Careful Words

throat (n.)

throat (v.)

throat (adj.)

I had most need of blessing, and "Amen"

Stuck in my throat.

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

The brazen throat of war.

John Milton (1608-1674): Paradise Lost. Book xi. Line 713.

  Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

Old Testament: Proverbs xxiii. 2.

He was the mildest manner'd man

That ever scuttled ship or cut a throat.

Lord Byron 1788-1824: Don Juan. Canto iii. Stanza 41.

Who, born for the universe, narrow'd his mind,

And to party gave up what was meant for mankind;

Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat

To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote.

Who too deep for his hearers still went on refining,

And thought of convincing while they thought of dining:

Though equal to all things, for all things unfit;

Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): Retaliation. Line 31.

Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat,

The mist in my face.

.   .   .   .   .   .   .

No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers,

The heroes of old;

Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears

Of pain, darkness, and cold.

Robert Browning (1812-1890): Prospice.