Careful Words

keep (n.)

keep (v.)

Then bless thy secret growth, nor catch

At noise, but thrive unseen and dumb;

Keep clean, be as fruit, earn life, and watch

Till the white-wing'd reapers come!

Henry Vaughan (1621-1695): The Seed growing secretly.

  Push on,—keep moving.

Thomas Morton (1764-1838): A Cure for the Heartache. Act ii. Sc. 1.

Thou source of all my bliss and all my woe,

That found'st me poor at first, and keep'st me so.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): The Deserted Village. Line 413.

  We join ourselves to no party that does not carry the flag and keep step to the music of the Union.

Rufus Choate (1799-1859): Letter to the Whig Convention, 1855.

And be these juggling fiends no more believ'd,

That palter with us in a double sense:

That keep the word of promise to our ear

And break it to our hope.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act v. Sc. 8.

  Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee. Light gains make heavy purses. 'T is good to be merry and wise.

George Chapman (1557-1634): Eastward Ho.[37:5] Act i. Sc. 1.

Because the good old rule

Sufficeth them,—the simple plan,

That they should take who have the power,

And they should keep who can.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850): Rob Roy's Grave.

  Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry.

Colonel Blacker: Oliver's Advice. 1834.