Syene, and where the shadow both way falls,

Meroe, Nilotic isle.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Regained. Book iv. Line 70.

The shadow cloak'd from head to foot.

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892): In Memoriam. xxiii. Stanza 1.

This world is all a fleeting show,

For man's illusion given;

The smiles of joy, the tears of woe,

Deceitful shine, deceitful flow,—

There's nothing true but Heaven.

Thomas Moore (1779-1852): This World is all a fleeting Show.

A dream itself is but a shadow.

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

Let beeves and home-bred kine partake

The sweets of Burn-mill meadow;

The swan on still St. Mary's Lake

Float double, swan and shadow!

William Wordsworth (1770-1850): Yarrow Unvisited.

Hence, horrible shadow!

Unreal mockery, hence!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act iii. Sc. 4.

And thus I clothe my naked villany

With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ,

And seem a saint when most I play the devil.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): King Richard III. Act i. Sc. 3.

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted—Nevermore!

Edgar A Poe (1811-1849): The Raven.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act v. Sc. 5.

Then black despair,

The shadow of a starless night, was thrown

Over the world in which I moved alone.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822): The Revolt of Islam. Dedication. Stanza 6.

The awful shadow of some unseen Power

Floats, tho' unseen, amongst us.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822): Hymn to Intellectual Beauty.

Envy will merit as its shade pursue,

But like a shadow proves the substance true.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Essay on Criticism. Part ii. Line 266.

The other shape,

If shape it might be call'd that shape had none

Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb;

Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd,

For each seem'd either,—black it stood as night,

Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell,

And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head

The likeness of a kingly crown had on.

Satan was now at hand.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book ii. Line 666.

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted—Nevermore!

Edgar A Poe (1811-1849): The Raven.

Swift as a shadow, short as any dream;

Brief as the lightning in the collied night,

That in a spleen unfolds both heaven and earth,

And ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!"

The jaws of darkness do devour it up:

So quick bright things come to confusion.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act i. Sc. 1.