Joy

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

Page 186 of 299 · 20 per page

• From Fragments (7)

  The lyre of Homer to me bring, Without its bloody murderous string; And o'er the goblet's sparkling flame The festal laws I shall proclaim. Then shall I steep myself in wine And dance; and then with rage divine, Though temperate, I shall play the lyre, And ne'er of drinking songs Til tire. The lyre of Homer to me bring, Without its bloody murderous string. A PICTURE (2b) Best of painters, come to me. Listen to my lyre's sweet ditties: On thy picture let me see First hilarious laughing cities. IIS Lyric Songs of the Greeks Sporting Bacchae paint below, Flutes with music light rebounding; If thy wax so much could show, Also strains of love resounding. TO A SILVER DRINKING-CUP (3) Hephaestus, silver-smith divine. Fashion for me thy metal, Not into panoplies — not mine Is love of strife and battle. A hollow drinking cup for me Make thou as deep as deep can be. Engraven on the cup I care To have no constellations: With surly Orion and the Bear I have not the slightest patience. What care I for the Pleiades? Perdition may Bootes seize. Pray, vines and clustered grapes for me, And Maenads them to gather, And wine-vats flowing bounteously Do thou engrave much rather. Bathyllus and Lyaeus fair Shall press, and Love with golden hair. ii6 Anacreontea TO THE SAME DRINKIN&CUP (4) O thou of wondrous skilful art, Fashion for me a cup of spring: First roses to delight our heart Shall us the early seasons bring. Of gleaming silver work it out; Put on a pleasant drinking-bout. Not foreign rites depict thou, nor Their odious philosophy; Nay, rather Bacchus, whom I adore, The son of Zeus, engrave for me. Cypris, who sings the wedding hymn, Be mystagogue of Bacchus' stream. And unarmed Cupids' winsome shapes Depict, and laughing Graces too. Under a leafy vine, whose grapes Are hanging down in clusters blue. Here handsome youths engrave, I pray, And there let sportive Phoebus play. TO EROS (5) Once as I a chaplet wound. Though I never sought him, I midst roses Eros found: By his wings I caught him. 117 Lyric Songs of the Greeks Then I dipped him in my wine, Let it downward trickle — Now within these limbs of mine E*er his feathers prickle. TO HIMSELF (6) " Anacreon," the women say, " Thou art surely growing old. Just take a mirror, look, I pray. Thy scanty hair behold." And my bald forehead then they show, But I must needs confess, I know not whether it is so. That e'er my hair grows less. Of this, however, I am sure : The nearer is my death. The more do joys of life allure. While still I draw my breath. ON LIVING WITHOUT ENVY (7) For Gyges* wealth I do not care, The far-famed Sardian king; No grudge within my heart I bear, The tyrants envying. ii8 Anacreontea But as to me, far more with myrrh

• From Fragments (7)

  I care my beard to wet ; Fresh wreaths of roses I prefer To place upon my head. Today means everything to me, Tomorrow hidden lies. As long as it fair weather be, Do drink and throw the dice. And also to Lyaeus pour Libations; for, I fear, Disease will say, '* Pray, drink no more," Whene'er it will appear. TO HIMSELF WHEN INTOXICATED (8) By the gods, by the gods I conjure. Let me drink, let me drink evermore. For madly to rave do I crave, As Alcmaeon before did rave. And barefoot Orestes too. Who in frenzy their own mothers slew. But no one would I want to kill. But my cup e'er with red wine fill. Thus madly to rave do I crave, As Heracles too did rave. When his terrible quiver he shook, And his bow from Iphitus took. So formerly Ajax raved. Who the corpse of Achilles had saved, 119 Lyric Songs of the Greeks Who the sword of Hector did wield, And brandished his terrible shield. But I for a cup only care, And a wreath to put on my hair. No bow and no sword will I have: Thus madly to rave do I crave. TO A SWALLOW (9) Come, what shall I do to thee. Noisy, chattering swallow? Wouldst thou after thee have me With my scissors follow? Shall I clip thy airy wings, So thou ceasest flying, Or thy tongue which ever sings, With famed Tereus vying? Why from me, not yet awake, With thy noisy chatter. Didst thou my Bathyllus take From my dreams, O prater? TO A WAXEN EROS do) I met a youth who on his hand A waxen Eros had. And right beside him I did stand. And then to him I said: 1 20 Anacreontea " This figure which was made by thee For how much wilt thou sell to me? " And, answering, he turned about, With Doric accents broad: " Pay what thou wilt, thou wilt find him out My skill I do not laud. But I no longer with me now The villain Eros will allow." " Give quickly, quickly give to me ; A drachma will I pay. Eros, my fair companion be; Inflame me e'en today. But if thou canst not me inspire, ril melt thee in the gleaming fire." TO ATTIS (II) With fair Cybebe once, they say, Attis became enamoured: Half woman, raving, far away. He on the mountains clamored. Some, shouting loud on Clams' shore, In frenzied madness totter. Where laurelled Phoebus men adore. They drink the babbling water. But rather I with cheering wine And ointment would be sated. 121 Lyric Songs of the Greeks Through thee, dear maid, companion mine, rU madly be elated. TO EROS (12) I wish to love, to love desire — So Eros would persuade me; But not so soon did I take fire; My stubborn mind delayed me. And then at once he raised his bow, And let his arrows rattle;

• From Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women (Erotic Fiction) (2006)

  So without further ado, her godmother waved her magic wand and lightly tapped Cinderella’s feet, each in turn. They both watched with fascination as the glass slippers magically dissolved away into nothingness. Almost immediately the glass was replaced with the softest imaginable material of the palest possible pink. The exotic material weaved itself elaborately around Cinderella’s feet, starting at the tips of her toes, continuing along the arch of her foot, and finally winding itself over her heel and around her ankle. Cinderella’s eyes widened in amazement as the remarkable slipper took shape in a most clever design around her foot. She arched her ankle and twisted it this way and that in admiration as she watched, never having seen anything so utterly exquisite before in her life. Now Cinderella’s feet had become all but deadened from the dreaded glass slippers, but very stealthily sensation was returning to them, as a tingling awareness of the magnificently soft material encroached upon all of her foot’s nerve endings. She wiggled her toes in approval, and the luscious feeling of her skin moving within the supple slippers sent shivers of delight all the way up her legs. She gasped and squealed with glee. Feeling as if she had the abilities and grace of a gazelle, she pushed herself up onto her toes and laughed merrily as she spread her arms wide for a pirouette. Her fairy godmother smiled as she watched Cinderella. Perhaps she would fashion herself a pair, too… Later that evening, when the prince returned to his castle, he called out for Cinderella again and again, only to find, again and again, that she was not there to answer him. He was extremely concerned by this, as it had virtually never happened before, and more to the point, there were dangers always present and lurking in their kingdom. There were ogres and witches and even worse in nearby forests, lying in wait for any opportunity to infiltrate their kingdom and cause their mischief. As he searched the castle with no sign of his wife, he grew more and more concerned. Could some mishap have befallen Cinderella? When he was certain that Cinderella was nowhere within the castle, the prince gallantly mounted his horse and rode out to find her. He circled the castle, and after that the kingdom, in increasingly larger segments, that he might cover every inch through to their borders. As he did this, he stopped at every sign of habitation to ask if anyone had seen Cinderella. The search continued for many hours until the prince reached a certain tavern from which lively music poured forth. Frustrated and exhausted from his utter lack of success thus far, he thought the tavern an unlikely lead indeed, but unwilling to leave a single stone unturned he wearily slid himself from his horse and went inside.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  As soon as they had seated themselves, Dioneo, who was the merriest springald in the world and full of quips and cranks, said, "Ladies, your wit, rather than our foresight, hath guided us hither, and I know not what you purpose to do with your cares; as for my own, I left them within the city gates, whenas I issued thence with you awhile agone; wherefore, do you either address yourselves to make merry and laugh and sing together with me (in so far, I mean, as pertaineth to your dignity) or give me leave to go back for my cares and abide in the afflicted city." Whereto Pampinea, no otherwise than as if in like manner she had banished all her own cares, answered blithely, "Dioneo, thou sayst well; it behoveth us live merrily, nor hath any other occasion caused us flee from yonder miseries. But, for that things which are without measure may not long endure, I, who began the discourse wherethrough this so goodly company came to be made, taking thought for the continuance of our gladness, hold it of necessity that we appoint some one to be principal among us, whom we may honour and obey as chief and whose especial care it shall be to dispose us to live joyously. And in order that each in turn may prove the burden of solicitude, together with the pleasure of headship; and that, the chief being thus drawn, in turn, from one and the other sex, there may be no cause for jealousy, as might happen, were any excluded from the sovranty, I say that unto each be attributed the burden and the honour for one day. Let who is to be our first chief be at the election of us all. For who shall follow, be it he or she whom it shall please the governor of the day to appoint, whenas the hour of vespers draweth near, and let each in turn, at his or her discretion, order and dispose of the place and manner wherein we are to live, for such time as his or her seignory shall endure." Pampinea's words pleased mightily, and with one voice they elected her chief of the first day; whereupon Filomena, running nimbly to a laurel-tree--for that she had many a time heard speak of the honour due to the leaves of this plant and how worship-worth they made whoso was deservedly crowned withal--and plucking divers sprays therefrom, made her thereof a goodly and honourable wreath, which, being set upon her head, was thenceforth, what while their company lasted, a manifest sign unto every other of the royal office and seignory.

• From The Erotic Engine (2011)

  “There’s nothing about the chat facilities of MUD1 that made cybersex impossible or even difficult,” Bartle said. And yet, he wasn’t surprised that there was no initial stampede toward erotica. “Almost all of the early players were male. Furthermore, they were sexually repressed, shy computer types,” he said. “In a world where there are few women, and those that there are, are treated as honorary men, you don’t want to be reminded of what you’re missing out on. The players would no more have tried cybersex than they would have written love letters to one another.” Perhaps even more significant was the fact that if you took your eye off the game, you’d likely be bitten by a poisonous snake, attacked by an evil black rat, consumed by fire or otherwise imperilled, killed and forced to restart the game. So even if these men had decided to indulge in some hot chat, there was too much else to concentrate on to make it practical. “MUD1 had a very intense gameplay,” Bartle recalled. “You were constantly on guard against attack, and there were very few places you could safely stand still for ten minutes. People were there to play a game, and that’s what they did. As an analogy, imagine a team of gay soccer players in the middle of a match: are they going to whisper sweet nothings to each other while the game is in progress? Well no, they’re not—they’re going to try to win. There isn’t the time for that kind of thing in soccer, and there wasn’t in MUD1.” Even before sex came into the picture, though, MUD1 had already begun to alter the way people related to each other through the technology. The chat function Bartle was talking about had the same surprising potency as the other text-based aspects of the game. People could type short messages to everyone in the game, just the people close to them in virtual space or just to one other individual. Those “shy computer types” started connecting on an emotional level that was purely and astoundingly a product of the medium. Some people say it was because online, nobody knew you were a shy computer type. It’s more likely that the initial bonding was due to a more basic fact—in MUD1, everybody was a shy computer type. That was the thing people bonded over. And this was the perfect medium through which to do it. Friendships formed. A community grew. Though many on the outside might dismiss this intimacy as ersatz, cockamamie or worse, it was for many people liberating, empowering and really quite wonderful. And with that kind of personal intensity, online social interactions led inevitably toward online sexual interactions.

• From The Well of Loneliness (1928)

  ANOTHER year passed and Stephen was twenty-one, a rich, in- dependent woman. At any time now she could go where she chose, could do entirely as she listed. Puddle remained at her post; she was waiting a little grimly for something to happen. But noth- ing much happened, beyond the fact that Stephen now dressed in tailor-made clothes to which Anna had perforce to withdraw her opposition. Yet life was gradually reasserting its claims on the girl, which was only natural, for the young may not be delivered over to the dead, nor to grief that refuses consolation. She still mourned her father, she would always mourn him, but at twenty- one with a healthful body, there came a day when she noticed the sunshine, when she smelt the good earth and was thankful for it, when she suddenly knew herself to be alive and was glad, in despite of death. - On one such morning early that June, Stephen drove her car into Upton. She was meaning to cash a cheque at the bank, she was meaning to call at the local saddler’s, she was meaning to buy a new pair of gloves — in the end, however, she did none of these things. It was outside the butcher’s that the dog fight started. The butcher owned an old rip of an Airedale, and the Airedale had taken up his post in the doorway of the shop, as had long been his custom. Down the street, on trim but belligerent tiptoes, came a very small, snow-white West Highland terrier; perhaps he was looking for trouble, and if so he certainly got it in less than two minutes. His yells were so loud that Stephen stopped the car and turned round in her seat to see what was happening. The butcher ran out to swell the confusion by shouting commands that no one THE WELL OF LONELINESS 143 obeyed; he was trying to grasp his dog by the tail which was short and not at all handy for grasping. And then, as it seemed from nowhere at all, there suddenly appeared a very desperate young woman; she was carrying her parasol as though it were a lance with which she intended to enter the battle. Her wails of despair rose above the dog’s yells: ‘ Tony! My Tony! Won’t anyone stop them? My dog’s being killed, won’t any of you stop them?’ And she actually tried to stop them herself, though the parasol broke at the first encounter.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  OF THE EFFECTS ATTRIBUTED TO THE HOLY GHOST IN THE ATTRACTION OF THE RATIONAL CREATURE TO GODIT is a mark of friendship to take delight in the company of one’s friend, to rejoice at what he says and does, and to find in him comfort and consolation against all troubles: hence it is in our griefs especially that we fly to our friends for comfort. Since then the Holy Ghost renders us friends of God, making Him to dwell in us and we in Him, we have through the same Holy Spirit joy in God and comfort under all the adversities and assaults of the world: hence it is said: Give me back the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with thy guiding Spirit (Ps. l, 14): The kingdom of God is justice and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom. xiv, 17): The Church had peace, and was edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and filled with the consolation of the Holy Ghost (Acts ix, 31).

• From Fragments (7)

  The maid sweet honeyed wine poured out; With three-cupped jar she went about. THE RIGHT MIXTURE (31) From a spotless jar pour in Six parts wine, of water ten. LET ME DRINK (32) Come now, boy, a jar bring in, A deep draught to take; 91 Lyric Songs of the Greeks Ten cups water, five of wine Pour, a pledge to make, That, like Bacchus, mildly I Into frenzy break. MODERATION IN DRINK (33) Come now, do at last Cease to roar and shout. Do not drink so fast. Stop that Scythian bout. Rather let us drink with measure. And in beauteous song find pleasure. INTOXICATED (34) Since I am drunken now with wine, I pray. Wilt thou not let me homeward wend my way ? THIRSTY (35) A friendly maid to strangers certainly art thou; Since I am thirsty, wilt thou me to drink allow? IN THE HALLS OF ZEUS (36) The high-roofed halls of Zeus resounded, And with the violent roar rebounded. 92 Anacreon THE DANCE OF THE MUSES (37) The beauteous-haired maidens of Zeus did com- mence Nimbly the gracefully figured dance. MUSIC AND DANCE (38) Whom see I there? Whom meets my glance? Who turns our thoughts to lovely youth? Who to the three-holed flute doth dance, Whose delicate notes our spirits soothe? CLOVER GARLANDS (39) With plaited garlands of clover Their necks and their breasts they did cover. THREE WREATHS FOR EACH (40) Three wreaths to each man were given, with roses two entwined, The third made of papyrus, of the Naucratite kind. 93 Lyric Songs of the Greeks THE FESTIVAL OF DIONYSUS (41) Over our eyes with parsley wreaths Let us our brows enfold, And then a cheerful festival To Dionysus hold. PERFUMED OINTMENT (42) How now? Upon thy wings thou art soaring, Perfumed ointment downward pouring Upon thy breast more hollow far Than pipes of tuneful shepherds are. ANACREON'S POPULARITY (43) Because of my words, because of my song I am loved by the boys who about me throng; For pleasant the songs I know to sing. And pleasant the spoken words I bring. ANACREON'S DESIRES (44) 'Twere not worth while, to me it appears, The horn of plenty to attain, Not for one hundred fifty years Would I o'er proud Tartessus reign. 94 Anacreon ANACREON'S MODERATION IN LOVE (45) I am in love, and then again no love I have. I am raving mad, and then again I do not rave. ANACREON AND HIS TOWNSMEN (46) Neither steadfast, firm, nor kind To my townsmen is my mind. ANACREON'S SHIELD (47) Along the fair stream's banks through fright I threw away my shield in flight. ANACREON IN OLD AGE (48) My temples now with gray are sprinkled. And on my head my hair is white; My youth is gone, my forehead wrinkled. My teeth have lost their lustre bright. My closing years pass by in haste: Soon I no more sweet life shall taste.

• From Confessions of a Mask (1958)

  Sonoko introduced me to her aunt. I wanted to make a good impression and was trying as hard as I could. Everyone seemed to be silently asking each other: "Why did Sonoko ever fall in love with such a fellow? What a pale bookworm! What on earth can she find to like about him?" Having the commendable intention of making everyone think well of me, I did not form an exclusive clique with Sonoko as I had that time on the train. I helped her sisters with their English lessons and listened attentively to the grandmother's stories about her days in Berlin long ago. Oddly enough, it seemed that Sonoko was all the closer to me at such times. In the presence of her grandmother or mother I would often exchange impudent winks with her. At mealtime we would touch feet under the table. She too gradually became absorbed in this play. Once when I was being bored by the grandmother's yarns, Sonoko leaned against a window through which I could see green leaves under the cloudy sky of the rainy season, and from behind her grandmother, so that only I could see, she held up the locket that hung against her breast and swayed it before my eyes. How white was the bosom that could be seen above the crescent-shaped neckline of her dress! Startlingly white. Looking at her smile as she leaned against the window, I could understand the reference to the "wanton blood" that dyed Juliet's cheeks. There is a kind of immodesty that becomes only a virgin, differing from the immodesty of a mature woman, and intoxicates the beholder, like a gentle wind. It is a sort of something that is in bad taste but is still somehow cute, for example, like wanting to tickle a baby. At moments such as these my mind was apt to become intoxicated with sudden happiness. For a long time I had not approached the forbidden fruit called happiness, but it was now tempting me with a melancholy persistence. I felt as though Sonoko were an abyss above which I stood poised. Thus time passed and only two days remained until I was due to return to the naval arsenal. I still had not fulfilled the obligation of the kiss that I had imposed upon myself.All the uplands were wrapped in the drizzle of the rainy season. Borrowing a bicycle, I went to the post office to mail a letter. Sonoko was working in a branch of a government office in order to escape being sent away for volunteer labor, but she had promised to meet me at the post office and play truant for the afternoon.

• From Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women (Erotic Fiction) (2006)

  Later, my husband clung to me even in his sleep, while I—too exhilarated to rest—recalled the night’s events in minute detail. If I had not felt the telltale tenderness in my backside, I would not have believed I had actually done it. And as for my husband, I had never seen him so thoroughly shocked. But that was not his only response, and afterward, when he had taken me in his arms, he was trembling as violently as I was. A smile of triumph spread over my lips as I snuggled against my husband’s warm body. His arms instinctively tightened around me. I had managed to step outside the boundaries that for so long defined my existence, and with very pleasant results. In fact, one could say it was a complete success. Not only had I discovered a new pleasure, but in the process, I had managed to collect for myself a great boon from my husband’s past. For there was no doubt in my mind that this new memory my husband and I had just created together replaced forever, in his mind, that other memory of so long ago. And really, hadn’t it been incredibly easy? Indeed, those women have nothing on any of us! Why, any lady can do what she does. It is simply a matter of changing one’s appearance, just as the proverbial wolf who dons the sheep’s clothing or, I suppose in this case, you might say the sheep who dons the wolves’ clothing! I shall most definitely take on the alluring role again. But I must remember to tread carefully…lest I lose my way back! The Ugly DucklingOnce upon a time there lived a husband and wife who had five daughters. The four older daughters were exceptionally beautiful, but the youngest daughter was thought by comparison to be gangly and awkward, with large bones and features that were less than perfect. Because of this, she was continually picked on by her sisters, and even her parents did little to conceal their disapproval of her, openly lamenting their ill luck in having such a child and wondering whether she would ever amount to anything. They all criticized the poor girl incessantly, saying such things as, “Perhaps if you ate less, you would be more petite,” though she ate no more than any of the others, or, “If you rub lemons in your hair it would not be such a dull color.” In truth, the unfortunate child went to bed hungry many a night and rubbed lemon after lemon into her hair, but nothing she did seemed to matter; there was always one thing or another that they would find wrong with her. The townspeople were no different from her family; they insulted and criticized the youngest and plainest sister and other girls like her. Since her older sisters were thought to be so much more beautiful by comparison, the youngest sister soon came to be known to everyone as “the ugly duckling.”

• From Enchanted: Erotic Bedtime Stories for Women (Erotic Fiction) (2006)

  And in the midst of this, her entire body shuddered, time and again, exposing her pleasure in the performance. Finally the emperor’s excitement reached its peak, and the empress felt his warm wetness dripping down her legs. Even then, he still did not immediately release her, but remained inside her body, languid and self-possessed. A blush crept into her cheeks at the humiliating position she was obliged to maintain, for she had not been able to right herself since the loss of her balance, and still stood with her hands and feet on the floor, and her body bent awkwardly at the waist. Thus situated, all she could do was wait for the emperor’s direction with a burning face, but even so, she still could not look away from the men and women who continued to stare at her. And in spite of her embarrassment, she could feel the tantalizing sensations building up inside of her all over again! But at last the emperor waved the servants away. They, too, were reluctant to look away and, as they slowly walked out of the theater, they repeatedly turned their heads back for one last look. Alone with his wife, the emperor at long last relieved her of her post and gently took her into his warm embrace. “You liked that, didn’t you?” he asked, after watching her face for a moment. She assented with a shy blush, still too embarrassed to admit just how much she had liked it. “I am glad, for you are scheduled to repeat the performance next week—this time for an audience of royals.” The empress pulled away from her husband and stared at him incredulously. She was still too overcome to speak, but it was beginning to dawn on her that, if what they had done ever got out, it would mean her certain ruin. It was, of course, reasonably possible that she could persuade the servants to keep quiet, but royals…? The emperor knew her thoughts and laughed teasingly. “Did I forget to tell you, my love? The crystal panels in our little theater box are magical. All who look into the theater box come under a spell which causes them to forget everything they see. Only those peering out through the panels from the inside maintain their memory.” He gave her a big smile of self-satisfaction. “So you see, my dear, each and every time anyone comes to this theater, they will be as shocked and amazed and delighted by your performance as if it were the first time they were seeing it!” “Do you mean to say that the servants will not remember what they just saw?” she cried. She could not contain her joy and began clapping her hands together excitedly. “Do you like your new theater, empress?” her husband asked her, laughing. “Oh, yes!” she replied happily.

• From Fragments (7)

  Lyric Songrs of the Greeks DRINKING SONGS IN WINTER (I) Now Zeus sends rain; a powerful wintry blast Blows down from heaven; the streams are freezing fast. Strike do>yn the winter, piling up the wood To feed the fire, and let us warm our blood With honeyed wine profuse, while thou, I pray, Beneath our heads soft cushioned pillows lay. IN SUMMER (2) Q)me, wet thy chest with wine: the dog-star now Is rising high, the oppressive sultry glow Of summertime brings parching thirst to all. Now from the leaves the locust its loud call. Its sweet shrill song, pours out from 'neath its wings. The blazing heat, which witherejlh all things, 0*cr all the earth is spread ; the blooming thistle Holds up its head; now womankind doth bristle With passion most, and man is haggard worn ; For Sirius his head and limbs doth burn. 56 Alcaeus IN SPRING (3) I heard that flowery spring Its glories about is to bring. Mix therefore wine with great speed, A bowl full, as honey sweet. IN THE AFTERNOON (4) Let us drink — do not tarry till night. Why wait for the lamp's pale light? But a brief span of life is a day. My dear friend, let us drink while we may. The large figured cups from above Take down; for the son of Jove And of Semele wine gave to man To release him from misery's ban. Do thou therefore mix two and one: 0*er the brim so it almost doth run, For us all one large goblet fill. And then come with another one still. AT NIGHT (5) Let us drink, let us drink, let us drink; For the dog-star is up o'er the brink. 57 Lyric Songs of the Greeks ON THE STORMY SEA (6) Her cargo all is cast into the waters, To save the ship perchance; yet now she totters, Struck by a loudly thundering wave, Which fills with terror e'en the brave. No more to struggle against the stormy weather, The savage tempest, she desires, but rather To founder on the hidden reefs — Thus mountain-high the Ocean heaves. This to forget, my friend, wish I — *tis better In thy glad company my cares to scatter. Of love and friendship let us think. And honeyed wine with Bacchus drink. IN GRIEF (7) Nay, give not up to grief, it profits nothing, Nor do we remedy our ills by loathing. O Bacchus, best our cares to still It is to drink of wine our fill. CHEER UP (8) Come, cheer up. Drink this cup. 38 Alcaeus REJOICE! THE TYRANT IS DEAD (9) Now shall we drink our fill ; Now in carousal mad Drench ourselves with a will: Now is Myrsilus dead. THE VINE FIRST OF ALL (lO) Before the vine no other tree Or shrub do thou set out for me. NOT FASTIDIOUS (II) The wine they drink now honey-sweet, now worse And sharper is than are the prickly burrs.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  The physician then took his leave and letting make a little clary,[428] despatched it to Calandrino, whilst Bruno, buying the capons and other things necessary for making good cheer, ate them in company with his comrades and Master Simone. Calandrino drank of his clary three mornings, after which the doctor came to him, together with his comrades, and feeling his pulse, said to him, 'Calandrino, thou art certainly cured; wherefore henceforth thou mayst safely go about thine every business nor abide longer at home for this.' Accordingly, Calandrino arose, overjoyed, and went about his occasions, mightily extolling, as often as he happened to speak with any one, the fine cure that Master Simone had wrought of him, in that he had unbegotten him with child in three days' time, without any pain; whilst Bruno and Buffalmacco and Nello abode well pleased at having contrived with this device to overreach his niggardliness, albeit Dame Tessa, smoking the cheat, rated her husband amain thereanent." [Footnote 428: _Chiarea._ According to the commentators, the composition of this drink is unknown, but that of clary, a sort of hippocras or spiced wine _clear-strained_ (whence the name), offers no difficulty to the student of old English literature.] THE FOURTH STORY [Day the Ninth] CECCO FORTARRIGO GAMETH AWAY AT BUONCONVENTO ALL HIS GOOD AND THE MONIES OF CECCO ANGIOLIERI [HIS MASTER;] MOREOVER, RUNNING AFTER THE LATTER, IN HIS SHIRT, AND AVOUCHING THAT HE HATH ROBBED HIM, HE CAUSETH HIM BE TAKEN OF THE COUNTRYFOLK; THEN, DONNING ANGIOLIERI'S CLOTHES AND MOUNTING HIS PALFREY, HE MAKETH OFF AND LEAVETH THE OTHER IN HIS SHIRT Calandrino's speech concerning his wife had been hearkened of all the company with the utmost laughter; then, Filostrato being silent, Neifile, as the queen willed it, began, "Noble ladies, were it not uneather for men to show forth unto others their wit and their worth than it is for them to exhibit their folly and their vice, many would weary themselves in vain to put a bridle on their tongues; and this hath right well been made manifest to you by the folly of Calandrino, who had no call, in seeking to be made whole of the ailment in which his simplicity caused him believe, to publish the privy diversions of his wife; and this hath brought to my mind somewhat of contrary purport to itself, to wit, a story of how one man's knavery got the better of another's wit, to the grievous hurt and confusion of the over-reached one, the which it pleaseth me to relate to you.

• From History of the Christian Church: The Complete Set of Eight Volumes (1858)

  The Acts is the connecting link between the Gospels and Epistles. It presupposes and confirms the leading events in the life of Christ, on which the church is built. The fact of the resurrection, whereof the apostles were witnesses, sends a thrill of joy and an air of victory through the whole book. God raised Jesus from the dead and mightily proclaimed him to be the Messiah, the prince of life and a Saviour in Israel; this is the burden of the sermons of Peter, who shortly before had denied his Master. He boldly bears witness to it before the people, in his pentecostal sermon, before the Sanhedrin, and before Cornelius. Paul likewise, in his addresses at Antioch in Pisidia, at Thessalonica, on the Areopagus before the Athenian philosophers, and at Caesarea before Festus and Agrippa, emphasizes the resurrection without which his own conversion never could have taken place. The Acts and the Epistles. The Acts gives us the external history of the apostolic church; the Epistles present the internal life of the same. Both mutually supplement and confirm each other by a series of coincidences in all essential points. These coincidences are all the more conclusive as they are undesigned and accompanied by slight discrepancies in minor details. Archdeacon Paley made them the subject of a discussion in his Horae Paulinae,1100 which will retain its place among classical monographs alongside of James Smith’s Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul. Arguments such as are furnished in these two books are sufficient to silence most of the critical objections against the credibility of Acts for readers of sound common sense and unbiased judgment. There is not the slightest trace that Luke had read any of the thirteen Epistles of Paul, nor that Paul had read a line of Acts. The writings were contemporaneous and independent, yet animated by the same spirit. Luke omits, it is true, Paul’s journey to Arabia, his collision with Peter at Antioch, and many of his trials and persecutions; but he did not aim at a full biography. The following are a few examples of these conspicuously undesigned coincidences in the chronological order: Paul’s Conversion. Comp. Acts chs. 9; 22and 26; three accounts which differ only in minor details. Gal. 1:15–17; 1 Cor. 15:8; 1 Tim. 1:13–16. Paul’s Persecution and Escape at Damascus. Acts 9:23–25. The Jews took counsel together to kill him ... but his disciples took him by night, and let him down through the wall lowering him in a basket. 2 Cor. 11:32, 33. In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Damascenes, in order to take me; and through a window I was let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands Paul’s Visits to Jerusalem. 9:26, 27. And when he was come to Jerusalem ... Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles.

• From The Decameron (1353)

  The light, from whose resplendence the night fleeth, had already changed all the eighth heaven[423] from azure to watchet-colour[424] and the flowerets began to lift their heads along the meads, when Emilia, uprising, let call the ladies her comrades and on like wise the young men, who, being come, fared forth, ensuing the slow steps of the queen, and betook themselves to a coppice but little distant from the palace. Therein entering, they saw the animals, wild goats and deer and others, as if assured of security from the hunters by reason of the prevailing pestilence, stand awaiting them no otherwise than as they were grown without fear or tame, and diverted themselves awhile with them, drawing near, now to this one and now to that, as if they would fain lay hands on them, and making them run and skip. But, the sun now waxing high, they deemed it well to turn back. They were all garlanded with oak leaves, with their hands full of flowers and sweet-scented herbs, and whoso encountered them had said no otherwhat than "Or these shall not be overcome of death or it will slay them merry." On this wise, then, they fared on, step by step, singing and chatting and laughing, till they came to the palace, where they found everything orderly disposed and their servants full of mirth and joyous cheer. There having rested awhile, they went not to dinner till half a dozen canzonets, each merrier than other, had been carolled by the young men and the ladies; then, water being given to their hands, the seneschal seated them all at table, according to the queen's pleasure, and the viands being brought, they all ate blithely. Rising thence, they gave themselves awhile to dancing and music-making, and after, by the queen's commandment, whoso would betook himself to rest. But presently, the wonted hour being come, all in the accustomed place assembled to discourse, whereupon the queen, looking at Filomena, bade her give commencement to the stories of that day, and she, smiling, began on this wise: [Footnote 423: According to the Ptolemaic system, the earth is encompassed by eight celestial zones or heavens; the first or highest, above which is the empyrean, (otherwise called the ninth heaven,) is that of the Moon, the second that of Mercury, the third that of Venus, the fourth that of the Sun, the fifth that of Mars, the sixth that of Jupiter, the seventh that of Saturn and the eighth or lowest that of the fixed stars and of the Earth.]

• From Fragments (7)

  Whenever I am drinking wine, Then Bacchus, author of sport divine, Stirs me, who doth in drink delight. Through breezes charged with flowers bright. 148 Anacreontea Whenever I am drinking wine, Then wreaths with flowers I entwine; I place them on my head and sing Of life as calm as balmy spring. Whenever I am drinking wine, With fragrant ointment then I shine, And, with a maiden in my arms, I sing of Aphrodite's charms. . Whenever I am drinking wine. My mind unfolds with joy divine; Under the hollow cups I long For pleasures of the youthful throng. Whenever I am drinking wine, No other gain do I feel mine: With this alone away I'll go; For death all mortals layeth low. TO A MAIDEN (49) Maiden, when thou seest That my hair is gray, That thou therefore fleest Not from me, I pray. And because with beauty Thee thy youth imbues. Deem it not thy duty. My gifts to refuse. 149 I Lyric Songs of the Greeks See how charming posies Do our hearts delight When in them are roses Mixed with lilies white. ON LIVING WITHOUT WORRY (50) Why teachest thou the laws to me, And orators' necessities, And all the useless vanity Of all these words which cannot please? To drink sweet wine teach thou, I pray; With golden Venus to delight Myself in sportive frolic gay. The hair which crowns my head is white. Bring water, boy, wine to me give, So that my sleeping soul may rest. Shortly I too no more shall live; No pleasures for the dead have zest. TO HIMSELF (51) Whenever I young men behold, My youth to me returns; Within me then, though I am old. My heart for dances yearns. 150 Anacreontea Cybebe, I am in frenzied rage; To wreath myself I long. I'll dance, while stripping off old age, A youth among the young. That I an old man's strength may show, A stream of wine bring me. I know to talk, to drink I know: My mirthful madness see. TO EUROPA (52) Zeus that bull doth seem to me. Whom thou seest there: A Sidonian maiden he On his back doth bear. Now, O boy, his course he steers O'er the spacious sea. And his hoofs the billows pierce. Plying busily. In the herd no bull could be, Who would e'er not fail. If he tried across the sea, Like this one, to sail. 151 Lyric Songs of the Greeks TO THE ROSE (53) Rose, which spring-time loveth dearly, Spring, e'er crowned with wreaths of rose, Praising thee, my song rings clearly: From the gods thy fragrance flows; Mortals give thee joyous praises, Thee, the glory of the Graces; Thou art Aphrodite's joy. And the flowery Cupids' toy. Thou of poets art a treasure, Thou delight'st the Muses' mind. He who seeks thee e'en finds pleasure Thee in thorny paths to find. Pleasant too it is to take thee

• From The Decameron (1353)

  So saying, he embraced her and kissed her; then, rising up, he betook himself with Griselda, who wept for joy, whereas the daughter, hearing these things, sat all stupefied, and tenderly embracing her and her brother, undeceived her and many others who were there. Thereupon the ladies arose from table, overjoyed, and withdrew with Griselda into a chamber, where, with happier augury, pulling off her mean attire, they clad her anew in a magnificent dress of her own and brought her again to the saloon, as a gentlewoman, which indeed she appeared, even in rags. There she rejoiced in her children with wonder-great joy, and all being overjoyed at this happy issue, they redoubled in feasting and merrymaking and prolonged the festivities several days, accounting Gualtieri a very wise man, albeit they held the trials which he had made of his lady overharsh, nay, intolerable; but over all they held Griselda most sage. The Count of Panago returned, after some days, to Bologna, and Gualtieri, taking Giannucolo from his labour, placed him in such estate as befitted his father-in-law, so that he lived in honour and great solace and so ended his days; whilst he himself, having nobly married his daughter, lived long and happily with Griselda, honouring her as most might be. What more can here be said save that even in poor cottages there rain down divine spirits from heaven, like as in princely palaces there be those who were worthier to tend swine than to have lordship over men? Who but Griselda could, with a countenance, not only dry,[483] but cheerful, have endured the barbarous and unheard proofs made by Gualtieri? Which latter had not belike been ill requited, had he happened upon one who, when he turned her out of doors in her shift, had let jumble her furbelows of another to such purpose that a fine gown had come of it." [Footnote 483: _i.e._ unwetted with tears.] * * * * *

• From The Decameron (1353)

  Then said Fra Alberto, 'Madam, you speak sagely and I will without fail take order with him of that which you tell me. But you may do me a great favour, which will cost you nothing; it is this, that you will him come with this my body. And I will tell you in what you will do me a favour; you must know that he will take my soul forth of my body and put it in Paradise, whilst he himself will enter into me; and what while he abideth with you, so long will my soul abide in Paradise.' 'With all my heart,' answered Dame Littlewit. 'I will well that you have this consolation, in requital of the buffets he gave you on my account.' Then said Fra Alberto, 'Look that he find the door of your house open to-night, so he may come in thereat, for that, coming in human form, as he will, he might not enter save by the door.' The lady replied that it should be done, whereupon the monk took his leave and she abode in such a transport of exultation that her breech touched not her shift and herseemed a thousand years till the angel Gabriel should come to her. Meanwhile, Fra Alberto, bethinking him that it behoved him play the cavalier, not the angel, that night proceeded to fortify himself with confections and other good things, so he might not lightly be unhorsed; then, getting leave, as soon as it was night, he repaired with one of his comrades to the house of a woman, a friend of his, whence he was used whiles to take his start what time he went to course the fillies; and thence, whenas it seemed to him time, having disguised himself, he betook him to the lady's house. There he tricked himself out as an angel with the trappings he had brought with him and going up, entered the chamber of the lady, who, seeing this creature all in white, fell on her knees before him. The angel blessed her and raising her to her feet, signed to her to go to bed, which she, studious to obey, promptly did, and the angel after lay down with his devotee. Now Fra Alberto was a personable man of his body and a lusty and excellent well set up on his legs; wherefore, finding himself in bed with Madam Lisetta, who was young and dainty, he showed himself another guess bedfellow than her husband and many a time that night took flight without wings, whereof she avowed herself exceeding content; and eke he told her many things of the glories of heaven. Then, the day drawing near, after taking order for his return, he made off with his trappings and returned to his comrade, whom the good woman of the house had meanwhile borne amicable company, lest he should get a fright, lying alone.

• From Under the Banner of Heaven (2003)

  morning this group, with scout Porter Rockwell leading the way, descended the western slope of the Wasatch down what is now called Emigration Canyon. At its mouth they emerged into the Saints’ new Zion, near the southern end of the vast body of water they had spied earlier that day—a lake with no outlet, and saltier than the Pacific Ocean. Although most of this bottomland was a relentlessly barren desert, along its eastern margin flowed streams of sweet, crystalline snowmelt that rushed down from the Wasatch Range through all seasons. These imposing granite mountains, moreover, served as a natural barrier that would help keep the godless at bay. All things considered, the Great Salt Lake Valley struck the scouting party as a fine site on which to erect a capital city for the Kingdom of God on earth. After conducting a two-hour tour of the immediate environs, they rode back up Emigration Canyon to share the joyous news with Brigham and their brethren. Brigham, weak and aching from tick fever, arrived in the valley with the main company of Saints on July 24, 1847, the date now venerated throughout Mormondom as Pioneer Day (and the holiday Ron Lafferty would choose, 137 years later, on which to fulfill his removal revelation). Before the sun had set that first evening, they had planted a crop of potatoes and diverted the waters of City Creek to irrigate them. A stone’s throw from the creek they began laying the foundation for a temple, at the center of what would become Salt Lake City. The long, seventeen-year journey from Palmyra was over. The Mormons had finally found their home. Many had died en route. But those who survived the hardships and completed the exodus were more devoted to the church than ever. The wafflers and whiners, the doubters, the malcontents—those of weak faith—had been filtered out by the myriad trials of the preceding years, leaving behind the truest of the true believers. The grueling emigration from Nauvoo, on top of the violence directed at them in Missouri and Illinois, had forged an exceptional bond among the first waves of Saints to arrive in Utah. Adversity had welded them into a close-knit tribe whose loyalty to their leader, Brigham Young, was unconditional. They would do whatever he asked of them.

• From Under the Banner of Heaven (2003)

  he collected into a single volume titled The First Book of Commandments, paid a few thousand dollars to have printed, and distributed to libraries and religious bookstores across Canada and the western United States. But one of these slender tomes happened to find its way into the hands of LDS President Mark E. Peterson in Salt Lake City, “and that was the end of my church membership,” Crossfield explains. “Came right from the top. I was excommunicated from the Mormon Church.” A tight laugh erupts from deep within his chest. “I loved that church. Still do, in fact. It brought me great joy to attend every Sunday, and I kept going to church long after I was excommunicated. But then they eventually told me I couldn’t come anymore.” Rejection by the mainline church was considered a badge of honor by the Creston fundamentalists, who admired Crossfield for his outspoken views—until God began revealing to Crossfield that Uncle Roy and the other UEP leaders had themselves gone astray and were misinterpreting various important points of sacred doctrine. Not to put too fine a point on it, in 1974 God told Crossfield that Crossfield’s version of the One True Church was correct and Uncle Roy’s version was wrong. Back in March 1962, just a few months after Crossfield began attending prayer meetings with the polygamists in Creston, God had told him, “I will raise up one mighty and strong among you, having the scepter of justice in his hand, who shall grind in pieces all those who would oppose My work, for the prayer of the righteous shall not go unheeded.” This was a direct reference to D&C 85, in which God first told Joseph Smith that he would be sending “one mighty and strong” to “set in order the house of God.” * Although Crossfield never explicitly claimed in public to be the one mighty and strong, several of his published revelations leave little doubt that, privately at least, he believed he might indeed be “the one.” In a commandment Crossfield received in 1975, God called him by the name “Onias,” revealed that he was the true prophet and rightful leader of the LDS Church, and explained that Onias had been put on earth specifically “to set in order My Church.” * According to God, Uncle Roy and his lieutenants in the UEP were supposed to take their marching orders from Crossfield/Onias. Of course, none of this went over well with Uncle Roy or the other men who ran the UEP’s affairs in Creston and Colorado City. The leader of the Creston polygamists promptly informed Crossfield/Onias that his presence was no longer welcome at the Creston prayer meetings, and he was kicked out of the UEP. Unfazed, Onias moved to Idaho, and then, in the early 1980s, to a little town outside of Provo, Utah.