"'My uncle, man of firm convictions... / By falling gravely ill, he's won / A due respect for his afflictions— / The only clever thing he's done." Chap. 1, stanza 1, p. 5

"How shrewdly he could be inventive / And playfully astound the young, / Use flattery as warm incentive, / Or frighten with despairing tongue. / And how he'd seize a moment's weakness / To conquer youthful virtue's meekness / Through force of passion and of sense, / And then await sweet recompense." Chap. 1, stanza 11, p. 9

"At first their differences of heart / Made meetings dull at one another's; / But then their friendship grew, and soon / They'd meet on horse each afternoon, / And in the end were close as brothers. / Thus people—so it seems to me— / Become good friends from sheer ennui." Chap. 2, stanza 13, p. 41

"So she was called Tatyana, reader. / She lacked that fresh and rosy tone / That made her sister's beauty sweeter / And drew...