Careful Words

draught (n.)

draught (v.)

draught (adj.)

  One draught above heat makes him a fool; the second mads him; and a third drowns him.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Twelfth Night. Act i. Sc. 5.

Better to hunt in fields for health unbought

Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught.

The wise for cure on exercise depend;

God never made his work for man to mend.

John Dryden (1631-1701): Epistle to John Dryden of Chesterton. Line 92.

'T is a little thing

To give a cup of water; yet its draught

Of cool refreshment, drained by fevered lips,

May give a shock of pleasure to the frame

More exquisite than when nectarean juice

Renews the life of joy in happiest hours.

Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795-1854): Ion. Act i. Sc. 2.

  "Disguise thyself as thou wilt, still, Slavery," said I, "still thou art a bitter draught."

Laurence Sterne (1713-1768): The Passport. The Hotel at Paris.