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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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V. PART V.

So went the Spring: and so came and went
The Summer. The aftermath was mown:
And there where, erewhile, in one element
Of colour and odour together blent,
By the balmy breath of the light wind blown,
The flowing grass and the bending blooms
(A rapturous river of gleams and glooms!)
Had rippled and roll'd, lay clods of mould
Black and bald; and between them grew
Coarse aftergrowths, grey, bristly, and cold;
And the beast of the field had the residue.
The primrose, cowslip, and violet,
With their glow-worm glitter were gone; and the white
Anemone's constellations, set,
Had left the earth dark as a starless night,
Where the grass fell off from the woodland wet.
The blue-eyed borage was blinded quite.
But, outliving his betters one by one,
In the flowerless field, with no thought of flight,
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The brave little Thistle remain'd—alone!
And, since skies were cold, and suns were dim,
No one noticed, and no one praised,
But also no one maltreated, him.
And the pensive beasts of the field, that grazed
The twice-cropt grass, where their wandering whim
Led them, lazy, from spot to spot,
Shunn'd the Thistle and harm'd him not.
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