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The Good-Morrow By John Donne

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  The Good-Morrow By John Donne I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then? But sucked on country pleasures, childishly? Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den? ’Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be. If ever any beauty I did see, Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee. And now good-morrow to our waking souls, Which watch not one another out of fear; For love, all love of other sights controls, And makes one little room an everywhere. Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone, Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown, Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one. My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears, And true plain hearts do in the faces rest; Where can we find two better hemispheres, Without sharp north, without declining west? Whatever dies, was not mixed equally; If our two loves be one, or, thou and I Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die. Stanza-wise Paraphrase and Explanation o...

Subject Verb Agreement Part 1

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Subject Verb Agreement Subject-verb agreement plays a pivotal role in crafting well-structured and grammatically accurate English, serving as the cornerstone of effective communication. It is actually the foundation stone on which accurate English is constructed. If you are unaware of this basic grammatic principle, you are liable to commit unpardonable grammatical mistakes leading to a very poor English in writing and speaking. A student must be made aware of this principle from the primary level of learning English. This principle is also known as the Rule of Concord. According to this rule a singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb. You can understand this principle from the example given below:- Read the following sentence carefully:- He is writing an essay. ( In this sentence, you can see that 'He' is singular and 'He' takes a singular verb that is 'is' but suppose your teacher asks you to replace 'He' with ...

Subject Verb Agreement Basic with exercises

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The Interior of an English Sentence, Subject, Verb, Object

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The Interior of an English Sentence Subject, Verb and Object in an English sentence The introduction to the parts of an English sentence is very important with a view to studying English grammar. The whole of English grammar is based on this basic information about an English sentence. Generally, an English sentence is divided into two parts namely Subject and Predicate. e.g. the following sentence:- My brother has made a new model of an airplane.   In the above sentence " My brother " is Subject and remaining part after the subject is  predicate. My brother = Subject. has made a new model of airplane  = Predicate Definition of subject A subject is a word or a phrase about which the sentence is written or spoken. Definition of Predicate A predicate is information about the subject. However, in such a division, predicate remains too much loaded with information. That is why, a sentence is divided into three parts namely Subject, Verb and Object with a view to breaking...

A Considerable Speck by Robert Frost

 A Considerable Speck by Robert Frost A speck that would have been beneath my sight On any but a paper sheet so white Set off across what I had written there. And I had idly poised my pen in air To stop it with a period of ink When something strange about it made me think, This was no dust speck by my breathing blown, But unmistakably a living mite With inclinations it could call its own. It paused as with suspicion of my pen, And then came racing wildly on again To where my manuscript was not yet dry; Then paused again and either drank or smelt— With loathing, for again it turned to fly. Plainly with an intelligence I dealt. It seemed too tiny to have room for feet, Yet must have had a set of them complete To express how much it didn't want to die. It ran with terror and with cunning crept. It faltered: I could see it hesitate; Then in the middle of the open sheet Cower down in desperation to accept Whatever I accorded it of fate. I have none of the tenderer-than-thou Collectivist...

Haunted Houses

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Haunted Houses Henry Wadsworth Longfellow All houses wherein men have lived and died Are haunted houses. Through the open doors The harmless phantoms on their errands glide, With feet that make no sound upon the floors. We meet them at the door-way, on the stair, Along the passages they come and go, Impalpable impressions on the air, A sense of something moving to and fro. There are more guests at table than the hosts Invited; the illuminated hall Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts, As silent as the pictures on the wall. The stranger at my fireside cannot see The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear; He but perceives what is; while unto me All that has been is visible and clear. We have no title-deeds to house or lands; Owners and occupants of earlier dates From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands, And hold in mortmain still their old estates. The spirit-world around this world of sense Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere Wafts through these earthly mists and va...

The Glove and the Lions by Leigh Hunt

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The Glove and the Lions BY LEIGH HUNT King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport, And one day as his lions fought, sat looking on the court; The nobles filled the benches, and the ladies in their pride, And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sighed: And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show, Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below. Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws; They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws; With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one another; Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous smother; The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air; Said Francis then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than there." De Lorge's love o'erheard the King, a beauteous lively dame With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the same; She thought, the Count my lover is bra...