fall (n.)

fall (v.)

Mine be a cot beside the hill;

A beehive's hum shall soothe my ear;

A willowy brook that turns a mill,

With many a fall, shall linger near.

Samuel Rogers (1763-1855): A Wish.

Then join in hand, brave Americans all!

By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.

John Dickinson (1732-1808): The Liberty Song (1768).

The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Of Goodness.

The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Of Goodness.

A song for our banner! The watchword recall

Which gave the Republic her station:

"United we stand, divided we fall!"

It made and preserves us a nation!

The union of lakes, the union of lands,

The union of States none can sever,

The union of hearts, the union of hands,

And the flag of our Union forever!

George P Morris (1802-1864): The Flag of our Union.

Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall.

Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618):

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Old Testament: Proverbs xvi. 18.

He that is down needs fear no fall.

John Bunyan (1628-1688): Pilgrim's Progress. Part ii.

If music be the food of love, play on;

Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,

The appetite may sicken, and so die.

That strain again! it had a dying fall:

O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound

That breathes upon a bank of violets,

Stealing and giving odour!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Twelfth Night. Act i. Sc. 1.

Appear to know only this,—never to fail nor fall.

Epictetus (Circa 60 a d): That Courage is not inconsistent with Caution. Book ii. Chap. i.

I am not now in fortune's power:

He that is down can fall no lower.

Samuel Butler (1600-1680): Hudibras. Part i. Canto iii. Line 877.

There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 't is not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all. Since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is 't to leave betimes?

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act v. Sc. 2.

Birds in their little nests agree;

And 't is a shameful sight

When children of one family

Fall out, and chide, and fight.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748): Divine Songs. Song xvii.

Pryde will have a fall;

For pryde goeth before and shame commeth after.

John Heywood (Circa 1565): Proverbes. Part i. Chap. x.

Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,—

Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;

Another race the following spring supplies:

They fall successive, and successive rise.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Iliad of Homer. Book vi. Line 181.

Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

New Testament: 1 Corinthians x. 12.

Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book iii. Line 99.

That in our proper motion we ascend

Up to our native seat: descent and fall

To us is adverse.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book ii. Line 75.

Great Caesar fell.

O, what a fall was there, my countrymen!

Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,

Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Julius Caesar. Act iii. Sc. 2.

Careful Words

fall (n.)

fall (v.)