Careful Words

torrent (n.)

So the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar

But bind him to his native mountains more.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): The Traveller. Line 217.

At the close of the day when the hamlet is still,

And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove,

When naught but the torrent is heard on the hill,

And naught but the nightingale's song in the grove.

James Beattie (1735-1803): The Hermit.

Who stemm'd the torrent of a downward age.

James Thomson (1700-1748): The Seasons. Summer. Line 1516.

Where is the man who has the power and skill

To stem the torrent of a woman's will?

For if she will, she will, you may depend on 't;

And if she won't, she won't; so there's an end on 't.

The Examiner, May 31, 1829.

Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate,

Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784): Vanity of Human Wishes. Line 345.

Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows,

And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;

But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,

The hoarse rough verse should like the torrent roar.

When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,

The line too labours, and the words move slow:

Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,

Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Essay on Criticism. Part ii. Line 166.

So the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar

But bind him to his native mountains more.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): The Traveller. Line 217.

by simon sarris • about