OAK OATHS
OAK Quercus
A song to the oak, the brave old oak,
Who hath ruled in the greenwood long;
Here's health and renown to his broad green crown,
And his fifty arms so strong.
There's fear in his frown when the Sun goes down,
And the fire in the West fades out;
And he showeth his might on a wild midnight,
When the storms through his branches shout.
The oak, when living, monarch of the wood;
The English oak, which, dead, commands the flood.
Churchill—Gotham. I. 303.
Old noted oak! I saw thee in a mood
Of vague indifference; and yet with me
Thy memory, like thy fate, hath lingering stood
For years, thou hermit, in the lonely sea
Of grass that waves around thee!
John Clare—The Rural Muse. Burthorp Oak.
The monarch oak, the patriarch of the trees,
Shoots rising up, and spreads by slow degrees.
Three centuries he grows, and three he stays
Supreme in state; and in three more decays.
Dryden—Palamon and Arcite. Bk. III. L.
1,058.
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{{Hoyt quote
| num = 5
| text = Tall oaks from little acorns grow.
David Everett—Lines for a School Declamation.
The oaks with solemnity shook their heads;
The twigs of the birch-trees, in token
Of warning, nodded,—and I exclaim'd:
"Dear Monarch, forgive what I've spoken!"
Heine—Songs. Germany. Caput XVII.
Those green-robed senators of mighty woods,
Tall oaks, branch-charmed by the earnest stars,
Dream, and so dream all night without a stir.
Keats—Hyperion. Bk. I. L. 73.
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{{Hoyt quote
| num = 5
| text = The tall Oak, towering to the skies,
The fury of the wind defies,
From age to age, in virtue strong.
Inured to stand, and suffer wrong.
Montgomery—The Oak.
There grewe an aged tree on the greene;
A goodly Oake sometime had it bene,
With armes full strong and largely displayed,
But of their leaves they were disarayde The bodie bigge, and mightely pight,
Thoroughly rooted, and of wond'rous hight,"
Whilome had bene the king of the field,
And mochell mast to the husband did yielde,
And with his nuts larded many swine:
But now the gray mosse marred his rine;
His bared boughes were beaten with stormes,
His toppe was bald, and wasted with wormes,
His honour decayed, his braunches sere.
Spenser—Shepheard's Callender. Februarie.
OATHS
(See also Swearing, Vows)
Oaths were not purpos'd, more than law,
To keep the Good and Just in awe,
But to confine the Bad and Sinful,
Like mortal cattle in a penfold.
Butler—Hudibras. Pt.' II. Canto II. L.
197.
He that imposes an Oath makes it,
Not he that for Convenience takes it.
Then how can any man be said
To break an oath he never made?
Butler—Hudibras. Pt. II. Canto II. L.
377.
I will take my corporal oath on it.
| author = Cervantes
| work = Don Quixote.
| place = Pt. I. Bk. IV.
Ch.X.
Juravi lingua, mentem injuratam gero.
I have sworn with my tongue, but my mind
is unsworn.
Cicero—De Officiis. III. 29.
They fix attention, heedless of your pain,
With oaths like rivets forced into the brain;
And e'en when sober truth prevails throughout,
They swear it, till affirmance breeds a doubt.
| author = Cowper
| work = Conversation. L. 63.
And hast thou sworn on every slight pretence,
Till perjuries are common as bad pence,
While thousands, careless of the damning sin,
Kiss the book's outside, who ne'er look'd within?
| author = Cowper
| work = Expostulation. L. 384.
In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath.
| author = Samuel Johnson
| work = Boswell's Life of Johnson.
(1775)
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{{Hoyt quote
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| text = <poem>I take the official oath to-day with no mental
reservations and with no purpose to construe
the Constitution by any hypercritical rules.
Lincoln—First Inaugural Address. March
4, 1861.
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{{Hoyt quote
| num = 5
| text = You can have no oath registered in heaven to
destroy the Government; while I shall have the
most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and
defend" it.
Lincoln—First Inaugural Address. March
4, 1861.
Psalms. XV. 4.
'Tis not the many oaths that makes the truth,
But the plain single vow that is vow'd true.
All's Well That Ends Well. Act rv. Sc. 2
L.21
Trust none;
For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafercakes,
And hold-fast is the only dog.
