Charles Dickens

The pure, the bright, the
That stirred our hearts in youth,
The impulses to wordless prayer,
The streams of love and truth,

O God! who by Thy prophet's hand
Didst smite the rocky brake,
Whence water came, at Thy command,
Thy people's thirst to slake;

The wind blew high, the waters raved,
A ship drove on the land,
A hundred human creatures saved
Kneel'd down upon the sand.

Brave lodgings for one, brave lodgings for one,
A few feet of cold earth, when life is done;
A stone at the head, a stone at the feet;
A rich, juicy meal for the worms to eat;

Роман «Домби и сын» Диккенса был написан в 1848 году. Владелец торгового дома отчаянно мечтает о наследнике, однако его мечтам не суждено сбыться. Гордый и надменный, он отвергает любовь единственной дочери, и лишь на склоне лет…

And now the bell, — the bell She had so often heard by night and day And listened to with solemn pleasure,
E'en as a living voice, — Rung its remorseless toll for her, So young, so beautiful, so good. Decrepit age, and vigorous life,
And…

Hear my prayer,
O heavenly Father,
Ere I lay me down to sleep;
Bid Thy angels, pure and holy

Oh, a dainty plant is the Ivy green,
That creepeth o'er ruins old!
Of right choice food are his meals,
I ween

The child and the old man sat alone
In the quiet, peaceful shade
Of the old green boughs, that had richly grown
In the deep, thick forest glade.

How beautiful at eventide
To see the twilight shadows pale,
Steal o'er the landscape, far and wide,
O'er stream and meadow, mound and dale!

Autumn leaves, autumn leaves, lie strewn around he here;
Autumn leaves, autumn leaves, how sad, how cold, how drear!
How like the hopes of childhood's day,
Thick clust'ring on the bough!

Роман «Приключения Оливера Твиста» Диккенса был написан в 1839 году. Это история о маленьком мальчике, сироте, которому довелось хлебнуть немало горя и лишений в своей жизни. Примечательно, что это первая книга в английской…