=Mercy.=

The quality of mercy is not strain’d; It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath:  it is twice bless’d; It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:  ’T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown. 1180 SHAKS.:  M. of Venice, Act iv., Sc. 1.

Who will not mercie unto others show,
How can he mercy ever hope to have?
1181
SPENSER:  Faerie Queene, Bk. v., Canto ii., St. 42.

=Merit.=

Be thou the first true merit to befriend; His praise is lost, who stays till all commend. 1182 POPE:  E. on Criticism, Pt. ii., Line 274.

=Midnight.=

The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve:—­ Lovers to bed; ’tis almost fairy time. 1183 SHAKS.:  Mid.  N. Dream, Act v., Sc. 1.

Midnight brought on the dusky hour
Friendliest to sleep and silence.
1184
MILTON:  Par.  Lost, Bk. v., Line 667.

’T is midnight now.  The bent and broken moon, Batter’d and black, as from a thousand battles, Hangs silent on the purple walls of heaven. 1185 JOAQUIN MILLER:  Ina, Sc. 2.

=Milton.=

That mighty orb of song,
The divine Milton.
1186
WORDSWORTH:  Excursion, Bk. i.

=Mind.=

The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n. 1187 MILTON:  Par.  Lost, Bk. i., Line 254.

Measure your mind’s height by the shade it casts. 1188 ROBERT BROWNING:  Paracelsus, Sc. 3.

Though man a thinking being is defined,
Few use the grand prerogative of mind.
1189
JANE TAYLOR:  Essays in Rhyme, Essay i., St. 45.

My mind to me a kingdom is;
  Such present joys therein I find,
That it excels all other bliss
  That earth affords or grows by kind.
1190
EDWARD DYER:  Ms. Rawl., 85, p. 17.

=Mirth.=

More merry tears
The passion of loud laughter never shed.
1191
SHAKS.:  Mid.  N. Dream, Act v., Sc. 1.

Come, thou Goddess fair and free,
In heav’n yclept Euphrosyne,
And by men, heart-easing Mirth.
1192
MILTON:  L’Allegro, Line 11.

As Tammie glow’red, amazed and curious,
The mirth and fun grew fast and furious.
1193
BURNS:  Tam o’ Shanter.

=Mischief.=

O, mischief! thou art swift
To enter in the thoughts of desperate men!
1194
SHAKS.:  Rom. and Jul., Act v., Sc. 1.

When to mischief mortals bend their will,
How soon they find fit instruments of ill!
1195
POPE:  R. of the Lock, Canto iii., St. 125.

=Misery.=

Sharp misery had worn him to the bones. 1196 SHAKS.:  Rom. and Jul., Act v., Sc. 1.

Heaven hears and pities hapless men like me, For sacred ev’n to gods is misery. 1197 POPE:  Odyssey, Bk. v., Line 572.