Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Joseph Addison, "Cato," 1713

"'Tis not in mortals to command success,
But we'll do more, Sempronius; we'll deserve it."
[I.i.44-5]

"Let me alone, good Syphax: I'll conceal
My thoughts in passion ('tis the surest way);
I'll bellow out for Rome and for my country,
And mouth at Caesar till I shake the senate.
Your cold hypocrisy's a stale device,
A worn-out trick: wouldst thou be thought in earnest?
Clothe thy feigned zeal in rage, in fire, in fury!"
[I.iii.36-42]

"'Tis not a set of features, or complexion,
The tincture of a skin, that I admire.
Beauty soon grows familiar to the lover,
Fades in his eye, and palls upon the sense."
[I.iv.143-6]

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