George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne
1st Baron Lansdowne
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne (9 March 1666 – 29 January 1735) was an English poet, playwright, and politician who served as a Privy Counsellor from 1712.
Whose quiet mind from vain desires is free;
Whom neither hopes deceive, nor fears torment,
But lives at peace, within himself content;
In thought, or act, accountable to none
But to himself, and to the gods alone.
Quotes
edit- Happy the man, of mortals happiest he,
Whose quiet mind from vain desires is free;
Whom neither hopes deceive, nor fears torment,
But lives at peace, within himself content;
In thought, or act, accountable to none
But to himself, and to the gods alone.- "Epistle to Mrs. Elizabeth Higgons" (1690), line 79, in The Genuine Works in Verse and Prose, Vol. I (London: J. and R. Tonson, 1736), p. 23.
- Whoe'er thou art, thy Lord and master see,
Thou wast my Slave, thou art, or thou shalt be.- "Inscription for a Figure Representing the God of Love", line 1, in The Genuine Works in Verse and Prose, Vol. I (London: J. and R. Tonson, 1736), p. 104.
- Version of a Greek couplet from the Greek Anthology.
The She-Gallants (1695)
edit- The She-Gallants: A Comedy (London: Henry Playford and Benj. Cooke, 1696)
- ['T]is the talk, and not the intrigue, that's the crime.
- Act III, scene i; p. 33.
- Mankind, from Adam, have been women's fools;
Women, from Eve, have been the devil's tools:
Heaven might have spar'd one torment when we fell;
Not left us woman, or not threatened hell.- Act III, scene i; p. 45.
- Cowards in scarlet pass for men of war.
- Act V, scene i; p. 75.
The Jew of Venice (1701)
edit- The Jew of Venice: A Comedy (London: Ber. Lintott, 1701)
- A villain, when he seems most kind,
Is most to be suspected.- Act I, scene iii (Bassanio); p. 9.
- Oh my lov'd friend! till now I never knew
The pangs of parting friendship.
At distance I have tasted of the pain,
When the rude morn has sundered us away,
To our repose: but by my soul, I swear
Even then my eyes would drop a silent tear,
Repugnant still to close, and shut out thee.- Act II, scene ii (Bassanio); p. 19.
- So many shapes have women for deceit,
That every man's a fool, when we think fit.- Act IV, scene i (Nerissa); p. 39.
Heroick Love (1702)
edit- Heroick Love: or The Cruel Separation. A Tragedy (1702), in The Genuine Works in Verse and Prose, Vol. II (London: J. Tonson, 1736)
- Patience is the virtue of a beast
That trots beneath his burden and is quiet.- Act II, scene i; p. 30.
- Often quoted with "an ass" substituted for "a beast", and sometimes also with "complains not" instead of "is quiet".
- Oh love! thou bane of the most generous souls!
Thou doubtful pleasure! and thou certain pain!- Act II, scene i; p. 30.
- Go then, Patroclus, where thy glory calls.
- Act IV, scene i; p. 69.
- No vengeance like a woman's.
- Act IV, scene ii; p. 79
- The kiss you take, is paid by that you give:
The joy is mutual, and I'm still in debt.- Act V, scene i; p. 89.
- Fate holds the strings, and men like children move
But as they're led: success is from above.- Act V, scene ii; p. 102 (concluding lines of play).
The British Enchanters (1705)
edit- The British Enchanters: or, No Magick like Love (London: Jacob Tonson, 1706)
- She will, and she will not, she grants, denies,
Consents, retracts, advances, and then flies.- Act I, scene i; p. 5.
- Providence, not niggardly, but wise,
Here lavishly bestows, and there denies,
That by each other's virtues we may rise.- Act I, scene i; p. 6
- You'd see, cou'd you her inward motions watch,
Feigning delay, she wishes for dispatch;
Into a woman's meaning wou'd you look,
Then read her backward.- Act I, scene i; pp. 6–7.
- Love is a plant of the most tender kind,
That shrinks and shakes with ev'ry ruffling wind.- Act I, scene i; p. 8.
- Love is a subject to himself alone,
And knows no other empire than his own.- Act I, scene i; p. 9
- Shall Nature, erring from her first command,
Self-preservation, fall by her own hand?- Act I, scene i; p. 9.
- Who to a woman trusts his peace of mind,
Trusts a frail bark, with a tempestuous wind.- Act II, scene i; p. 14
- Of all pains, the greatest pain
Is to love, and love in vain.- Act III, scene i; p. 21.
- Marriage the happiest bond of love might be,
If hands were only join'd when hearts agree.- Act V, scene i; p. 37.
- Our present joy is sweeter by past pain,
To love and heav'n, by suff'ring we attain.- Act V, scene i; p. 42 (concluding lines of play).
Poems upon Several Occasions (1712)
edit- Poems upon Several Occasions (London: J. Tonson, 1712)
- So sang the syrens, with enchanting sound,
Enticing all to listen and be drown'd.- "On the Earl of Peterborough's happy Negotiation of the Marriage between his Royal Highness and the Princess Mary d'Este of Modena", line 33; p. 5.
- Scarce hadst thou time t'unsheath thy conqu'ring blade;
It did but glitter, and the rebels fled.- "To the King; In the First Year of His Majesty's Reign", line 3; p. 8.
- Beauty by no complexion is defin'd,
Is of all colours, and to none confin'd.- "The Progress of Beauty", line 50; p. 27.
- But ah! what mighty magick can assuage
A woman's envy, and a bigot's rage?- "The Progress of Beauty", line 100; p. 31.
- The sun is set—but see in bright array
What hosts of heav'nly light recruit the day!
Love in a shining galaxy appears
Triumphant still.- "The Progress of Beauty", line 178; p. 35.
- But ah! in vain from Fate we fly!
For, first and last, as all must die,
So 'tis as much decreed above,
That, first or last, we all must love.- "To Myra", line 5; p. 41.
- Nature indulgent, provident, and kind,
In all things that excell some use design'd;
The radiant sun […]
Sends from above ten thousand blessings down,
Nor is he set so high for show alone;
His beams, reviving with auspicious fire,
Freely we all enjoy what all admire.
The moon and stars, those faithful guides of night,
Are plac'd to help, not entertain, the sight.
Plants, fruits, and flow'rs, the fertile fields produce,
Not for vain ornament, but wholesome use;
Health they restore, and nourishment they give,
We see with pleasure, but we taste to live.- "To Myra", lines 1–3, 5–14; p. 64.
- 'Tis impious pleasure to delight in harm.
And beauty shou'd be kind, as well as charm.- "To Myra", line 21; p. 65.
- Since truth and constancy are vain,
Since neither love, nor sense of pain,
Nor force of reason, can persuade,
Then let example be obey'd.- "To Myra", line 1; p. 66.
- I'll be this abject thing no more,
Love, give me back my heart again.- "Song. For Myra", line 5; p. 92.
- Thy thoughts to nobler meditations give,
And study how to die, not how to live.- "Death", line 7; p. 93.
- The great, the vile, the coward, and the brave,
Are food alike for worms, companions in the grave.
The prince and parasite together lye,
No fortune can exalt, but Death will climb as high.- "Death", line 24; p. 94.
- In vain we plant, we build, our stores increase,
If conscience roots up all our inward peace.
- In quiet shades, content with rural sports,
Give me a life, remote from guilty courts,
Where free from hopes, or fears, in humble ease,
Unheard of I may live, and die in peace.- "An Imitation of the Second Chorus in the Second Act of Seneca's Thyestes", line 49; p. 105.
- Youth is the proper time for love,
And age is virtue's season.- "Corinna", line 19; p. 108.
- The liberal are secure alone,
For what we frankly give, for ever is our own.- "Liberality", line 13; p. 123.
- But tho' we fetch from Italy and France
Our fopperies of tune, and mode of dance,
Our sturdy Britons scorn to borrow sense.- "Epilogue Design'd for The British Enchanters", line 14; p. 153.
- There is no heav'n like mutual love.
- "Peleus and Thetis: A Masque, Set to Musick", p. 165.
- Important truths still let your fable hold,
And moral mysteries with art unfold.- "An Essay upon Unnatural Flights in Poetry", line 31; p. 174.
External links
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Encyclopedic article on George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne on Wikipedia
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