"NOW, sir, do you believe in ROBINSON CRUSOE?" I asked, with a
solemnity, suitable to the occasion.
Moreover I had never really understood the Fynes; he with his
solemnity which extended to the very eating of bread and butter; she with that air of detachment and resolution in breasting the common-place current of their unexciting life, in which the cutting of bread and butter appeared to me, by a long way, the most dangerous episode.
The subject elevated him to more than usual
solemnity of manner, and with a most important aspect he protested that "he had never in his life witnessed such behaviour in a person of rank-- such affability and condescension, as he had himself experienced from Lady Catherine.
Of course Shelley's mind was full of the sanctity of the moment, and indignant that "the hour for which the years did sigh" should thus be broken in upon by vulgar revelry; but while we may sympathise with his view, and admit to the full the sacredness, not to say the
solemnity, of the marriage ceremony, yet it is to be hoped that it still retains a naturally mirthful side, of which such public merriment is but the crude expression.
Affected by the
solemnity of the scene, there was a wondering gaze of incredulous curiosity in his countenance.
Do I seem to have lost my
solemnity, my gravity, my poise, my dignity?
She caught the young officer by his cuffs, and a look of
solemnity and fear appeared on her flushed face.
Mrs Nickleby lived, sometimes with her daughter, and sometimes with her son, accompanying one or other of them to London at those periods when the cares of business obliged both families to reside there, and always preserving a great appearance of dignity, and relating her experiences (especially on points connected with the management and bringing-up of children) with much
solemnity and importance.
Our intention, in short, is to introduce our heroine with the utmost
solemnity in our power, with an elevation of stile, and all other circumstances proper to raise the veneration of our reader.--Indeed we would, for certain causes, advise those of our male readers who have any hearts, to read no farther, were we not well assured, that how amiable soever the picture of our heroine will appear, as it is really a copy from nature, many of our fair countrywomen will be found worthy to satisfy any passion, and to answer any idea of female perfection which our pencil will be able to raise.
At first the talk was a little gloomy, and ran mainly upon the shortness of life, the uncertainty of it, the perils which beset it, and the need and wisdom of being always prepared for the worst; this shaded off into low-voiced references to the dangers of the deep, and kindred matters; but as the gray east began to redden and the mysterious
solemnity and silence of the dawn to give place to the joy-songs of the birds, the talk took a cheerier tone, and our spirits began to rise steadily.
She had not even a share in his opening compliments.Her name was not mentioned; and there was so striking a change in all this, and such an illjudged
solemnity of leavetaking in his graceful acknowledgments, as she thought, at first, could not escape her father's suspicion.
He threw over him his scarlet mantle, put on his head a montera of green velvet trimmed with silver edging, flung across his shoulder the baldric with his good trenchant sword, took up a large rosary that he always carried with him, and with great
solemnity and precision of gait proceeded to the antechamber where the duke and duchess were already dressed and waiting for him.