight of, catch a sight of, get a glimpse of, have a glimpse of, catch a glimpse of; command a view of; witness, contemplate, speculate; cast the eyes on, set the ...
— Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget
... through the palace yard, on the way to the carriage, you espy through an open door a splendid room fitted with paraphernalia not associated with medieval pastimes. It is the Maharajah's billiard-room, sumptuously furnished, and filled with tables ...
— East of Suez - Ceylon, India, China and Japan • Frederic Courtland Penfield
... 5:38 So Judas sent men to espy the host, who brought him word, saying, All the heathen that be round about us are assembled unto them, even ...
— Deuteronomical Books of the Bible - Apocrypha • Anonymous
... garden of the palace just then, and they turned with disappointment to obey Glinda's command. But before they left the garden the Tin Woodman, who was fond of flowers, chanced to espy a big red rose growing upon a bush; so he plucked the flower and fastened it securely in the tin buttonhole of ...
— The Marvelous Land of Oz • L. Frank Baum
... year Mahomet, going into the house of Zaid, did not find him at home, but happened to espy his wife Zainab so much in dishabille as to discover beauties enough to touch a heart so amorous as his was. He could not conceal the impression made upon him, but cried out, "Praised be God, who turneth men's ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 4 • Various |
