The quality of mercy is not strain'd,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

'T is mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown;

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway,

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's,

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,

Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

That in the course of justice none of us

Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Merchant of Venice. Act iv. Sc. 1.

Which shall to all our nights and days to come

Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.

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

When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway,

The post of honour is a private station.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719): Cato. Act iv. Sc. 4.

A little rule, a little sway,

A sunbeam in a winter's day,

Is all the proud and mighty have

Between the cradle and the grave.

John Dyer (1700-1758): Grongar Hill. Line 88.

O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,

Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free,

Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam,

Survey our empire, and behold our home!

These are our realms, no limit to their sway,—

Our flag the sceptre all who meet obey.

Lord Byron 1788-1824: The Corsair. Canto i. Stanza 1.

Mightier far

Than strength of nerve or sinew, or the sway

Of magic potent over sun and star,

Is Love, though oft to agony distrest,

And though his favorite seat be feeble woman's breast.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850): Laodamia.

Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold:

Not all Apollo's Pythian treasures hold,

Or Troy once held, in peace and pride of sway,

Can bribe the poor possession of a day.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Iliad of Homer. Book ix. Line 524.

Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway,

And fools who came to scoff, remain'd to pray.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): The Deserted Village. Line 179.

Implied

Subjection, but requir'd with gentle sway,

And by her yielded, by him best receiv'd,—

Yielded with coy submission, modest pride,

And sweet, reluctant, amorous delay.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book iv. Line 307.

Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows;

While proudly riding o'er the azure realm

In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes,

Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm;

Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's sway,

That hush'd in grim repose expects his evening prey.

Thomas Gray (1716-1771): The Bard. II. 2, Line 9.

May I govern my passion with absolute sway,

And grow wiser and better as my strength wears away.

Walter Pope (1630-1714): The Old Man's Wish.