John Davies (poet) Quotes

Sir John Davies was an English poet, lawyer, and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1621. He became Attorney General for Ireland and formulated many of the legal principles that underpinned the British Empire. Wikipedia  

✵ 16. April 1569 – 8. December 1626
John Davies (poet) photo
John Davies (poet): 9   quotes 1   like

Famous John Davies (poet) Quotes

“Much like a subtle spider which doth sit
In middle of her web, which spreadeth wide;
If aught do touch the utmost thread of it,
She feels it instantly on every side.”

The Immortality of the Soul (c. 1594). Compare:
:"Our souls sit close and silently within / And their own webs from their own entrails spin; / And when eyes meet far off, our sense is such / That, spider-like, we feel the tenderest touch." John Dryden, Mariage à la Mode, act ii. sc. 1.;
:"The spider’s touch—how exquisitely fine!— / Feels at each thread, and lives along the line." Alexander Pope, Epistle i. line 217.

“Wedlock, indeed, hath oft compared been
To public feasts, where meet a public rout,—
Where they that are without would fain go in,
And they that are within would fain go out.”

A contention betwixt a Wife, a Widdow and a Maide (1602). Compare:
:"’T is just like a summer bird-cage in a garden: the birds that are without despair to get in, and the birds that are within despair and are in a consumption for fear they shall never get out." John Webster, The White Devil, act i. sc. 2.;
:"Le mariage est comme une forteresse assiégée; ceux qui sont dehors veulent y entrer, et ceux qui sont dedans veulent en sortir." (Translated as: "Marriage is like a beleaguered fortress: those who are outside want to get in, and those inside want to get out.") Quitard, Études sur les Proverbes Français, p. 102.;
:"It happens as with cages: the birds without despair to get in, and those within despair of getting out." Michel Eyquem, seigneur de Montaigne, Upon some Verses of Virgil, chap. v.;
:"Is not marriage an open question, when it is alleged, from the beginning of the world, that such as are in the institution wish to get out, and such as are out wish to get in?" Ralph Waldo Emerson, Representative Men: Montaigne.

Similar authors

George Herbert photo
George Herbert 216
Welsh-born English poet, orator and Anglican priest
Joseph Addison photo
Joseph Addison 226
politician, writer and playwright
John Donne photo
John Donne 115
English poet
Alexander Pope photo
Alexander Pope 158
eighteenth century English poet
John Milton photo
John Milton 190
English epic poet
Samuel Johnson photo
Samuel Johnson 362
English writer
Maximilien Robespierre photo
Maximilien Robespierre 78
French revolutionary lawyer and politician
Samuel Butler (poet) photo
Samuel Butler (poet) 81
poet and satirist
William Shakespeare photo
William Shakespeare 699
English playwright and poet
Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori photo
Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori 2
Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musici…