Careful Words

curious (adj.)

As Tammie glow'red, amazed and curious,

The mirth and fun grew fast and furious.

Robert Burns (1759-1796): Tam o' Shanter.

I have seen

A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract

Of inland ground, applying to his ear

The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell,

To which, in silence hushed, his very soul

Listened intensely; and his countenance soon

Brightened with joy, for from within were heard

Murmurings, whereby the monitor expressed

Mysterious union with his native sea.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850): The Excursion. Book iv.

Busy, curious, thirsty fly,

Drink with me, and drink as I.

William Oldys (1696-1761): On a Fly drinking out of a Cup of Ale.

  "Antiquitas saeculi juventus mundi." These times are the ancient times, when the world is ancient, and not those which we account ancient ordine retrogrado, by a computation backward from ourselves.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Advancement of Learning. Book i. (1605.)