Paul's letters to his kinsfolk. Abstract of the Erybiggiasaga; being the early annals of that district of Iceland lying around the promontory called SnæfellsCadell and Company, 1827 |
Common terms and phrases
advance afforded allies appearance arms army Arnkill artillery attack avait battle of Waterloo Belle Alliance blood Blucher Bourbon British Brussels Buonaparte Buonaparte's called cause cavalry character Charleroi chateau cheval church commanded corps Coster cuirassiers defence distinguished Duke of Wellington emperor enemy English favour feeling ferme fire force formed Fouché France French Froda gallant Garde garrison Geirrida Genappe Grouchy ground Guards hand Haye Sainte heures honour horses Hougoumont Iceland infantry inhabitants Katla Kiartan king La Belle Alliance La Haye Sainte least ment military monarch naparte Napoleon occasion occupied officers Paris Parisians party person pontiff possessed Prince of Condé Prussians qu'il Quatre Bras rank regiment religion rendered retreat road royal Royalists scene seemed sion Snorro soldiers Styr success supposed Thorarin Thorgunna Thorodd Thorolf tion town troops Ulfar Verimond village Wavre whole wood wounded
Popular passages
Page 312 - Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow ; which came up in a night, and perished in a night. And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle ?
Page 149 - Believe me," he afterwards said, " that nothing, excepting a battle lost, can be half so melancholy as a battle won. The bravery of my troops has hitherto saved me from that greater evil ; but, to win...
Page 365 - His marvellous preservation had transformed him. Thenceforth he held himself for an exempted And privileged being, and, as if he were Incapable of dizziness or fall, He ran along the unsteady rope of life. But now our destinies drove us asunder : He paced with rapid step the way of greatness, Was Count, and Prince, Duke-regent, and Dictator. And now is all, all this too little for him; He stretches forth his hands for a king's crown, And plunges in unfathomable ruin.
Page 9 - ... and gables still more highly ornamented ; the whole comprising a general effect, which, from its grandeur and intricacy, amuses at once, and delights the spectator. In fact, this rich intermixture of towers, and battlements, and projecting windows, highly sculptured, joined to the height of the houses, and the variety of ornament upon their fronts, produces an effect as superior to those of the tame uniformity of a modern street, as the casque of the warrior exhibits over the slouched broadbrimmed...
Page 352 - We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts; what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
Page 489 - At length, while the servants were forming their evening circle round the fire, a spectre, resembling the head of a seal-fish, was seen to emerge out of the pavement of the room, bending its round black eyes full on the tapestried bed-curtains of Thorgunna. Some of the domestics ventured to strike at this figure, but, far from giving way to their efforts, it rather erected itself further from the floor, until Kiartan, who seemed to have a natural predominance over these supernatural prodigies, seizing...
Page 350 - In gentle stream; then rose the song, the loud Acclaim of praise. The wheeling plover ceased Her plaint; The solitary place was glad, And on the distant cairns the watcher's ear Caught doubtfully at times the breeze-borne note.
Page 364 - Tis full thirty years since then. A youth who scarce had seen his twentieth year Was Wallenstein, when he and I were friends ; Yet even then he had a daring soul : His frame of mind was serious and severe Beyond his years : his dreams were of great objects.
Page 485 - Let my golden ring be given to the priests who shall celebrate my obsequies, and do thou indemnify thyself for the funeral charges out of my remaining effects. To thy wife I bequeath my purple mantle, in order that, by this sacrifice to her avarice, I may secure the right of disposing of the rest of my effects at my own pleasure. But for my bed, with its coverings, hangings, and furniture, I entreat they may be all consigned to the flames. I do not desire this, because I envy any one the possession...
Page 142 - Their gallant commanding-officer showed no alacrity in obeying this order, and indeed observed so much ceremony, that, after having been once and again ordered to advance, an aid-de-camp of the Duke of Wellington informed him of his Grace's command, that he should either advance or draw off his men entirely, and not remain there to show a bad example and discourage others. The gallant...