the eye of another

“If a man destroys the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye.”

—The Code of Hammurabi, from Law: A Treasury of Art and Literature, 1990. Hammurabi died around 1750 B.C.E.

an old squaw spirit

“The Kaatsberg, or Catskill Mountains, have always been a region full of fable. The Indians considered them the abode of spirits, who influenced the weather, spreading sunshine or clouds over the landscape, and sending good or bad hunting seasons. They were ruled by an old squaw spirit, said to be their mother. She dwelt on the highest peak of the Catskills and had charge of the doors of day and night, to open and shut them at the proper hour. She hung up the new moons in the skies and cut up the old ones into stars. In times of drought, if properly propitiated, she would spin light summer clouds out of cobwebs and morning dew and send them off from the crest of the mountain, flake after flake, like flakes of carded cotton, to float in the air; until, dissolved by the heat of the sun, they would fall in gentle showers, causing the grass to spring, the fruits to ripen, and the corn to grow an inch an hour. If displeased, however, she would brew up clouds black as ink, sitting in the midst of them like a bottle-bellied spider in the midst of its web; and when these clouds broke, woe betide the valleys!”

—Washington Irving, from the postscript to Rip Van Winkle. The Sketch Book, 1820.

the last rays of the setting sun

“Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed every hour of the day produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect barometers. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; but, sometimes, when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory.”

—Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle. From The Sketch Book, 1820.

golden leves

“The honey comb that bee doth make
Is not so sweet in hyve,
As are the golden leves
That drop from poet’s head!
Which doth surmount our common talke
As farre as dross doth lead.”

—Churchyard, quoted by Washington Irving in The Mutability of Literature. From The Sketch Book, 1820.

roses in general

“The custom of decorating graves was once universally prevalent; osiers were carefully bent over them to keep the turf uninjured, and about them were planted evergreens and flowers. . . .

The nature and color of the flowers, and of the ribbons with which they were tied, had often a particular reference to the qualities or story of the deceased, or were expressive of the feelings of the mourner. In an old poem, entitled Corydon’s Doleful Knell, a lover [declares]: . . .

I’ll deck her tomb with flowers,
The rarest ever seen;
And with my tears as showers,
I’ll keep them fresh and green.

The white rose . . . was planted at the grave of a virgin; her chaplet was tied with white ribbons, in token of her spotless innocence, though sometimes black ribbons were intermingled, to bespeak the grief of the survivors. The red rose was occasionally used in remembrance of such as had been remarkable for benevolence, but roses in general were appropriated to the graves of lovers.”

—Washington Irving, Rural Funerals. From The Sketch Book, 1820.

Winter’s silver hair

“Now trees their leafy hats do bare
To reverence Winter’s silver hair;”

—Poor Robin’s Almanac, 1684, quoted by Washington Irving in The Stagecoach. From The Sketch Book, 1820.

Night Piece to Julia

“[L]et not the dark thee cumber;
What though the moon does slumber,
The stars of the night
Will lend thee their light,
Like tapers clear without number.”

—Herrick, Night Piece to Julia, quoted by Washington Irving in Christmas Eve. From The Sketch Book, 1820.

the nut-brown beverage

“The Wassail Bowl was sometimes composed of ale instead of wine, with nutmeg, sugar, toast, ginger, and roasted crabs; in this way the nut-brown beverage is still prepared in some old families, and around the hearths of substantial farmers at Christmas.”

—Washington Irvingin a footnote to The Chrismas Dinner. From The Sketch Book, 1820.

The merry brown bowle

“The brown bowle,
The merry brown bowle,
As it goes round about-a,
Fill
Still,
Let the world say what it will,
And drink your fill all out-a.”

—from a Wassail chanson quoted by Washington Irving in The Chrismas Dinner. From The Sketch Book, 1820.

The fires of creation

“Radio telescopes have detected the cosmic black-body background radiation, the distant echo of the event called the Big Bang. The fires of creation are being observed today.”

—Carl Sagan, Broca’s Brain, 1979.