Whoe'er has travell'd life's dull round,

Where'er his stages may have been,

May sigh to think he still has found

The warmest welcome at an inn.

William Shenstone (1714-1763): Written on a Window of an Inn.

'T is sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark

Bay deep-mouth'd welcome as we draw near home;

'T is sweet to know there is an eye will mark

Our coming, and look brighter when we come.

Lord Byron 1788-1824: Don Juan. Canto i. Stanza 123.

Welcome ever smiles,

And farewell goes out sighing.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Troilus and Cressida. Act iii. Sc. 3.

Life that dares send

A challenge to his end,

And when it comes, say, Welcome, friend!

Richard Crashaw (Circa 1616-1650): Wishes to his Supposed Mistress.

Your face, my thane, is as a book where men

May read strange matters. To beguile the time,

Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,

Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,

But be the serpent under 't.

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

I burn to set the imprison'd wranglers free,

And give them voice and utterance once again.

Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast,

Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,

And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn

Throws up a steamy column, and the cups

That cheer but not inebriate wait on each,

So let us welcome peaceful evening in.

William Cowper (1731-1800): The Task. Book iv. The Winter Evening. Line 34.

O welcome, pure-ey'd Faith, white-handed Hope,

Thou hovering angel, girt with golden wings!

John Milton (1608-1674): Comus. Line 213.

Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss conveyed

A fairer spirit or more welcome shade.

Thomas Tickell (1686-1740): On the Death of Mr. Addison. Line 45.

Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Comedy of Errors. Act iii. Sc. 1.

For I, who hold sage Homer's rule the best,

Welcome the coming, speed the going guest.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Satires, Epistles, and Odes of Horace. Satire ii. Book ii. Line 159.

True friendship's laws are by this rule exprest,—

Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Odyssey of Homer. Book xv. Line 83.

The bitter past, more welcome is the sweet.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): All's Well that Ends Well. Act v. Sc. 3.