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Relent   Listen
verb
Relent  v. i.  (past & past part. relented; pres. part. relenting)  
1.
To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce. (Obs.) "He stirred the coals till relente gan The wax again the fire." "(Salt of tartar) placed in a cellar will... begin to relent." "When opening buds salute the welcome day, And earth, relenting, feels the genial ray."
2.
To become less severe or intense; to become less hard, harsh, cruel, or the like; to soften in temper; to become more mild and tender; to feel compassion. "Can you... behold My sighs and tears, and will not once relent?"






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Relent" Quotes from Famous Books



... and gold-dust was in the house, and seized all the best horses about the place; but when she saw them taking away her saddle-pony, she cried out, "Oh, Tom Smith! I didn't think you was that mean, to rob me of my pony! Wasn't you always well treated here?" He seemed to relent at this appeal, and not only restored her horse, but two of her father's also. The people collected and pursued the robbers, most of whom were captured or killed, but the leader escaped. Mrs. Lechner said she was glad he got away. "Tom must have had some good in him or he wouldn't have given me ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XII. No. 30. September, 1873 • Various

... what he meant to say. The outside world's a blunder, that is clear; The real world that Nature meant is here. Here every foundling finds its lost mamma; Each rogue, repentant, melts his stern papa; Misers relent, the spendthrift's debts are paid, The cheats are taken in the traps they laid; One after one the troubles all are past Till the fifth act comes right side up at last, When the young couple, old folks, rogues, and all, Join hands, so happy at the curtain's ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 1, Issue 2, December, 1857 • Various

... prospect of the adventure; and her mother saw Bittridge look at her with more tenderness than she had ever seen in him before. "I'll take good care of her, Mrs. Kenton," he said, and for the first time she felt herself relent a ...
— Henry James, Jr. • William Dean Howells

... refused to speak when speech would have been my ruin, I let her do it, justifying myself with the thought that she had deemed me capable of crime, and so must bear the consequences. Nor, when I saw how dreadful these were likely to prove, did I relent. Fear of the ignominy, suspense, and danger which confession would entail sealed my lips. Only once did I hesitate. That was when, in the last conversation we had, I saw that, notwithstanding appearances, you believed in Eleanore's innocence, and ...
— The Leavenworth Case • Anna Katharine Green

... 'Maria, poor as I am, your conduct to me has been so noble, that, by heaven! I am yours to take or to leave. If you will have me, here I am: I will enlist: I will work: I will try and make a livelihood for myself somehow, and my bro——my relations will relent, and give us enough to live on.' That's what I determined to tell her; and I did, George. I ran all the way to Kensington in the rain—look, I am splashed from head to foot,—and found them all at dinner, all except Will, that is. I spoke out that very moment to ...
— The Virginians • William Makepeace Thackeray

... rain, and have all manner of pains and pleasures that we know not of now. Consciousness, and ganglia, and suchlike, are after all but theories. And who knows? This God may not be cruel when all is done; he may relent and be good to us a la fin des fins. Think of how he tempers our afflictions to us, of how tenderly he mixes in bright joys with the grey web of trouble and care that we call our life. Think of how he gives, who takes away. Out of the bottom of the miry clay I write this; and I look forward confidently; ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 23 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... is of opinion, you say, that at last my friends will relent. Heaven grant that they may!—But my brother and sister have such an influence over every body, and are so determined; so pique themselves upon subduing me, and carrying their point; that I despair that they will. And ...
— Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9) • Samuel Richardson

... dost thou think to pursue The Israel of God, and recapture them too? Hast thou so soon forgotten the plagues on thee sent, Or so hardened thy heart that thou can'st not relent? Then make ready thy chariots, a long way they'll reach; Thou hast six hundred chosen, a captain to each. Now after them hasten, no time's to be lost, That God worketh for them, thou'st felt to thy cost. Speed thee then, speed ...
— The Kings and Queens of England with Other Poems • Mary Ann H. T. Bigelow

... Adeline, though in a careless way, As if she rated such accomplishment As the mere pastime of an idle day, Pursued an instant for her own content, Would now and then as 't were without display, Yet with display in fact, at times relent To such performances with haughty smile, To show she could, if it were ...
— Don Juan • Lord Byron

... alguazil with four horsemen and five Tezcucan chiefs, ordering them to seize and hang Xicotencatl wherever they could find him. Alvarado interceded strongly for his pardon, but ineffectually; for though Cortes seemed to relent, the party who arrested Xicotencatl in a town subject to Tezcuco, hung him up by private orders from Cortes, and some reported that this was done with the approbation of the elder Xicotencatl, father to the Tlascalan ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. IV. • Robert Kerr

... wide: If not, turne from me, and Ile turne from thee; For though thou hast the heart to say farewell, I haue not power to stay thee: is he gone? I but heele come againe, he cannot goe, He loues me to too well to serue me so: Yet he that in my sight would not relent, Will, being absent, be abdurate still. By this is he got to the water side, And, see the Sailers take him by the hand, But he shrinkes backe, and now remembring me, Returnes amaine: welcome, welcome my loue: But wheres AEneas? ...
— The Tragedy of Dido Queene of Carthage • Christopher Marlowe

... do relent, if ever they acknowledge Services, 'tis always after the Man is dead, that he may not upbraid them with it. An eminent great Man among them, and rich to a Prodigy, had been almost drowned, but was taken up in the Interval by a poor Man; when he came to himself, ...
— Atalantis Major • Daniel Defoe

... Had defeated the Chorus his rivals had led; With his sounds of all sort, that were uttered in sport, With whims and vagaries unheard of before, With feathers and wings, and a thousand gay things, That in frolicsome fancies his Choruses wore— When his humor was spent, did your temper relent, To requite the delight that he gave you before? We beheld him displaced, and expelled and disgraced, When his hair and his wit ...
— Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol. 2 • Charles Dudley Warner

... appealed frankly to Mr. Palma, and showed him the dreadful suffering of your heart, he would relent." ...
— Infelice • Augusta Jane Evans Wilson

... back to Rome, Silius was dispatched, and Messalina, lacking the will-power to destroy herself, was killed when an officer ran a sword through her abdomen, just as it appeared that Claudius was about to relent. ...
— 1601 - Conversation as it was by the Social Fireside in the Time of the Tudors • Mark Twain

... straight at one of the most powerful motives in human nature, and the woman began to relent, and to talk more as if it were possible for her ...
— Sevenoaks • J. G. Holland

... carminative, laudanum; rose water, balm, poppy, opiate, anodyne, milk, opium, "poppy or mandragora"; wet blanket; palliative. V. be -moderate &c. adj.; keep within bounds, keep within compass; sober down, settle down; keep the peace, remit, relent, take in sail. moderate, soften, mitigate, temper, accoy|; attemper[obs3], contemper[obs3]; mollify, lenify[obs3], dulcify[obs3], dull, take off the edge, blunt, obtund[obs3], sheathe, subdue, chasten; sober down, tone down, smooth down; weaken ...
— Roget's Thesaurus

... he would inquire the address of their uncle, whose heart might relent when he heard of the death of his brother. "If not, I will write to Lord Heatherly himself," ...
— In the Eastern Seas • W.H.G. Kingston

... some touches of the tale That reach'd the distant tent Of Him who led the war in Chief, Won justice to relent. That night, in private, a REPRIEVE ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327 - Vol. 53, January, 1843 • Various

... wildest escapade—by his having used, after all and despite her prohibition, Mrs. De Peyster's closed house as a retreat; but when she came back from Europe, and he made her see in its proper light this gorgeous and profitable lark, she would relent and forgive him. Why, of course, ...
— No. 13 Washington Square • Leroy Scott

... am!" said her father; but he had to relent under her look of meek imploring, and say, "or I ought to be. I don't see how you ...
— The Quality of Mercy • W. D. Howells

... money which I offered him, and likewise a seat in the buggy. I watched his departure with joy and terror,—for at any moment he might relent and stay nor was I at ease in my mind until I saw Andrew come riding ...
— Humorous Masterpieces from American Literature • Various

... still plenty of buffalo on the plains, it was well known that the ammunition was about exhausted, as well as all other supplies, including medicines, now so much needed. Some interested parties vainly urged the Governor to relent and allow some supplies to be sent in. But, conscious of the risks that would be run of the pestilence reaching the province over which he governed, he remained firm, while he felt for those who ...
— By Canoe and Dog-Train • Egerton Ryerson Young

... ingenuously, "that mother will relent in time, and then we can be married without going to so much trouble about it." Farther on she admitted that, "Mother is very firm about it now, but when she realizes that I am absolutely determined ...
— Viola Gwyn • George Barr McCutcheon

... world to eat and could have what I pleased. Besides no one would dare tell me I couldn't have this or that. This was all very consoling during the times I had to keep out of the kitchen. Generally in about a week's time Ma would relent, and, as our cook was fond of me, I'd be reinstated in my beloved realm of eats. But it was during these periods of exile that my ambition always rose to fever heat. Then our old cook got married, and I didn't like our new one. She didn't ...
— Grace Harlowe's Problem • Jessie Graham Flower

... found his uncle wavering, touched by the sight of his little Amy, returning to his first favourable view of Guy's letter, ready to overlook everything, accept the justification, and receive his ward on the same footing as before, though he was at the same time ashamed that Philip should see him relent, and desirous of keeping up his character for firmness, little guessing how his nephew felt his power over him, and knew that he ...
— The Heir of Redclyffe • Charlotte M. Yonge

... should not stop, but when she saw how cold he was she began to relent, and telling him where to shelter his horse, pointed to the basement bidding him go in there. Then, with a hesitating step on she began to wonder what Morris would say, she crossed the wide piazza and softly turning the door knob, stood ...
— Family Pride - Or, Purified by Suffering • Mary J. Holmes

... he would make a Rush at me, and Welt me sorely; but oftener he would Relent, and opening his Locker would give me a slice of Sausage, or a white Biscuit, or a nip ...
— The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 2 of 3 • George Augustus Sala

... more stand in awe of them, (for old age has given me the opportunity of knowing many things) I will relate some facts very well known throughout all Cyprus, by which thou mayst the more easily be persuaded and relent." ...
— The Metamorphoses of Ovid - Literally Translated into English Prose, with Copious Notes - and Explanations • Publius Ovidius Naso

... in novels of girls offering themselves to a manager and realizing fabulous sums, and eighteen pounds a year seemed to be her net value in the governess market. Then Harry might go to sea for a year or two,—they were both so young,—and by that time things might look brighter, or the Genie relent. ...
— Bluebell - A Novel • Mrs. George Croft Huddleston

... that you should misunderstand me, that you should—I have been so wretched ever since you first began to blame me for my part in this, and so happy this past fortnight that I can't—I won't—go back to that state of things. No; you have no right to relent toward me, and then fling me off as you have tried to do to-night! I have some feeling too—some rights. You shall receive me as a friend, or not at all! How can I live ...
— Indian Summer • William D. Howells

... who went out. Herod was near enough to see this sight, and his bowels of compassion were moved at it, and he stretched out his right hand to the old man, and besought him to spare his children; yet did not he relent at all upon what he said, but over and above reproached Herod on the lowness of his descent, and slew his wife as well as his children; and when he had thrown their dead bodies down the precipice, he at last threw ...
— The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem • Flavius Josephus

... good deal. I have a very poor brain for business, and there is something in the ignoble vulgarity and coarseness of manner that I occasionally encounter that increases my inaptitude by the sort of dismay and disgust with which it fills me. If the person who has hired me does not relent about these charity representations, I shall be obliged to give them up, and then I shall act in Manchester at that time, instead of on the 25th and 27th of March, which had been before intended, but which I now think I should give to two representations in Chester on my way back ...
— Records of Later Life • Frances Anne Kemble

... was the wrath of the demi-god Maui at the fell intent of Kuna to drown his mother that he vowed never to relent in his search for the monster, and to ...
— Legends of Wailuku • Charlotte Hapai

... widow ascended she told herself that she had adopted entirely the right attitude. She might relent to-morrow, but till then it was well he should be deprived of the ...
— The Prodigal Father • J. Storer Clouston

... flow Saves every little twig, when the stout tree Is torn away and dies. The mariner Who will not ever slack the sheet that sways The vessel, but still tightens, oversets, And so, keel upward, ends his voyaging. Relent, I pray thee, and give place to change. If any judgement hath informed my youth, I grant it noblest to be always wise, But,—for omniscience is denied to man— Tis good to hearken ...
— The Seven Plays in English Verse • Sophocles

... gardens, lo desert, 26 All the townships destroyed, Before the face of the Lord, The glow of His wrath. [For thus hath the Lord said, 27 All the land shall be waste Yet full end I make not](215) For this let the Earth lament, 28 And black be Heaven above! I have spoken and will not relent, Purposed and turn ...
— Jeremiah • George Adam Smith

... for him, but he sincerely hoped that the officer would not change his mind or relent. He knew the youth could not possibly stay awake the ...
— The Brighton Boys in the Radio Service • James R. Driscoll

... praise they are chary, There is nothing much good upon earth; Their watchword is NIL ADMIRARI, They are bored from the days of their birth. Where the life that we led was a revel They 'wince and relent and refrain' — I could show them the road — to the devil, Were ...
— The Man from Snowy River • Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson

... man was like, so that he might be found and brought before him. Then the lady confessed that she had put the brooch in the turban, comforting herself with the thought that, when the king saw Putraka and knew that Patala loved him, he might perhaps relent ...
— Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit • S. M. Mitra and Nancy Bell

... refreshing glances at the garden and the sky, and much thankfulness in my heart. His struggles with devils amazed me; and I wondered whether such a day as that, full of grace and the forgiveness of sins, never struck him as something to make him relent even towards devils. He apparently never allowed himself just to be happy. He was a wonderful man, but I am glad I was ...
— Elizabeth and her German Garden • "Elizabeth", AKA Marie Annette Beauchamp

... goes, not to fret ourselves by vain exertions, it is no matter what his pace may be. There is little doubt of his getting home by sunset, and that will content us. He is, after all, a fine noble animal; and perhaps when he finds that we are determined to give him his way, he may relent and give us ours. All his sex are sticklers for dominion, though, when it is undisputed, some of them are generous enough to abandon it. Two or three of the most discreet wives of my acquaintance contrive to manage their husbands sufficiently with no better secret than this seeming submission; ...
— Our Village • Mary Russell Mitford

... Philippine interests, but they had remained in force only a short time when Congress passed the act of March 8, 1902, allowing goods grown or produced in the Philippines to enter the United States under a twenty-five per cent. reduction. In 1909, the tariff makers were induced to relent to the extent of allowing the free importation of goods grown, produced or manufactured in the Philippines, except that only a specified annual amount of Philippine sugar and tobacco might be brought in. In 1913 the wall was entirely removed on all ...
— The United States Since The Civil War • Charles Ramsdell Lingley

... permit him to doubt of it. He had kept her soul in suspense an hundred times.' Both men affected in turn by her noble behaviour, and great sentiments. Their pleas, prayers, prostrations, to move her to relent. ...
— Clarissa, Volume 5 (of 9) • Samuel Richardson

... be a bad plan," replied Gascoigne; "if it were possible that these fellows had any gratitude among them, some of them might relent at the idea of attacking those who ...
— Mr. Midshipman Easy • Captain Frederick Marryat

... To retribution—well-earned punishment. Thro' all our life there runs a Nemesis, Which may delay, but never will relent, And grants to none exception or release. Who wrongs the Ideal? Straight there rushes in The Press, its guardian with the Argus eye, And the ...
— Love's Comedy • Henrik Ibsen

... hundred a year from his father. She had no profound respect for that gentleman; but men are willful. Suppose he should take a whim to stop it? On the other side, she knew that Boniface Newt was an obstinate man, and that fathers were sometimes implacable. Sometimes, even, they did not relent in making their wills. She knew all about Miss Van Boozenberg's marriage with Tom Witchet, for it was no secret in society. Was it possible her darling Alfred might be in actual danger of such penury—at least until he came into his property? And what property ...
— Trumps • George William Curtis

... on me of late. If I could go with Hubert, you know what a friend and support I should have in him. I might remain in the colony two or three years, and then come back again, please God, a thoroughly sober man; and then perhaps dear Mary would relent, and give me back my old place in her ...
— Frank Oldfield - Lost and Found • T.P. Wilson

... ye faithful, To fight the good fight; Sing, O ye redeemed, Who walk in the light. Come low, O ye haughty, Come down, and repent. Disperse, O ye naughty, Who will not relent. ...
— The Communistic Societies of the United States • Charles Nordhoff

... rage the English now had breath'd, And their proud heartes gan somewhat to relent, Their bloody swords they quietly had sheath'd, And their strong bowes already were vnbent, To easefull rest their bodies they bequeath'd, Nor farther harme at all to you they ment, And to that paynes must yee them needsly putt, To draw ...
— The Battaile of Agincourt • Michael Drayton

... the end of his life, when he was suffering from increasing weakness, which would have made most men sympathetic, even if it did not induce them completely to relent, Shakespeare shows the same aversion to his poor wife. In 1613, when on a short visit to London, he bought a house in Blackfriars for L140; in the purchase he barred his wife's dower, which proceeding seems even to Dryasdust "pretty ...
— The Man Shakespeare • Frank Harris

... for that we do repent; And learning this, the bridegroom will relent. Too late, too late! ...
— The World's Best Poetry Volume IV. • Bliss Carman

... patron, wellwisher. V. pity; have pity, show pity, take pity &c n.; commiserate, compassionate; condole &c 915; sympathize; feel for, be sorry for, yearn for; weep, melt, thaw, enter into the feelings of. forbear, relent, relax, give quarter, wipe the tears, parcere subjectis [Lat.], give a coup de grace, put out of one's misery. raise pity, excite pity &c n.; touch, soften; melt, melt the heart; propitiate, disarm. ask for mercy &c v.; supplicate &c (request) 765; cry for quarter, beg one's life, kneel; ...
— Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget

... only genuine passion of his life; and when, as my husband's loyal wife, I repulsed the advances of his sovereign, that sovereign became my bitterest enemy. Not even after he had consoled himself with the insipid charms of that poor, flimsy creature, La Valliere, did Louis relent; his animosity, because of some witticism of mine on the subject of his hysterical mistress, has pursued me throughout life; not only me, but every member of my family. For a mere epigram I was banished from Paris, and your father stripped of a lucrative ...
— Prince Eugene and His Times • L. Muhlbach

... New York and Pennsylvania. Old jealousies were removed and perfect harmony subsisted between all." "The heart of the King was hardened against them like that of Pharaoh," and none believed he would relent. Union therefore was the cry; a union which should reach "from Florida to the icy plains" of Canada. "No time is to be lost," said the Boston press; "a congress or a meeting of the American States is indispensable; ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, v. 13 • Various

... palette and brushes into the fire. Of course, I declined to do such an act, whereupon he dismissed me from his presence for ever. This occurred on the morning of the day of the fire. I thought he might perhaps relent after such an evidence of the mutability of human affairs. I even ventured to remind him that Tooley Street was not made of asbestos, and that an occasional fire occurred there! But this made him worse than ever; so I went the length of saying that I would, at all events, ...
— Fighting the Flames • R.M. Ballantyne

... useless. Perhaps Mrs. Putnam might, recover, and if she did not provoke her too far she might relent some day and tell her what she knew about her parents; so she walked to the door and opened it. Then she turned and said, "Good-by, Mrs. Putnam, I truly hope that you ...
— Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason's Corner Folks - A Picture of New England Home Life • Charles Felton Pidgin

... "when you know how it exhilarates me to see you! Don't you think this room is very close? I must go and try another atmosphere,—But I hope you will relent, and dance?" ...
— Cecilia vol. 2 - Memoirs of an Heiress • Frances (Fanny) Burney (Madame d'Arblay)

... unlike the indulgent granny she had known before she went away, that Mona could not help opening her eyes wide in surprise. Then she sat up, and, as granny did not relent, she put her feet over the edge of the sofa and began to ...
— The Making of Mona • Mabel Quiller-Couch

... rights, enforced his parental powers to the full, and then restored me to my position as his son. Now it is iniquitous, I maintain, that fathers should have these unlimited penal powers, that disgrace should be multiplied, apprehension made perpetual, the law now chastize, now relent, now resume its severity, and justice be the shuttlecock of our fathers' caprices. It is quite proper for the law to humour, encourage, give effect to, one punitive impulse on the part of him who has begotten ...
— Works, V2 • Lucian of Samosata

... both dazed, horrified, and mortified. He took to leaving her alone as much as was possible. But when he had to come home, there was her terrible will, like a flat, cold snake coiled round his soul and squeezing him to death. Yes, she did not relent. She was a good wife and mother. All her duties she fulfilled. But she was not one to yield. He must yield. That was written in eternal letters, on the iron tablet of her will. He must yield. She the woman, the mother of his children, ...
— Aaron's Rod • D. H. Lawrence

... of fairness and amity for which, in his opinion, the railroads have of late been distinguished. He reasons that the law has fulfilled its mission, that the railroads have reformed, and that it now behooves the people to relent and to extend to the much persecuted corporations the hand of friendship and good will. The postprandial eloquence of this gentleman has often suavely intimated that the repeal of the Interstate Commerce Act would be the most opportune ...
— The Railroad Question - A historical and practical treatise on railroads, and - remedies for their abuses • William Larrabee

... inexorable, as women do just before they relent. Said she: "Oh, I don't know. By the time I get through trying to convince a bunch of customers that T. A. Buck's Featherloom Petticoat has every other skirt in the market looking like a piece of Fourth of July bunting that's been left ...
— Roast Beef, Medium • Edna Ferber

... the dull flame in a spire From a brass lamp before her—a faint hectic fire On her cheek, to her eyes lent the lustre of fever: They seem'd to have wept themselves wider than ever, Those dark eyes—so dark and so deep! "You relent? And your plans have been changed by the letter I sent?" There his voice sank, borne down by ...
— Lucile • Owen Meredith

... feather'd songster tunes his various lay: And while thy praise, they symphonize around, Creation ecchoes to the grateful sound. Wide o'er the heav'ns the various bow he bends. Its tincture brightens, and its arch extends: At the glad sign, aerial conduits flow, The hills relent, the meads rejoice below: By genial fervour, and prolific rain, Gay vegetation cloaths the fertile plain; Nature profusely good, with bliss o'er-flows, And still she's pregnant, tho' she still bestows: Here ...
— The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) - Vol. IV • Theophilus Cibber

... much tenderness in their laughter. "Oh, she's individual!" said Ludwell. "Even when you add the Cary, she'll be Unity Dandridge still. A year! Perhaps she may relent." ...
— Lewis Rand • Mary Johnston

... with Reese, his neighbor made a peremptory demand for the removal of the wall, or the payment of a heavy price for the ground. Here was misery for the miser. He writhed in mental agony, and begged for easier terms, but in vain. His neighbor would not relent. The business men of the vicinity rather enjoyed the situation, humorously watching the progress of the affair. It was a case of diamond cut diamond, both parties bearing the reputation of being hard men to deal with. A day was fixed for Reese to give a definite ...
— California Sketches, Second Series • O. P. Fitzgerald

... of pork about four pounds weight; and even the possession of this morsel raised our drooping spirits. It would at least prolong existence a few hours, and in that interval, the gale might abate, some friendly sail heave in sight, and the elements relent. Such were our reflections. Oh, how our eye-balls strained, as, emerging from the trough of the sea on the crest of a liquid mountain, we gazed on the misty horizon, until, from time to time, we fancied, nay, felt assured, we saw the object of ...
— Thrilling Stories Of The Ocean • Marmaduke Park

... children and sentenced them all to death, although his daughter-in-law fell at his feet and implored him to have mercy upon her little ones, even if he would not spare her. The king, however, would not relent, and signalled to the courtiers to stab ...
— The Book of the Epic • Helene A. Guerber

... laughter, who grew Without wishing to grow, a servant to my own body; Loved without reason the laughter and flesh of a woman, Enduring such torments to find her! I who at last Grow weaker, struggle more feebly, relent in my purpose, Choose for my triumph an easier end, look backward At earlier conquests; or, caught in the web, cry out In a sudden and empty despair, "Tetelestai!" Pity me, now! I, who was arrogant, beg you! Tell ...
— American Poetry, 1922 - A Miscellany • Edna St. Vincent Millay

... inhumanity of this action moved me very much, and made me relent exceedingly, and tears stood in my eyes upon that subject; but with all my sense of its being cruel and inhuman, I could never find in my heart to make any restitution. The reflection wore off, and I began quickly to forget ...
— The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders &c. • Daniel Defoe

... was like a singing bird in the heart of the wilderness. She lived apart in a paradise of her own, and even the colonel had to relent again and bestow ...
— The Safety Curtain, and Other Stories • Ethel M. Dell

... opportunity of consulting me on the chances for Frith, telling of the original offer, and the quiet constancy of his friend, and asking whether I thought Emily would relent. And I answered that I suspected that she would,—'But you ...
— Chantry House • Charlotte M. Yonge

... bond. I will not hear thee speak; I'll have my bond; and therefore speak no more. I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool, To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield To Christian intercessors. Follow not; I'll have no speaking; I will have ...
— The Merchant of Venice • William Shakespeare [Craig, Oxford edition]

... you marry him if you like him so?" Mr. Bows said, rather savagely. "He is not more than ten years younger than you are. His mother may relent, and you might go and live and have enough at Fairoaks Park. Why not go and be a lady? I could go on with the fiddle, and the General live on his half-pay. Why don't you marry him? You know ...
— The History of Pendennis • William Makepeace Thackeray

... failed in her subtleties, and there had followed scenes of bitter strife between the two. Sylvia, the cunning huntress, having pretended to relent, van Tuiver had gone South to his wooing again, while Claire had stayed at home and read a book about the poisoners of the Italian renaissance. And then had come the announcement of the engagement, after which ...
— Sylvia's Marriage • Upton Sinclair

... off. Not too long, for he was not sufficiently bound to her to be safe from forgetting, but just long enough to whet his eagerness. Her former experience in such matters had taught her to expect that he would probably call her up and beg to see her sooner, when she might relent if he was humble enough. And she had not misjudged him. He was looking forward to Thursday as a bright, particular goal, planning what he would say to her, wondering if his heart would bound as it had when she ...
— The Witness • Grace Livingston Hill Lutz

... big, but over-furnished. Chelsea would have moaned aloud. Mr. Wilcox had eschewed those decorative schemes that wince, and relent, and refrain, and achieve beauty by sacrificing comfort and pluck. After so much self-colour and self-denial, Margaret viewed with relief the sumptuous dado, the frieze, the gilded wall-paper, amid whose foliage parrots sang. It would never do with her own furniture, but those heavy chairs, that ...
— Howards End • E. M. Forster

... and off to her room, to overlook, for the dozenth time, her little collection of trinkets, and to sing blithely over her dresses; for she did possess the spirit of coming down cheerfully to any thing inevitable excepting work, and then, perhaps, mama would relent at the final moment, when she saw how much a black dress was ...
— Six Girls - A Home Story • Fannie Belle Irving

... characteristic production. It deals with an old legend of the love of a sorcerer for a maiden. The sorcerer is rejected, and in revenge he deprives the town in which the maiden lives of fire and light. The townspeople press the maiden to relent, and her yielding is signalised by a sudden blaze of splendour. Strauss's score shows to the full the amazing command of polyphony and the bewildering richness and variety of orchestration which have made his name famous. The plot of 'Feuersnoth,' however, was against it, and it does not seem ...
— The Opera - A Sketch of the Development of Opera. With full Descriptions - of all Works in the Modern Repertory • R.A. Streatfeild

... received, but as his own, with a free intellectual assent. He went on to ask him by what texts he proved the Protestant doctrine of justification. Charles gave two or three of the usual passages with such success, that the Vice-Principal was secretly beginning to relent, when, unhappily, on asking a last question as a matter of course, he received an answer which confirmed all ...
— Loss and Gain - The Story of a Convert • John Henry Newman

... feelings. Guert was near me at the time, and heard what the young negress said; this induced him to inquire if there was no message for himself; but, even at that serious moment, Mary Wallace did not relent. She had been kinder than common in manner, the previous night, as the Albanian had admitted; but, at the same time, she had appeared to distrust her own resolution so much, as even to give less direct encouragement than had actually ...
— Satanstoe • James Fenimore Cooper

... earn his own livelihood the future would be comparatively clear. If this were impossible, his best hope was to wait, secure in Mildred's faith, for the chances of the future, believing that his father might relent if his mother would not. For this event, however, the outlook was unpromising. Mr. Arnold was incensed by his wife's fuller account of his son's behavior, and the proof she had obtained, in spite of his precautions, that he was in frequent ...
— Without a Home • E. P. Roe

... overcome them, and on Christmas Eve, 1554, succeeded in capturing a large number of the offenders, and, there and then, some hundred or so of the robbers were hung. Tradition says that a mother begged hard for the life of a young son, who was to be destroyed, but Baron Owen would not relent. On perceiving that her request was unheeded, baring her breast ...
— Welsh Folk-Lore - a Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales • Elias Owen

... said the stranger, "till you say aye to me. Do to me as you would have me do to you in the like case. For YOU too have a boy, Captain Ahab—though but a child, and nestling safely at home now—a child of your old age too—Yes, yes, you relent; I see it—run, run, men, now, and stand by to ...
— Moby Dick; or The Whale • Herman Melville

... be calm; there is no need to fret. I can support myself without his aid; indeed I can; and perhaps he may relent when he gets sane, for he was like a madman at my coming to Crompton. Mr. Whymper will do all he can, I am sure. How cruel it was of me to heed your words, and tell you—Look to him, warder, look to ...
— Bred in the Bone • James Payn

... Some day you will kill this boy, and some one else will murder you." There were some who believed that Tiberius deliberately cherished the intention of allowing Caius to succeed him, in order that the Roman world might relent towards his own memory under the tyranny of a worse monster than himself. Even the Romans, who looked up to the family of Germanicus with extraordinary affection, seem early to have lost all hopes about Caius. They looked for little improvement under the ...
— Seekers after God • Frederic William Farrar

... D'Artagnan, as if to sum up in a word all that conversation, "if only his eminence would relent and grant to Monsieur de ...
— Twenty Years After • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... sheep-bell sooth'd his listening ear, And the big rain-drops told the tempest near; Then did his horse the homeward track descry, [s] The track that shunn'd his sad, inquiring eye; And win each wavering purpose to relent, With warmth so mild, so gently violent, That his charm'd hand the careless rein resign'd, And doubts and terrors vanish'd from his mind. Recall the traveller, whose alter'd form Has borne the buffet of the mountain-storm; ...
— Poems • Samuel Rogers

... Arreoy, in which every woman is common to every man; and when any of these women happens to have a child, it is smothered in the moment of its birth, that it may not interrupt the pleasures of its infamous mother; but in this juncture, should nature relent at so horrid a deed, even then the mother is not allowed to save her child, unless she can find a man who will patronise it as a father; in which case, the man is considered as having appropriated the ...
— Sketches of the Fair Sex, in All Parts of the World • Anonymous

... patricians looking upon him as a deserter from their party, brought up charges against him, and though he showed the marks of distinction that he had won in battles for the country, and gained temporary respite from their enmity, they did not relent until his condemnation had been secured. He was hurled from the fatal Tarpeian Rock, and his house was razed to the ground ...
— The Story of Rome From the Earliest Times to the End of the Republic • Arthur Gilman

... the resolution of Polly's face when she said that; for she knew her weakness, and beyond that black silk she had determined not to go. Fanny said no more, for she felt quite sure that Polly would relent when the time came, and she planned to give her a pretty dress for a Christmas present, so that one excuse ...
— An Old-fashioned Girl • Louisa May Alcott

... a little stunned by this way of asking it. For a moment, looking at the entreating face of the boy, he began to feel a disposition to relent a little. This was new and strange for him. To pay twenty-five dollars that he was not obliged by any self-interest to pay, would have been an act contrary to all his habits and to all the business maxims in which he had schooled himself. Nevertheless, he fingered ...
— The Hoosier School-boy • Edward Eggleston

... hard for Ralph to believe in any heroic or unselfish conduct on the part of Simon Craft; but as he felt the force of the story, and thought of the horrors of a death by fire, he began to relent toward the old man, and was ready to condone the harsh treatment that he had suffered at ...
— Burnham Breaker • Homer Greene

... power had him arrested and tried for treason. His condemnation was to be expected, but deep was the emotion and surprise among the colonists when they learned that it was to be followed by the immediate death of the unfortunate soldier. No entreaties, however, could induce the governor to relent. He had his victim now in his power and he ...
— The American Quarterly Review, No. 17, March 1831 • Various

... understand," cried the poor lady, in despair. "It is something about a bill—it was something about a bill before; and I thought I could soften papa, and persuade him to be merciful; but it has all turned to greater wretchedness and misery. The first one was paid, you know, and I thought papa might relent;—but—don't cast us off, Mr Wentworth—don't go and denounce him; you might, but you will not. It would be justice, I acknowledge," cried the weeping woman; "but there is something higher than justice even in this world. You are younger than I am, and so is Lucy; but you are better than me, you ...
— The Perpetual Curate • Mrs [Margaret] Oliphant

... miserable! which way shall I fly Infinite wrath and infinite despair? Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell; And, in the lowest deep, a lower deep Still threat'ning to devour me opens wide, To which the hell I suffer seems a heaven. O then at last relent: Is there no place Left for repentance, none for pardon left? None left but by submission; and that word Disdain forbids me, and my dread of shame Among the spirits beneath, whom I seduced With other promises and other vaunts Than to submit, boasting I could subdue The Omnipotent. Ah me! ...
— The Universal Reciter - 81 Choice Pieces of Rare Poetical Gems • Various

... reasons, and you must not be seen to go with me; I shall write from thence to my father; perhaps, when he finds what he has driven me to, he may relent. ...
— The Duenna • Richard Brinsley Sheridan

... buckles; but when one of them perceiving a ring of some value upon his finger, went to tear it off, he begged him in the most moving terms to leave it, because it had been given to him by his lady, who would never forgive the loss of it. However it happened, he who first went to take it off, seemed to relent at the fellow's repeated entreaties, but Wilson catching hold of the fellow's hand, dragged it off at once, saying at the same time, Sirrah, I suppose you are your lady's stallion, and the ring comes as honestly to us as it did ...
— Lives Of The Most Remarkable Criminals Who have been Condemned and Executed for Murder, the Highway, Housebreaking, Street Robberies, Coining or other offences • Arthur L. Hayward

... first stone at a husband, who, in the heat of just resentment, sacrifices his faithless wife and her perfidious seducer? or at the young maiden, who, in her weak hour of rapture, forgets herself in the impetuous joys of love? Even our laws, cold and cruel as they are, relent in such cases, and withhold ...
— The Sorrows of Young Werther • J.W. von Goethe

... "You had disagreed. Abbott probably hoped that you would relent, so he waited for a few minutes. Brian Sotherst, who had escaped from his engagement in time, he thought, to come and wish you good night, must have walked in and found him there. By the bye, how ...
— Peter Ruff and the Double Four • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... kneels, and raises her hands to Pauline's corsage.) Behold me at your feet, acknowledging you my rival! Is this sufficient humiliation for me? Oh, if you only knew what this costs a woman to undergo! Relent! Relent, and save me. (A loud knocking is heard, she takes advantage of Pauline's confusion to feel for the letters.) Give back my life to me! (Aside) ...
— The Stepmother, A Drama in Five Acts • Honore De Balzac

... of him appeased their fury, though it had risen to a great height. For they persisted in it, until they observed that he was sent away to a neighbouring city [389], to secure him against all danger. Then, at last, they began to relent, and, stopping the chariot in which he was conveyed, earnestly deprecated the odium to which such a proceeding ...
— The Lives Of The Twelve Caesars, Complete - To Which Are Added, His Lives Of The Grammarians, Rhetoricians, And Poets • C. Suetonius Tranquillus

... Suppose a political insurgent, formidable for station and wealth, had been proscribed, much interest made on his behalf, a powerful party striving against it, and just when the minister is disposed to relent, he hears that the heiress to this wealth and this station is married to the native of a country in which sentiments friendly to the very opinions for which the insurgent was proscribed are popularly entertained, and thus that the fortune to be restored may be so ...
— The International Monthly, Volume 5, No. 3, March, 1852 • Various

... Raphael, turning towards Saul, who sat alone and motionless, "Father! why do you not command him to humble himself? Bring him to reason; tell him to give up the writing to us, and we will carry it to the Rabbi and ask him to relent!" ...
— An Obscure Apostle - A Dramatic Story • Eliza Orzeszko

... produced a brief hope that the pope would relent. But the partial promise of reconsidering his resolution had been extorted from Paul, while it was uncertain whether England would actually join in the conflict; the intended declaration of war had in the interval become a reality, ...
— The Reign of Mary Tudor • James Anthony Froude

... he realized that political reasons might counsel at times an abatement of rigour. He could relent and show mercy. He could interpose his authority in favour ...
— South Wind • Norman Douglas

... parental sky the eye of Fortune can discern the coming storm, and she laughs as she places her favourites it may be in a London alley or those whom she is resolved to ruin in kings' palaces. Seldom does she relent towards those whom she has suckled unkindly and seldom does she ...
— The Way of All Flesh • Samuel Butler

... The professor, alarmed, asked if he meant to rob or murder him. The patient, however, said he merely wished him to listen to his case, which he had better submit to, or he would keep him a prisoner till he chose to relent. The patient and the surgeon afterwards became most friendly towards each other, although a great many oaths passed before peace was established ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 17, - Issue 493, June 11, 1831 • Various

... Woodstreet, &c.? The former mode seems a sad superstitious subdivision of labour. Well! the "Man of Ross" is to stand; Longman begs for it; the printer stands with a wet sheet in one hand and a useless Pica in the other, in tears, pleading for it; I relent. Besides, it was a Salutation poem, and has the mark of the beast "Tobacco" upon it. Thus much I have done; I have swept off the lines about widows and orphans in second edition, which (if you remember) you most awkwardly and ...
— The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, Vol. 5 • Edited by E. V. Lucas

... strongly against his sister's marriage to Mr. Richards. He expected that he would inherit, as a result, her share of his father's estate, as well as his own. But his plans miscarried. Mrs. Richards and her husband had disappeared before her father's death, and, when he softened and was inclined to relent, he could not find them. But he knew they had a daughter, and he left to her his daughter's share of his fortune—over a million dollars. There was no trace of the child, however, and so there was a provision in the will that ...
— A Campfire Girl's Happiness • Jane L. Stewart

... not forget this wound to our country or those who inflicted it. I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security ...
— Complete State of the Union Addresses from 1790 to the Present • Various

... family, in his fortune and abilities; in his public conduct, he and he alone among Ministers was sensible to the reproaches of remorse; and he cherished the sweet feelings of human kindness. Appalled at the prospect, he wished to resign. But the King would neither give him release, nor relent towards the Americans. How to subdue the rebels was the subject of consideration." (Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. VII., Chap, xxxiii, ...
— The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 1 of 2 - From 1620-1816 • Egerton Ryerson

... a dozen and laid the rest down before Mr. Davis, feeling that any man possessing a human heart would relent when that delicious perfume met his nose. Unfortunately, Mr. Davis particularly detested the odor of the fashionable pickle, and disgust added to ...
— Little Women • Louisa May Alcott

... said Snac, bending his knees to make the tight embraces of his cords endurable. "Thee wast by when my feyther gi'en me the farewell shillin'. Very well. I'd got nothin' i' the world, and he knowed it. After a bit he begun to relent a bit, though nobody 'd iver had expected sich a thing. But so it was. He took to sendin' me a sov a week, onbeknownst to anybody, and most of all to mother. Well, mother sends me a sov a week from the beginning unbeknownst to anybody, ...
— Aunt Rachel • David Christie Murray

... his distressed countrymen, and peremptorily refused to grant them any assistance, and King Boy was with difficulty prevailed upon to bring John Lander to the brig, Richard trusting that the hard-hearted captain would by that time relent. Both brothers were now on board, and were employing all the means in their power to induce Lake to consent to the arrangement; but in place of doing so, he set sail, leaving King Boy to exclaim against what he no doubt considered the treachery of the travellers. The British Government, however, ...
— Life and Travels of Mungo Park in Central Africa • Mungo Park

... properly talked to by one of her own sex, she might see, as perhaps she did not now see, how cruel was her line of conduct toward him, and might be persuaded to relent, at least enough to allow his voice to reach her; and that was all he asked for. He had not the slightest doubt that the widow Keswick would gladly consent to carry any message he chose to send to Miss March, and, more than that, ...
— The Late Mrs. Null • Frank Richard Stockton

... side, and raising his hand within her own, besought him to look kindly upon her again, to smile on her as he used to do. It was a gentle, confiding and entreating appeal, and for a moment the stern features of the monarch did relent, but it was for an instant only his thoughts troubled him, and he was ill ...
— The Circassian Slave; or, The Sultan's Favorite - A Story of Constantinople and the Caucasus • Lieutenant Maturin Murray

... to the day of their expected execution, I went to the General's room and implored him to relent ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. XII. July, 1863, No. LXIX. - A Magazine Of Literature, Art, And Politics • Various

... speech they had, Made murderous hearts relent, And they that took to do the deed. Full ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No 3, September, 1862 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy. • Various

... aware without looking up that her tormentor had taken away his malignant presence. This was at first a relief, but as the hours passed an acute fear seized her. Had he left her alone to die? In spite of her knowledge of the man, she had clung to the hope that he would relent. ...
— The Sheriff's Son • William MacLeod Raine

... reality, had given him no just cause to complain. He knew that no ordinary motive had swayed him to a condescension so extraordinary in a man of his punctilious temper. He considered it, therefore, as the genuine effect of eager gratitude and disinterested love, and his heart began to relent accordingly. When he heard himself conjured in the name of the gentle Sophy, his obstinacy was quite overcome; and when Emilia was recalled to his remembrance, his whole frame underwent a violent agitation. He took his friend by the hand, with a softened look; ...
— The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Volume I • Tobias Smollett

... spades He kiss'd the maids, Which vex'd the queen full sore; The queen of spades She beat those maids And turn'd them out of door; The knave of spades Grieved for those jades, And did for them implore; The queen so gent, She did relent, And vow'd ...
— Harry's Ladder to Learning - Horn-Book, Picture-Book, Nursery Songs, Nursery Tales, - Harry's Simple Stories, Country Walks • Anonymous

... waiting-gentlewoman had duly weighed the whole matter, and found, on mature deliberation, that a good place in possession was better than one in expectation. As she found her mistress, therefore, inclined to relent, she thought proper also to put on some small condescension, which was as readily accepted; and so the affair was reconciled, all offences forgiven, and a present of a gown and petticoat made her, as an instance ...
— Joseph Andrews Vol. 1 • Henry Fielding

... is it now?" asked the mother crossly, for, though she liked nothing better than to sit and praise Rachel by the hour, she always kept her belligerent attitude toward her family, as if afraid she might relent too much if she once ...
— Joyce's Investments - A Story for Girls • Fannie E. Newberry

... seized by the collar, and was being dragged roughly enough out of the state-room, when Rudd, pretending to relent, called out— ...
— The Voyage of the Aurora • Harry Collingwood

... instant no one replied. Ned was bent on making another appeal, and was thinking how he could best word it. The chances were that a little persuasion would have induced the farmer to relent, and permit the boys to remain where they were ...
— Canoe Boys and Campfires - Adventures on Winding Waters • William Murray Graydon

... speech they had Made Murder's heart relent; And they that undertook the deed Full sore now did repent. Yet one of them, more hard of heart, Did vow to do his charge, Because the wretch that hired him Had paid ...
— English Fairy Tales • Flora Annie Steel

... saddle leather. His soft hands were cut by the reins, he was sore from the tips of his fingers to the soles of his feet. But as each fresh temptation assailed him a glance at Conniston, riding a few paces ahead, made him pull himself together. For some day the old man would relent, and then Roger Hapgood would see that for every agonized mile now he would be ...
— Under Handicap - A Novel • Jackson Gregory

... who caused your proud heart to relent, And the hasty word spoken so soon to repent? 'Twas the Being who made you steal softly upstairs, And made you His agent to ...
— Poems Teachers Ask For, Book Two • Various

... to come, yea, nigh at hand—(how long first do you reckon?)—when the Journal and its junto shall say, I have appeared too early." "Their infamy shall be laid bare to the public gaze." Suddenly the General appears to relent at the severity with which he is treating us and he exclaims: "The condemnation of my enemies is the inevitable result of my own defense." For your health's sake, dear Gen., do not permit your tenderness of heart to afflict you so much on our account. For some reason (perhaps because ...
— The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Complete - Constitutional Edition • Abraham Lincoln

... paper daily to the Tuileries. Instead of receiving the thanks and praises which he expected, he was drily told that the great man had ordered five copies to be sent back. Still he toiled on; still he cherished a hope that at last Napoleon would relent, and that at last some share in the honours of the state would reward so much assiduity and so much obsequiousness. He was bitterly undeceived. Under the Imperial constitution the electoral colleges of the departments did not possess the right of choosing senators or deputies, but ...
— The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 2 (of 4) - Contributions To The Edinburgh Review • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... relent? Did he hasten to the prison, and beg his prisoner to come forth? Ah, no: the petition was received, flung aside, and forgotten; and Pietro Leoni continued to lie in the dungeons of St Angelo till death came to the Vatican, and Gregory went ...
— Pilgrimage from the Alps to the Tiber - Or The Influence of Romanism on Trade, Justice, and Knowledge • James Aitken Wylie

... sent the first little note to me, begging me to ask Ela to grant him an interview. I asked her, but she refused in scorn; and when I carried him her refusal, he sent her this note of love and reproach. He also told me he would stay in the neighborhood several days, hoping she would relent. That is the true story, and if you wish to verify it, Love, you can easily find Mr. Ashley at Caldwell Station, and he will ...
— Dainty's Cruel Rivals - The Fatal Birthday • Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller

... the king's lodge it was evening. Carefully approaching, he peeped through the sides, and saw his daughter sitting disconsolate. She immediately caught his eye, and knowing that it was her father come for her, she all at once appeared to relent in her heart, and, asking for the royal dipper, said to the king, "I will go and get you a drink ...
— The Indian Fairy Book - From the Original Legends • Cornelius Mathews

... whether I did ever look upon Deb., which I could not but do now and then (and to my grief did see the poor wretch look on me and see me look on her, and then let drop a tear or two, which do make my heart relent at this minute that I am writing this with great trouble of mind, for she is indeed my sacrifice, poor girle); and my wife did tell me in bed by the by of my looking on other people, and that the only way is to put things out of sight, and this I know ...
— Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete • Samuel Pepys

... of her treatment upon these culprits, Rose felt that she might relent and allow them a gleam of hope. She found it impossible to help trampling upon the prostrate Prince a little, in words at least, for he had hurt her feelings oftener than he knew; so she gave him a thimble-pie on the top of his ...
— Eight Cousins • Louisa M. Alcott

... glorious fault! Oh! fair defect!—Oh! weakness Passing all strength! If to forgive be sin, How deeply then must Heaven have sinned to man! Oh! be thy faults like Heaven's! Relent, my father! Pardon—! ...
— The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 5, May 1810 • Various

... so worked on his feelings as to make him promise to temper justice with mercy; but afterwards fresh accounts of the murder, together with the representations of his courtier Rufinus, made him resolve not to relent, and he sent off messengers commanding that there should be a general slaughter of all the race-going Thessalonicans, since all were equally guilty of Botheric's death. He took care that his horrible command should be kept a secret from Ambrose, and the first that the Bishop ...
— A Book of Golden Deeds • Charlotte M. Yonge

... deck, and would occasionally stop and speak to one of the boys, hoping they had given us enough and would relent, but all the way to La Crosse not one of them would speak to us, and when the boat arrived at the landing Root handed us a quarter, in the presence of the passengers, and asked if we wouldn't help Mike Doyle, the cook, ...
— Peck's Sunshine - Being a Collection of Articles Written for Peck's Sun, - Milwaukee, Wis. - 1882 • George W. Peck

... servant enters with one of the biggest trays in the world, and upon it a "Wooden Key gilt, about an ell long;" this gigantic implement is solemnly hung round the repentant Kammerherr; this he shall wear publicly as penance, and be upon his behavior, till the royal mind can relent. Figure the poor blockhead till that happen! "On recovering his metal key, he goes to a smith, and has it fixed on ...
— History Of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Volume V. (of XXI.) • Thomas Carlyle

... he hadn't the heart. 'Indeed,' I said, 'she did so, and I feared he would think I made but a poor show in comparison.' Wasn't it cruel of me now, and the poor thing looking at me speechless, with those lovely, humbugging eyes! I had to turn away and laugh in a corner, but I wouldn't relent, for, says I to myself, if I have to give up my run, I'll get some fun another way—and it is amusing, isn't it now, when a man shows you so plainly that he ...
— Pixie O'Shaughnessy • Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

... not the conquest in this our philosophy." If he contend with thee, submit thyself unto him first, yield to him. Durum et durum non faciunt murum, as the diverb is, two refractory spirits will never agree, the only means to overcome is to relent, obsequio vinces. Euclid in Plutarch, when his brother had angered him, swore he would be revenged; but he gently replied, [3980]"Let me not live if I do not make thee to love me again," upon which ...
— The Anatomy of Melancholy • Democritus Junior

... and he took the job. He thought she'd relent after the first week or two, but she didn't. He just kept that place for over fifteen months, and learnt the business. In the house he was James the boots, and she Mrs. Wrench the landlady, and she saw to ...
— The Observations of Henry • Jerome K. Jerome

... guilty. He surveyed us in silence a little while, and then he said, 'My young friends, you have played your little game pretty well, especially you, Zoe, that are a novice in the fine arts compared with Miss Dover.' Histrionic talent ought to be rewarded; he would relent, and take us abroad, on one condition: there must be a chaperone. 'All the better,' said we ...
— The Woman-Hater • Charles Reade

... thought over matters at night, and communicated to Rawdon the result of her determinations. He agreed, of course, to everything; was quite sure that it was all right: that what she proposed was best; that Miss Crawley would infallibly relent, or "come round," as he said, after a time. Had Rebecca's resolutions been entirely different, he would have followed them as implicitly. "You have head enough for both of us, Beck," said he. "You're sure to get us out of the scrape. I never saw your equal, and I've met with some clippers ...
— Vanity Fair • William Makepeace Thackeray

... eke there came from out the farthest Britains bent, Which brideled hath the Scots so sterne: and marks with iron brent Vpon their liuelesse lims dooth read, whiles Picts their liues relent. ...
— Chronicles (1 of 6): The Historie of England (4 of 8) - The Fovrth Booke Of The Historie Of England • Raphael Holinshed

... ordered to bury the Russian dead, threw the wounded men also belonging to that nation into the graves dug for the dead, to be thus buried alive, and hastily filled them up with earth, as if fearful that they might relent, did they give themselves time for reflection? These are not exaggerations; they are given by an author celebrated for his impartiality and deep research and who was an eye-witness of many of these proceedings; I mean Archenholz ...
— After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819 • Major W. E Frye

... this dreadful trade. As the son of the rich Don Jose, no one dare scorn you. My father will relent. I am ...
— Two Men of Sandy Bar - A Drama • Bret Harte

... there was a talk of it at Castle Brady, after your attack upon Quin this afternoon, and he vowed that he would cut you in pieces: but the tears and supplications of Miss Honoria induced him, though very unwillingly, to relent. Now, however, matters have gone too far. No officer, bearing His Majesty's commission, can receive a glass of wine on his nose—this claret of yours is very good, by the way, and by your leave we'll ring for another bottle—without resenting the affront. Fight you must; and ...
— Barry Lyndon • William Makepeace Thackeray

... of his affairs was well known to all. Of a sudden the prince quitted the capital, as if for the purpose of arranging his affairs, and after a short interval reappeared, surrounded with luxury and splendour. Brilliant balls and parties made him known at court. The lady's father began to relent, and the wedding took place. Whence this change in circumstances, this unheard-of-wealth, came, no one could fully explain; but it was whispered that he had entered into a compact with the mysterious usurer, and had borrowed money of him. However that ...
— Taras Bulba and Other Tales • Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

... as well as his manner of life, caused him at his death to be denied burial in consecrated ground. The ecclesiastical authorities were, however, induced to relent in their plan of excommunication at the dictates of a passage from the poet's writings, which was come upon by opening the book at random. The passage ran as follows: "Turn not thy feet from the bier of Hafiz, for though immersed in sin, he will be admitted into Paradise." And so he rests ...
— Persian Literature, Volume 1,Comprising The Shah Nameh, The - Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan • Anonymous

... reserved for the decision of the Holy See. When the case was opened at the Rota in the same month an excusator appeared to plead, but as he had no formal authority from the king he was not admitted. The case, however, was postponed from time to time in the hope that Henry might relent. In the meantime at the king's suggestion several deputations waited upon Catharine to induce her to recall her appeal to Rome. Annoyed by her obstinacy Henry sent her away from court, and separated from her her daughter. After November 1531, the king and queen ...
— History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance • Rev. James MacCaffrey

... I fancy not; methinks my Heart has laid up a Stock will last for Life; to back which, I have taken a Thousand Pound upon my Uncle's Estate; that surely will support us, till one of our Fathers relent. ...
— The Busie Body • Susanna Centlivre

... if he had been struck, and quickly put his arms across his eyes. In a moment his shoulders were heaving. At last I had found a vulnerable spot in the stoic, and I began to relent. ...
— Our Next-Door Neighbors • Belle Kanaris Maniates

... Should I in pity of thy plaints or thee, Accursed Barabas, base Jew, relent? No, thus I'll see thy treachery repaid, But wish thou hadst behav'd ...
— The Jew of Malta • Christopher Marlowe

... powerless to attract the American art pilgrim, though that is due more to the difficulty of obtaining permission to reside than to lack of interest in the collections. Possibly next year the police may relent. The food shortage is not so menacing. Moreover, the village of Ober-Ammergau proposes once more to have its religious fete and stage the "Life of Christ." "Whether we can have the play depends almost entirely on the Americans," say the villagers. "The money of ...
— Europe—Whither Bound? - Being Letters of Travel from the Capitals of Europe in the Year 1921 • Stephen Graham

... Peers with their wands. Peers kneel as begging for merry. Phyllis implores Strephon to relent. He casts her from him, and she falls fainting into the arms of ...
— The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan - The 14 Gilbert And Sullivan Plays • William Schwenk Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan

... yelling horribly. After running a full mile the poor little Italian, out of breath and frightened nearly to death, dropped on his knees and begged for his life. The 'Indian' leveled his gun at his victim, but soon seemed to relent, and signified that Vivalla should turn his pockets inside out—which he did, producing and handing over a purse containing eleven dollars. The savage then marched Vivalla to an oak, and with a handkerchief tied him in the most approved ...
— A Unique Story of a Marvellous Career. Life of Hon. Phineas T. • Joel Benton



Words linked to "Relent" :   soften, yield



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