Like the bird be thou,
That for a moment rests
Upon the topmost bough:
He feels the branch to bend
And yet as sweetly sings,
Knowing that he has wings. [ Victor Hugo ]
The swan sings when death comes. [ Proverb ]
He who sings frightens away his ills. [ Cervantes ]
He that sings on Friday will weep on Sunday. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]
Say that she rail; why then I'll tell her plain.
She sings as sweetly as a nightingale;
Say that she frown; I'll say she looks as clear
As morning roses, newly washed with dew;
Say she be mute and will not speak a word,
Then I'll commend her volubility
And say she uttereth piercing eloquence. [ William Shakespeare ]
Love is a bird that sings in the heart of woman. [ A. Karr ]
Look how the floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold;
There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims. [ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice ]
Call me pet names, dearest! Call me thy bird.
That flies to thy breast at one cherishing word,
That folds its wild wings there, ne'er dreaming of flight.
That tenderly sings there in loving delight!
Oh! my sad heart keeps pining for one fond word,
Call me pet names, dearest! Call me thy bird! [ Mrs. Osgood ]
The frog sings; and yet she has neither hair nor wool to cover her. [ Proverb ]
And hark, how blithe the throstle sings! He, too, is no mean preacher. [ Wordsworth ]
The canary-bird sings the sweeter the longer it has been trained in a darkened cage. [ Jean Paul ]
A woman who pretends to laugh at love is like the child who sings at night when he is afraid. [ J. J. Rousseau ]
A bird sings, a child prattles, but it is the same hymn; hymn indistinct, inarticulate, but full of profound meaning. [ Victor Hugo ]
It was the nightingale, and not the lark, that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear; nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree. [ William Shakespeare ]
The sea drowns out humanity and time. It has no sympathy with either, for it belongs to eternity; and of that it sings its monotonous song forever and ever. [ O. W. Holmes ]
Grammar speaks; dialectics teaches us truth; rhetoric gives colouring to our speech; music sings; arithmetic reckons; geometry measures; astronomy teaches us the stars.
Give us the man who sings at his work! Be his occupation what it may, he will be equal to any of those who follow the same pursuit in silent sullenness. He will do more in the same time; he will do it better; he will persevere longer. [ Carlyle ]