A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man. King Lear, Act iii.  Sc. 2.  SHAKESPEARE.

Eating the bitter bread of banishment. King Richard II., Act iii.  Sc. 1.  SHAKESPEARE.

For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe. Merchant of Venice, Act i.  Sc. 8.  SHAKESPEARE.

Lord of himself,—­that heritage of woe! Lara, Canto I.  LORD BYRON.

Lord of thy presence, and no land beside. King John, Act i.  Sc. 1.  SHAKESPEARE.

  Heaven is not always angry when he strikes,
  But most chastises those whom most he likes.
Verses to his Friend under Affliction.  J. POMFRET.

  As sunshine, broken in the rill,
  Though turned astray, is sunshine still.
Fire Worshippers.  T. MOORE.

On Fortune’s cap we are not the very button. Hamlet, Act ii.  Sc. 2.  SHAKESPEARE.

  Cheered up himself with ends of verse,
  And sayings of philosophers.
Hudibras, Pt.  I. Canto III.  S. BUTLER.

  O life! thou art a galling load,
  Along a rough, a weary road,
    To wretches such as I!
Despondency.  R. BURNS.

A wretched soul, bruised with adversity. Comedy of Errors, Act ii.  Sc. 1.  SHAKESPEARE.

  Affliction’s sons are brothers in distress;
  A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss!
A Winter Night.  R. BURNS.

                Henceforth I’ll bear
  Affliction till it do cry out itself,
  Enough, enough, and die.
King Lear, Act iv.  Sc. 6.  SHAKESPEARE.

                    On me, on me
  Time and change can heap no more! 
  The painful past with blighting grief
  Hath left my heart a withered leaf. 
  Time and change can do no more.
Dirge.  R.H.  HORNE.

  I wish thy lot, now bad, still worse, my friend,
  For when at worst, they say, things always mend.
To a Friend in Distress.  DR. J. OWEN.

  The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees
  Is left this vault to brag of.
Macbeth, Act ii.  Sc. 8.  SHAKESPEARE.

Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward
To what they were before.
Macbeth, Act iv.  Sc. 2.  SHAKESPEARE.

I am not now in fortune’s power;
He that is down can fall no lower.
Hudibras, Pt.  I. Canto III.  S. BUTLER.

                           The worst is not
  So long as we can say, This is the worst. 
King Lear, Act iv.  Sc. 1.  SHAKESPEARE.

ADVICE.

The worst men often give the best advice. 
Our deeds are sometimes better than our thoughts,
Festus:  Sc.  A Village Feast.  P.J.  BAILEY.

I pray thee cease thy counsel. 
Which falls into mine ears as profitless
As water in a sieve.
Much Ado About Nothing, Act v.  Sc. 1.  SHAKESPEARE.