FAMOUS FIRST LINES 2

Are you a student or an amateur of literature in English? In either case, you may enjoy reading these first lines from plays, poems, novels or other writings, and trying to guess the name of the work, its author, and when it was written :

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1. In a somere seyson whan softe was the sonne,

Y shop me in-to shrobbis as y a sheperde were,

In abit as an ermite vnholy of werkes,

Ich wente forth in the worlde wonders to hure,

And saw meny cellis and selcouthe thynges.

2. Lo I the man, whose Muse whilom did maske,

As time her taught , in lowly Shepheards weeds,

Am now enforst, a far unfitter taske,

For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine oaten reeds,

And sing of knights and ladies gentle deeds ;

3. Mast. Boatwain !

Boats. Here, master : what cheer ?

Mast. Good, speak to the mariners : fall to't, yarely, or we run ourselves aground : bestir, bestir. [Exit.]

4. Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit

Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast

Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,

With loss of Eden, till one greater Man

Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,

Sing Heav'nly Muse, ...

5. Man. Tell me not (my good Lord Plausible) of your Decorums, supercilious Forms, and slavish Ceremonies ; your little Tricks, which you the Spaniels of the World, do daily over and over, for, and to one another ; not out of love or duty, but your servile fear.

L. Plaus. Nay, i'faith, i'faith, you are too passionate, and I must humbly beg your pardon and leave to tell you, they are the Arts, and Rules, the prudent of the World walk by.

6. My Father had a small Estate in Nottinghamshire ; I was the Third of Five Sons. He sent me to Emanuel-Colledge in Cambridge, at Fourteen Years old, where I resided three Years, and applyed my self close to my Studies.

7. Mrs. HARDCASTLE

I vow, Mr. Hardcastle, you're very particular. Is there a creature in the whole country, but ourselves, that does not take a trip to town now and then, to rub off the rust a little ? There's the two Miss Hoggs, and our neighbour, Mrs. Grigsby, go to take a month's polishing every winter.

HARDCASTLE

Ay, and bring back vanity and affectation to last them the whole year.

8. O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,

Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead

Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing.

9. Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do : ...

10. Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through the sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

11. Except for the Malabar Caves -- and they are twenty miles off -- the city of Chandrapore presents nothing extraordinary.

12. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

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