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1 " The Erl-King O, who rides by night thro’ the woodland so wild? It is the fond father embracing his child;And close the boy nestles within his loved arm, To hold himself fast, and to keep himself warm.“O father, see yonder! see yonder!” he says;“My boy, upon what doest thou fearfully gaze?” —“O, ’tis the Erl-King with his crown and his shroud.”“No, my son, it is but a dark wreath of the cloud.”(Tke Erl-King speaks.)“O come and go with me, thou loveliest child;By many a gay sport shall thy time be beguiled;My mother keeps for thee full many a fair toy,And many a fine flower shall she pluck for my boy.”“O, father, my father, and did you not hearThe Erl-King whisper so low in my ear?” —“Be still, my heart’s darling — my child, be at ease;It was but the wild blast as it sung thro’ the trees.”Erl-King.“O wilt thou go with me, thou loveliest boy?My daughter shall tend thee with care and with joy;She shall bear thee so lightly thro’ wet and thro’ wild,And press thee, and kiss thee, and sing to my child.”“O father, my father, and saw you not plain,The Erl-King’s pale daughter glide past thro’ the rain?” — “O yes, my loved treasure, I knew it full soon;It was the grey willow that danced to the moon.”Erl-King.“O come and go with me, no longer delay,Or else, silly child, I will drag thee away.” —“O father! O father! now, now keep your hold, The Erl-King has seized me — his grasp is so cold!”Sore trembled the father; he spurr’d thro’ the wild, Clasping close to his bosom his shuddering child;He reaches his dwelling in doubt and in dread,But, clasp’d to his bosom, the infant was dead!- From the German of Goethe, translation, 1797. "
― Walter Scott , Sir Walter Scott: Complete Works
2 " Family tradition and genealogical history, upon which much of Sir Everard's discourse turned, is the very reverse of amber, which, itself a valuable substance, usually includes flies, straws, and other trifles; whereas these studies, being themselves very insignificant and trifling, do nevertheless serve to perpetuate a great deal of what is rare and valuable in ancient manners, and to record many curious and minute facts which could have been preserved and conveyed through no other medium. "
3 " Dinna curse him, sir,” said the old woman; “I have heard a good man say that a curse was like a stone flung up to the heavens, and maist like to return on the head that sent it. "
4 " The Scotch, it is well known, are more remarkable for the exercise of their intellectual powers, than for the keenness of their feelings ; they are, therefore, more moved by logic than by rhetoric, and more attracted by acute and argumentative reasoning on doctrinal points, than influenced by the enthusiastic appeals to the heart and to the passions, by which popular preachers in other countries win the favour of their hearers. "
5 " Such are the characters formed in times of civil discord, when the highest qualities, perverted by party spirit, and inflamed by habitual opposition, are too often combined with vices and excesses which deprive them at once of their merit and of their lustre. "