Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise

(That last infirmity of noble mind)

To scorn delights, and live laborious days;

But the fair guerdon when we hope to find,

And think to burst out into sudden blaze,

Comes the blind Fury with th' abhorred shears

And slits the thin-spun life.

John Milton (1608-1674): Lycidas. Line 70.

Behold! in Liberty's unclouded blaze

We lift our heads, a race of other days.

Charles Sprague (1791-1875): Centennial Ode. Stanza 22.

O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,

Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse

Without all hope of day!

John Milton (1608-1674): Samson Agonistes. Line 80.