I will fasten on this sleeve of thine: Thou art an elm, my husband, I, a vine. Shakespeare.Comedy of Errors, Act II. Scene 2. (Adriana.) So, MoliereSganarelle i. 2. (Ramages Thoughts from the French, p. 137.)
So all those false alarms of strife Between the husband and the wife, And little quarrels often prove To be but new recruits of love. Butler.Hudibras, Part III. Canto I. Line 903.
Who seeks secure to rule, be first her care Each softer virtue that adorns the fair; Each tender passion man delights to find, The loved perfections of a female mind! Collins.Eclogue I. Line 39. (Selim.)
What is there in the vale of life Half so delightful as a wife; When friendship, love, and peace combine To stamp the marriage-bond divine? Cowper.Love Abused, Line 1.
When fondly welcomd to th accustomd seat, In sweet complacence wife and husband meet, Look mutual pleasure, mutual pleasure share, Repose from labours, but unite in care. Bishop.Domestic Happiness.
Come hither, gentle mistress; Do you perceive in all this noble company Where most you owe obedience? Shakespeare.Othello, Act I. Scene 3. (Brabantio to his Daughter.)
The man of law is nonplussd in his suit; Nay, every other female tongue is mute. Hammers and beating anvils, you would swear, And Vulcan with his whole militia there. Juvenal.Sat. VI. (Dryden.)
I know no business women have with learning; I scorn, I hate, the mole-eyed half discerning; Their wit but serves a husbands heart to rack, And makes eternal horsewhips for his back. Peter Pindar.Bozzi and Piozzi, Eclo. Part II.
You made me a wife, for which I am much obliged to you; and, if you have a wish to make me more grateful still, make me a widow. Sheridan.See his Life, by G. G. S., Page 57. (Bohn, 1857.)
Though, by wishing to part with your wife, you seem to have a spare-rib alreadyBless my soul, that it should fall to my lot to pun upon pork-chops! Dibdin.The Jew and the Doctor, Act II. Scene 1.