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Fables in Song

By Robert Lord Lytton
Lytton, Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton (1831-1891)

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VOL. I.
  
INTRODUCTORY.
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I. THE THISTLE.
  
MOTTO.
  
PRELUDE.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 IV. 
PART IV.
 V. 
PART V.
 VI. 
PART VI.
 II. 
II. POSSESSION.
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III. WHO'S IN THE RIGHT?
  
PRELUDE.
 I. 
PART I.
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PART II.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 4. 
4.
 5. 
5.
 6. 
6.
 7. 
7.
 IV. 
IV. PREMATURITY.
 V. 
V. ANCIENTS AND MODERNS.
 VI. 
VI. A PROVISION FOR LIFE.
  
To E. L.,
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VII. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS; OR, THE FAR.
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PART I.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
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PART IV.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 4. 
4.
 5. 
5.
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VIII. A WHEAT-STALK; OR, THE NEAR.
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
 IV. 
IV.
 V. 
V.
 VI. 
VI.
 VII. 
VII.
 IX. 
IX. THE ASS AND THE WAGTAIL.
 X. 
X. THE MISANTHROPE AND THE BIRD.
 XI. 
XI. FORTUNE AND HER FOLLOWERS.
 XII. 
XII. COMPOSURE.
 XIII. 
XIII. SIC ITUR.
 XIV. 
XIV. DIOGENES OR ALEXANDER?
 XV. 
XV. A LEGEND.
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XVI. THE RAINPOOL.
  
PRELUDE.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 IV. 
PART IV.
 XVII. 
XVII. CONTAGION.
 XVIII. 
XVIII. AURORA CLAIR.
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XIX. LOST TREASURES.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 XX. 
XX. CHASSÉ-CROISÉ.
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XXI. A PHILOSOPHER.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 XXII. 
XXII. ONLY A SHAVING.
 XXIII. 
XXIII. THE LAST CRUISE OF THE ARROGANT; OR NO COMPROMISE.
 XXIV. 
XXIV. KNOWLEDGE AND POWER.
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XXV. OPINION.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 XXVI. 
XXVI. DE PROFUNDIS.
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XXVII. “GO ON, I'LL FOLLOW THEE!”
 I. 
I.
 II. 
II.
 III. 
III.
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XXVIII. THE EAGLE AND HIS COMPANIONS;
  
MONOLOGUE.
  
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VOL. II.
  
INTRODUCTORY.
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XXIX. FIAT JUSTITIA.
 1. 
CANTO THE FIRST.—THEORY.
 2. 
CANTO THE SECOND.—PRACTICE.
 3. 
CANTO THE THIRD.—EXPERIENCE.
 XXX. 
XXX. THE ROCK.
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XXXI. DEMOS.
 I. 
PART 1.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 XXXII. 
XXXII. A PROMETHEUS UNBOUND.
 XXXIII. 
XXXIII. VALOUR.
 XXXIV. 
XXXIV. PAIN.
 XXXV. 
XXXV. QUESTIONABLE CONSOLATION.
 XXXVI. 
XXXVI. FORGIVE AND FORGET.
 XXXVII. 
XXXVII. THE MOUNTAINS OF TIME.
 XXXVIII. 
XXXVIII. CONSERVATION OF FORCE.
 XXXIX. 
XXXIX. HOMERIDES.
 XL. 
XL. POINTS DE VUE—POINT DE VUE.
 XLI. 
XLI. PYRRHONISM,
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XLII. THE MOUNTAIN AND THE MARSH.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 4. 
4.
 5. 
5.
 6. 
6.
 7. 
7.
 8. 
8.
 9. 
9.
 10. 
10.
 11. 
11.
 XLIII. 
XLIII. TELEOLOGY.
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XLIV. COGITO ERGO SUM.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 4. 
4.
 5. 
5.
 6. 
6.
 XLV. 
XLV. PHILOSOPHY OF THE LITTLE.
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XLVI. MASTER AT HOME.
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 IV. 
PART IV.
 XLVII. 
XLVII. THE PLANE AND THE PENKNIFE.
 XLVIII. 
XLVIII. THE DRAG AND THE WHEEL.
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XLIX. A HAUGHTY SPIRIT BEFORE A FALL.
 I. 
PART I.
 III. 
PART II.
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PART III.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 IV. 
PART IV.
 L. 
L. THE ROSE AND THE BRAMBLE.
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LI. DUCUNT VOLENTEM FATA: NOLENTEM TRAHUNT.
 1. 
1.
 2. 
2.
 3. 
3.
 4. 
4.
 5. 
5
 6. 
6.
 LII. 
LII. SUUM CUIQUE.
 LIII. 
LIII. THE TWO TRAVELLERS;
 LIV. 
LIV. AN ILL-ASSORTED COUPLE.
 LV. 
LV. BETWEEN HAMMER AND ANVIL.
 LVI. 
LVI. HOMO HOMINI LUPUS.
 LVII. 
LVII. THE HORSE AND THE FLY.
 LVIII. 
LVIII. ET CÆTERA ET CÆTERA.
 LIX. 
LIX. MONUMENTUM ÆRE PERENNIUS.
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LX. SANS SOUCI.
  
PROLOGUE
 I. 
PART I.
 II. 
PART II.
 III. 
PART III.
 IV. 
PART IV.
 V. 
PART V.
 VI. 
PART VI.
 VII. 
PART VII.

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216

VI. PART VI.

On the sideless seas, in the middle hour
Of the savage and measureless night; when stars
By curdling clouds were quench'd, and a shower
Of stormy sleet thro' shrouds and spars
Shriek'd; and the grieved ship seem'd to cower
Under night's weight, as wild she ran
Across the cruel grey waves; the man
Lean'd his ear to the tree (which fast
Stood over him still, a mighty mast)
For the wood, with an inward moan, began
To writhe and heave: till there came at last
A thunderous buffet of wave and wind
That shatter'd the ship. And, swept by the blast
Into the murtherous midnight, blind
With madden'd weather, clinging together,
O'er the headlong sea the man and the tree
Drifted to shore on a desert isle.
The ship and the crew had perisht meanwhile.
But the man was alive: and the tree (twice dead)
Which had saved him, still protected him.
For of part thereof, to shelter his head,
A roof he wrought; and each dripping limb
He dried and warm'd at the fire he made
Of the rest of the wood. And when morning rose
Over the reefs, with ravage spread,
217

As tho' on a world all newly made,
And smiling, safe from its last birth-throes,
In freshness, sweetness, light, and repose,
The man, left lone in the desert, said
“Oh what a release! to be left in peace
By all that trouble of tiller and tackle,
The captain's cries, and the shipmen's cackle!
Each rope and sail, and yard and shroud,
That, in calm or gale, no quiet allow'd,
But must ever be shifted that way and this
For fear of shipwreck; which, all the same,
In spite of our trouble and caution came.
And oh how delicious the freedom is
From all care henceforth of the cargo that's gone,
Or the ship, that is sunk, or the voyage, that's done!”
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