"Importune" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... England. The ladies at Otaheite, after they had pretty well stripped their lovers of shirts, found a method of clothing themselves with their own cloth. It was their custom to go on shore every morning, and to return on board in the evening, generally clad in rags. This furnished a pretence to importune the lover for better clothes; and when he had no more of his own, he was to dress them in new cloth of the country, which they always left ashore; and appearing again in rags, they must again be clothed. So that the same suit might ...
— A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World, Volume 1 • James Cook
... impedir. imponer, (see poner), to impose, lay upon. importacion, f., import. importancia, f., importance. importante, important. importar, to import; be of importance; no me importa, I do not care. importunar, to importune, bother. impregnar, to impregnate, saturate. impresion, f., impression. imprudencia, f., imprudence. impuesto, m., tax. impuso, past abs. of imponer. inaugurar, to inaugurate, open. incluido,-a, included; inclusive. incluir, ...
— A First Spanish Reader • Erwin W. Roessler and Alfred Remy
... tout a l'heure; il faut ajouter maintenant: tout n'est que relation. Verite importune pour l'homme qui, dans le fatal courant ou il est plonge, voudrait trouver un point fixe s'arreter un instant, se faire illusion sur la vanite des choses! Verite feconde pour la science qui lui doit une intelligence nouvelle de la realite, une intuition ...
— History of Free Thought in Reference to The Christian Religion • Adam Storey Farrar
... n. fo'lium, a leaf); portman'teau (Fr. n. manteau, a cloak); importune' (Lat. adj. importu'nus, unseasonable); import'unate; importu'nity; op'portune (Lat. adj. opportu'nus, literally, at or before the port or ...
— New Word-Analysis - Or, School Etymology of English Derivative Words • William Swinton
... have oftenest something of the ghost in them; and are importune to human nature, longing for the Events themselves; all the more if they have proved abortional Treaties, and become doubly ghost-like or ghastly. Nevertheless the reader is to note well this Treaty of Warsaw, as important to Friedrich and ...
— History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XV. (of XXI.) • Thomas Carlyle
... Montreal presided, not more as a general than a statesman. Such knowledge was invaluable to the chief of the Great Company. It enabled him to calculate exactly the time to attack a foe, and the sum to demand for a suppression of hostilities. He knew what parties to deal with—where to importune—where to forbear. And it usually happened that, by some secret intrigue, the appearance of Montreal's banner before the walls of a city was the signal for some sedition or some broil within. It may be that he thus also promoted an ulterior, as well ...
— Rienzi • Edward Bulwer Lytton
... as commissioner for the church, the duties of which he discharged with great prudence and advantage, and the very next year, he was, by the commission of the general assembly, authorized to go with lord Loudon, Warriston and Barclay, to the king, to importune him to call his English parliament, as the only and best expedient to obtain an honourable and lasting peace; but his embassy ...
— Biographia Scoticana (Scots Worthies) • John Howie
... replied Mr. Paulding, "are never common beggars—never those who solicit in the street or importune from house to house. They try always to help themselves, and ask for aid only when in great extremity. They rarely force themselves on your attention; they suffer and die often in dumb despair. We find them in these dreary and desolate cellars and garrets, sick and starving and ...
— Cast Adrift • T. S. Arthur
... than true." Shortly after this, she appears to have treated the poor divine with a species of sweetness and attention, which gave him greater embarrassment than her former violence. She used to break in upon him at his studies to importune him to come downstairs, and thus advantaged doubtless the kingdom of Satan by the interruption of his pursuits. At length the Goodwins were, or appeared to be, cured. But the example had been given and caught, and the blood of poor Dame Glover, which had been the introduction ...
— Letters On Demonology And Witchcraft • Sir Walter Scott
... himself propose and support another candidate with the whole weight of his interest. The threat was galling. It was insinuated first to the aunt; and, when Hector was informed of it, he affected to vapour and treat it with defiance; but, on better consideration, he and the aunt thought proper to importune Olivia, hoping they should oblige her to comply. Threats and intreaties alike were vain. Her resolution was not to be shaken; and the Earl more openly declared that, if she should think proper to persist, he would beggar himself rather than Hector should ...
— The Adventures of Hugh Trevor • Thomas Holcroft
... inhabited: he becomes a bare vital principle, not to be perceived by human senses, nor appreciated by any chemical test. He has but one instinct, which is that he is to go to such and such a place, where he will find two persons whom he is to importune till they consent to undertake him; but whether he is to find these persons among the race of Chowbok or the Erewhonians themselves is ...
— Selections from Previous Works - and Remarks on Romanes' Mental Evolution in Animals • Samuel Butler
... to importune her daughter, and with tearful resignation said she would not attempt to influence her decision, that her happy settlement in life was the only anxiety that weighed upon ...
— File No. 113 • Emile Gaboriau
... at his delaying while flight was still open to him. She could scarce calm herself to answer: "Go hence, Sir Archie! You must tarry no longer to importune me." "There is something I would say to you, Elsalill," said Sir Archie, and his voice became more tender as he spoke. "When first I saw you, my only thought was of tempting and beguiling you. In ...
— The Treasure • Selma Lagerlof
... mind not to take it from him, and yet I could find no means to resist his importunity. At last I told him, I would accept of part of his present, and that I esteemed his respect in that as much as the whole, and that I would not have him importune me farther; so I took the ring and watch, with the horse and furniture as before, and made him turn all the rest into money at Leipsic, and not suffering him to wear his livery, made him put himself into a tolerable equipage, and taking ...
— Memoirs of a Cavalier • Daniel Defoe
... earnestly entreat all colored persons who can, to study, and have their children taught Spanish. No foreign language will be of such import to colored people, in a very short time, as the Spanish. Mexico, Central and South America, importune us to speak their language; and if nothing else, the silent indications of Cuba, urge us to learn the ...
— The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States • Martin R. Delany
... mysterious fold of her dress half a dozen sparkling stones which she is anxious to dispose of. Even the water carrier, with his huge red earthen jar strapped to his head and back, if he sees a favorable opportunity, will importune the stranger regarding these fiery little stones. These irresponsible itinerants have some ingenious way of filling up the cracks in an opal successfully for the time being; but, after a few days, the defect ...
— Aztec Land • Maturin M. Ballou
... munificence. The weed [Cigars] is very welcome, and you will have to answer for it if it induces me to importune you with some more columns. Meanwhile I send you the proofs of the second Berlioz article, together with a fresh provision of manuscripts, and with the next proofs you will get ...
— Letters of Franz Liszt, Volume 1, "From Paris to Rome: - Years of Travel as a Virtuoso" • Franz Liszt; Letters assembled by La Mara and translated
... Turks in Tripoli, the vessel continued its voyage, and the Jew began to importune me with his solicitations, which I treated with the scorn they deserved. Despairing, therefore, of success, he resolved to get rid of me upon the first opportunity; and knowing that the two pashas, Ali and Hassan, ...
— The Exemplary Novels of Cervantes • Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
... now striking on the boards, now sinking into earth, and gazed down at Susan, her face hid by the rim of her bonnet. This companionship was the best, all, that life had to offer. He felt no need to importune her about the future, their marriage; curiously it seemed as though they had been married, and were walking in the security, the peace, of a valid and enduring bond. There was no necessity for talk, laborious explanation, periods infinitely ...
— The Three Black Pennys - A Novel • Joseph Hergesheimer
... importune him with her questions, Pierre frowned, thinking that she wanted to wrest his secret from him. "We've talked enough," he said, abruptly. "It's late, let us go to sleep. It will bring us bad luck to count ...
— The Fortune of the Rougons • Emile Zola
... fellow.' 'Giving our money to common beggars,' he describes as 'a kind of bounty that is a crime against the public.' Fielding's Works, x. 77, ed. 1806. Johnson once allowed (post, 1780, in Mr. Langton's Collection) that 'one might give away L500 a year to those that importune in the streets, and not do any good.' See also post, Oct. ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 2 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill
... I will speak but once; by the same power You make my blood a stranger unto yours, You may command me dead, and so much love A stranger may importune, pray you do; If this request appear too much to grant, Adopt me of some other Family, By your unquestion'd word; else I shall live Like sinfull issues that are left in streets By their regardless Mothers, and no name Will be ...
— A King, and No King • Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher
... of preventing the extension of Boer dominion over the natives was, however, accompanied by a willingness to oblige the Transvaal people in other ways. Though they had not observed the conditions of the Convention of 1881, the Boers had continued to importune the British government for an ampler measure of independence. In 1884 they succeeded in inducing Lord Derby, then Colonial Secretary, to agree to a new Convention, which thereafter defined the relations between the British crown and the South African Republic, a title now at last formally conceded. ...
— Impressions of South Africa • James Bryce
... merits not reproving; Or, if it do, not from those lips of thine, That have profan'd their scarlet ornaments And seal'd false bonds of love as oft as mine, Robb'd others' beds' revenues of their rents. Be it lawful I love thee, as thou lov'st those Whom thine eyes woo as mine importune thee: Root pity in thy heart, that, when it grows, Thy pity may deserve to pitied be. If thou dost seek to have what thou dost hide, By self-example mayst thou ...
— Shakespeare's Sonnets • William Shakespeare
... there are always a number of boats ready to convey persons who wish to go on board the different ships. Each boat is generally rowed by two Indians. Whenever any person approaches the shore he is beset by the boatmen, who throng round him, and alternately, in English and Spanish, importune him with the questions,—"Want a boat?" ...
— Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests • J. J. von Tschudi
... de la haute fortune, D'un roi trop indolent souverain absolu, Surcharge de travaux dont le soin L'importune. Bruhl, quitte des grandeurs L'embarras superflu. Au sein de ton opulence Je vois le Dieu des ennuis, Et dans ta magnificence Le repos ...
— Frederick The Great and His Family • L. Muhlbach
... pin-money, and I distribute it in alms and presents, but with due economy, so that I am not penniless at the end of the month. I have a foolish notion that the chief reason the king loves me is that I do not importune him." ...
— The Memoires of Casanova, Complete • Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
... not importune me in a matter wherein the impulses of my heart make me but too ready to forget the suggestions ...
— The Knight of the Golden Melice - A Historical Romance • John Turvill Adams
... burning pages it would seem that there remains only one thing to be done—namely, to break the social chains in order that the Lelias and Sylvias may go in quest of their ideal without being stopped by morality and the laws, those importune customs lines which religion and the institutions have opposed to individual ...
— Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician - Volume 1-2, Complete • Frederick Niecks
... skilful speech. "I am come," said he, "to defend before you your authority insulted, and liberty violated. I will also defend myself; you will not be surprised at this; you do not resemble the tyrants you contend with. The cries of outraged innocence do not importune your ears, and you know that this cause is not foreign to your interests." After this opening, he complained of those who had calumniated him; he attacked those who sought the ruin of the republic, either by excesses or moderation; those who persecuted pacific ...
— History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814 • F. A. M. Mignet
... fontibus apros, floribus austrum Softer then the lippe of the ear More tractable then wax Aurem vellere. [Greek: Aeeritrimma]; frippon To picke owt the Ravens eyes. Centones Improbitas musce (an importune that wilbe soone awnswered but straght in hand agayne). Argentangina, sylver mumpes Lupi illum videre priores Dorica musa. To looke a ...
— Bacon is Shake-Speare • Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence
... other than I was when first I offered myself as your lowly bondman. Yes, were you dishonored and lost, to use your own words, my heart would only cling the more closely to you for your self-sought misery. It would be my care to staunch your wounds, and my prayers should importune God with the story of your ...
— Letters of Two Brides • Honore de Balzac
... pleaded the girl, "do not recur to it again. Though you importune me for a day, I could but ...
— Janice Meredith • Paul Leicester Ford
... not fear," she said. "My mother has long known, and knowing also that I am not given to change, has ceased to importune me to listen to other offers. Her sole objection was that you might never return from captivity. Now that you have come back with added honours, she will not only offer no objection, but will, I am sure, receive you gladly, especially as she knows that my cousin Sir Fabricius, ...
— A Knight of the White Cross • G.A. Henty
... and me. Second Turk, I call it, from the misfortunes which, through his Holiness's long delay, have grown out of it, and are now so vast and of so ill example that I know not whether this or the Turk be the worst. Sorry am I to have been compelled to importune your Majesty so often in this matter, for sure I am you do not need my pressing. But I see delay to be so calamitous, my own life is so unquiet and so painful, and the opportunity to make an end now so convenient, that it seems as if God of his goodness had brought his Holiness ...
— History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth. Vol. II. • James Anthony Froude
... this room, never, mademoiselle, until you give me hope; never will I cease to importune you until your heart relents towards the miserable who ...
— Vera Nevill - Poor Wisdom's Chance • Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron
... Graspum, sit down," Marston rejoined, ordering Dandy to give him a chair; which being done he seats himself in front of Marston, and commences dilating upon his leniency. "You may take me for an importune feller, in coming this time o'night, but the fact is I've been-you know my feelings for helpin' everybody-good-naturedly drawn into a very bad scrape with this careless young nephew of yourn: he's a dashing devil, and ...
— Our World, or, The Slaveholders Daughter • F. Colburn Adams
... visible in Heaven, Or Earth, or Middle; all things fair and good: But all that fair and good in thy divine Semblance, and in thy beauty's heavenly ray, United I beheld; no fair to thine Equivalent or second! which compelled Me thus, though importune perhaps, to come And gaze, and worship thee of right declared Sovran of creatures, universal Dame! So talked the spirited sly Snake; and Eve, Yet more amazed, unwary thus replied. Serpent, thy overpraising leaves in doubt ...
— Paradise Lost • John Milton
... suppose Christ means only such as ask for Necessaries: For to them who ask, nay, who importune, or rather extort great Sums from People to furnish voluptuous Entertainments, or, which is worse, to feed Luxury and Lust, it is Charity to deny; nay, it is a Kind of Rapine to bestow that which ...
— Colloquies of Erasmus, Volume I. • Erasmus
... very much upon the lives of the men; but as they sent me word they were resolved to go, and only asked me and my company to go along with them, I positively refused it, and rose up, for I was sitting on the ground, in order to go to the boat. One or two of the men began to importune me to go; and when I refused, began to grumble, and say they were not under my command, and they would go. "Come, Jack," says one of the men, "will you go with me? I'll go for one." Jack said he would—and then another—and, in a word, they all left me but one, whom I persuaded to stay, ...
— The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe • Daniel Defoe
... still make answer to thy friends that importune thee to marry, adhuc intempestivum, 'tis yet unseasonable, and ever ...
— The Anatomy of Melancholy • Democritus Junior
... little patience with the foreign jugglers who annoy and importune travelers to witness performances of snake-charming, sleight of hand, and deceptive tricks generally, to the sound of a fife and drum, but we witnessed one exhibition at Yokohama in the open air, which was remarkable, not for any mystery about it, but as ...
— Due West - or Round the World in Ten Months • Maturin Murray Ballou
... something for a Christmas gift? For it is the peculiarity of all this array of prints, confectionery, dry goods, and manufactures of all kinds, that their bravery and splendor at Christmas tide is all to seduce you into generosity, and importune you to give something to others. It says to you, "The dear God gave you an unspeakable gift; give you a ...
— Betty's Bright Idea; Deacon Pitkin's Farm; and The First Christmas - of New England • Harriet Beecher Stowe
... things fair and good; But all that fair and good in thy Divine Semblance, and in thy Beauties heav'nly Ray United I beheld; no Fair to thine Equivalent or second, which compel'd Mee thus, though importune perhaps, to come 610 And gaze, and worship thee of right declar'd Sovran of Creatures, universal Dame. So talk'd the spirited sly Snake; and Eve Yet more amaz'd unwarie thus reply'd. Serpent, thy overpraising leaves in doubt The vertue of that Fruit, ...
— The Poetical Works of John Milton • John Milton
... now led more and more to importune the Lord to send me the means which are requisite in order that I may be able to commence the building. Because, 1. It has been for some time past publicly stated in print that I consider it is not without ground that some of ...
— The Life of Trust: Being a Narrative of the Lord's Dealings With George Mueller • George Mueller
... publick dispute he would defend against all men. Now Poliander y^e other proffessor, and y^e cheefe preachers of y^e citie, desired M^r. Robinson to dispute against him; but he was loath, being a stranger; yet the other did importune him, and tould him y^t such was y^e abilitie and nimblnes of y^e adversarie, that y^e truth would suffer if he did not help them. So as he condescended, & prepared him selfe against the time; and ...
— Bradford's History of 'Plimoth Plantation' • William Bradford
... ready to ride to the Ford Adventurous. He had clad himself from basnet to shoes in steel, and mounted on a strong destrier, went his road to essay the Passage of the Thorn. Whilst he took his path the maiden took hers. She went furtively to the orchard, that she might importune God to bring her friend again, safe and sound to his own house. She seated herself on the roots of a tree, and with sighs and tears ...
— French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France • Marie de France
... walked through Monmouth Street; but with little feeling of 'Devotion': probably in part because the contemplative process is so fatally broken in upon by the brood of money-changers who nestle in that Church, and importune the worshipper with merely secular proposals. Whereas Teufelsdroeckh might be in that happy middle state, which leaves to the Clothes-broker no hope either of sale or of purchase, and so be allowed to linger there without ...
— Sartor Resartus, and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History • Thomas Carlyle
... look and spy, Have you a friend so fond as I? Have you a fault, to mankind known, Not hidden unto eyes your own? When airy castles you importune, Down falling, by the breath of Fortune, Did I e'er doubt you should inherit, If Fortune's wheel devolved on merit? It was not so; for Fortune's frown Still perseveres to hold you down. Then let us seek the ...
— Fables of John Gay - (Somewhat Altered) • John Gay
... illustrate : ilustri. image : figuro, bildo. imagine : imagi, revi. imbibe : ensorbi. imbue : penetri, inspiri. imitate : imiti. immediately : tuj. imminent : surpenda, minaca. impassive : stoika, kvietega. impertinent : impertinenta. implement : ilo. implicate : impliki. importune : trud'i, -igi. impose : trudi, trompi. impregnable : fortika, nekaptebla. impress : impresi. improvize : improvizi. impudent : senhonta. inch : colo. incident : okazajxo, epizodo. incite : instigi; inciti. incline : inklini, deklivo. include : enhavi, enkalkuli. income : enspezo, rento. incommode ...
— The Esperanto Teacher - A Simple Course for Non-Grammarians • Helen Fryer
... tell no lies; Where was you hid, in Vince's eyes? Did you fair Bennet's Breast importune? (I know you dearly love a Fortune.)' Poor Cupid now began to whine; 'Mamma, it was no Fault of mine. I in a Dimple lay perdue, That little Guard-Room chose by you. A hundred Loves (all arm'd) did grace The Beauties of her Neck and Face; Thence, by a Sigh I dispossest, Was blown to Harry ...
— Fielding - (English Men of Letters Series) • Austin Dobson
... should not only importune your Home Secretary to pardon him, but I should recommend him for a ...
— The Clue of the Twisted Candle • Edgar Wallace
... living may be drunk at a time, man. I'll tell you what you shall do. Our general's wife is now the general. Confess yourself freely to her; importune her help to put you in your place again. She is of so free, so kind, so apt, so blessed a disposition, she holds it a vice in her goodness not to do more than she is requested. This broken joint between you and her husband, entreat her to ...
— McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader • William Holmes McGuffey
... infants still hanging at the breast, were excepted. The list of proscription was swelled with four hundred names; and the misfortune of the sufferers was aggravated by the obligation of an oath to visit the Archbishop, and importune him with the history of their wrongs. Day after day crowds of exiles besieged the door of his cell at Pontigny. His heart was wrung with anguish; he implored the compassion of his friends, and enjoyed at last the satisfaction of knowing that the ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume VI. • Various
... quiz, catechize; request, solicit, petition, supplicate, entreat, desire, beg, seek, beseech, crave, implore, importune, dun, apply; require, demand, expect, ...
— Putnam's Word Book • Louis A. Flemming
... aware, as he himself told John, that matters of importance might easily be delayed at court, 'through the overwhelming press of business;' and that princely households had much to do, and it was necessary to importune them perseveringly. He knew his prince—that with the best will possible, he was not energetic enough with those about him; and among the latter he suspected that many were indifferent and selfish with regard to matters of religion and ...
— Life of Luther • Julius Koestlin
... might wear a sort of freemason badge upon my countenance in the shape of a mystic triangle. However, I would have none of these, though the king most earnestly impressed upon my mind that my choice was wholly unrestricted. At last, seeing my unconquerable repugnance, he ceased to importune me. ...
— Typee - A Romance of the South Sea • Herman Melville
... loud execrations of the people whose existence the State fosters; we must get hold of men who know what drinking means, and let them come heart to heart with the victims who are blindly tramping on to ruin for want of a guide and friend. My hideous procession of the damned is always there to importune me; I gathered the dolorous recruits who form the procession when I was dwelling in strange, darkened ways, and I know that only the magnetism of the human soul could ever have saved one of them. If anybody fancies that Gothenburg ...
— The Ethics of Drink and Other Social Questions - Joints In Our Social Armour • James Runciman
... Oh, then, he'll importune, if he's a brisk man. I shall save decorums if Sir Rowland importunes. I have a mortal terror at the apprehension of offending against decorums. Oh, I'm glad he's a brisk man. Let my ...
— The Way of the World • William Congreve
... my grandam, he is dead. The king mine uncle is to blame for this: God will revenge it; whom I will importune With earnest prayers all ...
— The Life and Death of King Richard III • William Shakespeare [Collins edition]
... shares of stock. Owing to special attractions at Blackfriars' Theatre, the stock of the Globe hath greatly declined in value, and I fear these four shares may not longer be salable at the price of even L60, and I therefore must importune that you forthwith do make a payment of L20 on your said bill, or the four shares of stock will be ...
— Shakespeare's Insomnia, And the Causes Thereof • Franklin H. Head
... to the conclusion that he spoke no other English, and so she ceased to importune him for information; but never did she forget to greet him pleasantly or to thank him for the hideous, nauseating meals he ...
— The Beasts of Tarzan • Edgar Rice Burroughs
... years. Of course there was always the Almighty Power to whom one could pray, and who certainly could grant prayer if He chose. But it seemed to her an impertinence for ordinary insignificant beings to importune this remote and absolute God, so forbidding in His monotonous mystery. She had all the arrogance of intellect despite her remorseless limitations. Had she been granted the gift of creation,—in other words, a spark from the great creative force commanding the Universe,—she felt that she should ...
— The Californians • Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton
... whole world I fain would banish me, For all the world seems to rise up in judgment Against me; and my very glory weights My punishment; for, were my name less known 'Twere easier to hide me. All the favours The gods have granted me I mourn and hate, Nor will I importune them with vain pray'rs Henceforth for ever. Give me what they may, What they have taken will all ...
— Phaedra • Jean Baptiste Racine
... I meant to importune you I should ill deserve the generous compassion which I was informed some months ago you expressed upon being acquainted with my distress. I take this as the least troublesome way of thanking you, and desiring you to lay ...
— Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton • Anonymous
... said: "Against all sense you importune her. Should Isabel kneel down to beg for mercy, her brother's ghost would break his paved bed and take her hence ...
— Tales from Shakespeare • Charles and Mary Lamb
... awhile, helping the progress of the acquaintance by bits of elucidation and compliment, then, when the thing was under way, withdrew so adroitly that she was not missed. A young man, coming up to importune Leslie for a promised dance, was allowed to carry her off; Miss Madison, assured by the capitano that he could dance the American waltz, trusted herself, though a little doubtfully, to his arms; and Charlie ...
— Aurora the Magnificent • Gertrude Hall
... year presented to Congress several notes, respecting which no answer has been given me. I have reason to believe, however, that it has taken resolutions on many of these notes. Not to importune Congress by reiterations, I pray you to be pleased to inform me of what has passed on this subject, and especially with regard to the ratification of the contract entered into between the King and the United States, for the various ...
— The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. XI • Various
... be drunk at a time, man. I'll tell you what you shall do. Our general's wife is now the general: I may say so in this respect, for that he hath devoted and given up himself to the contemplation, mark, and denotement of her parts and graces: confess yourself freely to her: importune her help to put you in your place again: she is of so free, so kind, so apt, so blessed a disposition, she holds it a vice in her goodness not to do more than she is requested: this broken joint between you and her husband entreat her to splinter; and my fortunes ...
— Elson Grammer School Literature, Book Four. • William H. Elson and Christine Keck
... plainly dressed woman, but she had a manner which removed her entirely from the class of those who merely came to importune. There was absolute certainty in the eyes she fixed with steadiness on the man's face. He took her card, ...
— The Head of the House of Coombe • Frances Hodgson Burnett
... and battery, Or friend beguile with lies and flattery? O'er plains they ramble unconfin'd, No politics disturb their mind; They eat their meals, and take their sport, 25 Nor know who's in or out at court; They never to the levee go To treat as dearest friend, a foe; They never importune his grace, Nor ever cringe to men in place; 30 Nor undertake a dirty job, Nor draw the quill to write for B—b. Fraught with invective they ne'er go To folks at Pater-Noster-Row; No judges, fiddlers, dancing-masters, 35 No pick-pockets, or poetasters, Are known to honest quadrupeds; ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith • Oliver Goldsmith
... abruptly; the young man followed her, and pressed her arm with little respect, but in a manner that expressed his imperious admiration. She hastened her steps. Seeing that she wished to escape an importune declaration, he became the more ardent; being determined to win a first favor from this woman, he risked all and said, looking ...
— The Chouans • Honore de Balzac
... Breda—send me home to my hut on the shore, that I may die in such peace as is left to a childless man. Why do you not answer me, Toussaint? Why will you not give us a last chance of peace? I must obey you at the city gate; but I will importune you here. Why will you ...
— The Hour and the Man - An Historical Romance • Harriet Martineau
... exclaimed, "My attempting it, however, is incumbent upon me, though I may perish on the road: if God has decreed my reunion with my wife I shall meet her again; but if not, I shall die and be received into the mercy of the Almighty." The sisters did not cease to importune him to lay aside the journey, but it was impossible for him to obey them or remain at ease; upon which their grief for his situation increased. They knew that the distance was such as he could never overcome by human aid, or rejoin his wife, but they respected his ardent love ...
— The Arabian Nights Entertainments vol. 4 • Anon.
... so wicked as to be willing to expose his life to so many dangers? You are a worthless fellow, and he ought to put you to death more cruelly than we do our enemies. I am not astonished that he should so importune us on the assurance of ...
— Voyages of Samuel de Champlain V3 • Samuel de Champlain
... exceeds all other. Sigh out a story of her cruel deeds, With interrupted accents of despair; A monument that whosoever reads, May justly praise and blame my loveless Fair; Say her disdain hath dried up my blood, And starved you, in succours still denying; Press to her eyes, importune me some good, Waken her sleeping pity with your crying: Knock at her hard heart, beg till you have moved her, And tell th'unkind how ...
— Elizabethan Sonnet-Cycles - Delia - Diana • Samuel Daniel and Henry Constable
... was but sad preparation For happy news. Oh, there are words and looks 30 To bend the sternest purpose! Once I knew them, Now I forget them at my dearest need. What think you if I seek him out, and bathe His feet and robe with hot and bitter tears? Importune him with prayers, vexing his brain 35 With my perpetual cries, until in rage He strike me with his pastoral cross, and trample Upon my prostrate head, so that my blood May stain the senseless dust on which he treads, And ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Volume I • Percy Bysshe Shelley
... stress of the old thoughts would return; but at least they did not importune her waking hour. The drug gave her a momentary illusion of complete renewal, from which she drew strength to take up her daily work. The strength was more and more needed as the perplexities of her future increased. She knew ...
— House of Mirth • Edith Wharton
... (demand) 741; offer up prayers &c. (worship) 990; whistle for. beg hard, entreat, beseech, plead, supplicate, implore; conjure, adjure; obtest[obs3]; cry to, kneel to, appeal to; invoke, evoke; impetrate[obs3], imprecate, ply, press, urge, beset, importune, dun, tax, clamor for; cry aloud, cry for help; fall on one's knees; throw oneself at the feet of; come down on one's marrowbones. beg from door to door, send the hat round, go a begging; mendicate[obs3], mump[obs3], cadge, beg one's bread. dance attendance ...
— Roget's Thesaurus
... complain of him to Cyrus. She simply repelled the advances that he made, supposing that, if she did this with firmness and decision, Araspes would feel rebuked and would say no more. It did not, however, produce this effect. Araspes continued to importune her with declarations of love, and at length she felt ...
— Cyrus the Great - Makers of History • Jacob Abbott
... next destroyed it by an air of respect and of discretion, protesting he wished simply what the King of Spain would himself wish, with all the seasoning necessary for the annihilation of his good offices under the pretence that he did not wish to press his Majesty to anything or to importune him. ...
— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre
... you? The bloom of beauty other years demands, Nor will be gathered by such withered hands: You importune it with a false desire, Which sparkles out, and makes no solid fire. This impudence of age, whence can it spring? All you expect, and yet you nothing bring: Eager to ask, when you are past a grant; Nice in providing what you cannot want. Have conscience; give ...
— The Works of John Dryden, Volume 5 (of 18) - Amboyna; The state of Innocence; Aureng-Zebe; All for Love • John Dryden
... last relented, and would make him as happy as he desired. He followed her about from place to place, entreating her to fulfil her promise: but still Ambrosia was cold, and implored him with tears to importune her no longer; for that she never could be his, and never would, if she were free to-morrow. "What means your letter, then?" said the despairing lover. "I will shew you!" replied Ambrosia, who immediately ...
— Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds • Charles Mackay
... farmers may decry the importation into their mowing lots, but there is a glory to the cone-flower beside which the glitter of a gold coin fades into paltry nothingness. Having been instructed in the decorative usefulness of all this genus by European landscape gardeners, we Americans now importune the Department of Agriculture for seeds through members of Congress, even Representatives of States that have passed stringent laws against the dissemination of "weeds." Inasmuch as each black-eyed Susan puts into daily operation the business methods of the white daisy, methods ...
— Wild Flowers Worth Knowing • Neltje Blanchan et al
... you conclude, (my Grandam) he is dead: The King mine Vnckle is too blame for it. God will reuenge it, whom I will importune With earnest ...
— The First Folio [35 Plays] • William Shakespeare
... bribe, and too proud to importune, He had not the method of making a fortune; Could love and could hate, so was thought something odd; No very great wit, he believed in a God; A post or a pension he did not desire, But left church and state to ...
— Poetical Works of Johnson, Parnell, Gray, and Smollett - With Memoirs, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes • Samuel Johnson, Thomas Parnell, Thomas Gray, and Tobias Smollett
... the officer as a woman bows to dismiss an importune visitor, she turned away too quickly to see him once more fold his arms. She unlocked the doors she had closed, and did not see the threatening gesture which was Crevel's parting greeting. She walked with a proud, defiant step, like a martyr ...
— Cousin Betty • Honore de Balzac
... wealthy are ready to bestow their money, but not to endure personal inconvenience. The following anecdote is told in illustration: A late nobleman was walking in St. James's Street, in a hard frost, when he met an agent, who began to importune his Grace in behalf of some charity which had enjoyed his support. "Put me down for what you please," peevishly exclaimed the Duke; "but don't keep me in ...
— The Jest Book - The Choicest Anecdotes and Sayings • Mark Lemon
... of conflict was she suffered to bury it—after a year during which the ghost of her dead ever came back, and came back to importune her vainly with its love. Rachel's poor neighbors grew accustomed to see the tall, handsome, waiting figure which always returned and returned, but which at last, after one dreadful day, was seen no more in Museum Buildings. Rachel ...
— Red Pottage • Mary Cholmondeley
... living always ashore, there was no Command; and therefore every Man did what he pleased and encouraged each other in his Villanies. Now Mr. Harthop, who was one of Captain Swan's Merchants, did very much importune him to settle his Resolutions, and declare his Mind to his Men; which at last he consented to do. Therefore he gave warning to all his Men to come Aboard the ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898—Volume 39 of 55 • Various
... prime beauty, Whom well I deeme (e're few months elder) Will take out Hans from pretty Kelder, And to the sweetly fayre Mabella, A match that vies with Arabella; In each respect but the misfortune, Fortune, Fate, I thee importune. ...
— Lucasta • Richard Lovelace
... been made by "our servants, the actors in the Royal Theatre," of divers persons refusing to pay at the first door of the said theatre, thereby obliging the doorkeepers to send after, solicit, and importune them for their entrance-money, and stating it to be the royal will and pleasure, for the prevention of these disorders, and so that such as are employed by the said actors might have no opportunity of deceiving them, that all persons thenceforward coming to ...
— A Book of the Play - Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character • Dutton Cook
... importune me further, I conjure you. Enough for you to know your guardian loves you, cherishes you even as if you were his child. Let us arise from table since our meal seems done;—what is it that alarms you?" ...
— The Advocate • Charles Heavysege
... yet, She gives us luck in lotteries, love, and marriage; I cannot say that she's done much for me yet; Not that I mean her bounties to disparage, We've not yet closed accounts, and we shall see yet How much she'll make amends for past miscarriage; Meantime the Goddess I'll no more importune, Unless to thank her when ...
— The Works of Lord Byron, Volume 4 • Lord Byron
... great gaunt eyes so importune Her soul by the shine of this corpse-cold moon, Maybe you'll raise her ...
— Satires of Circumstance, Lyrics and Reveries, with - Miscellaneous Pieces • Thomas Hardy
... of notes from the hiding-place in which I had deposited them. "Do you know," continued comte Jean, "I really think we shall find money enough here." He began to count them: and when he had finished he said, "My dear sister, neither your husband nor myself wish to importune you, or put you to any inconvenience, therefore you shall merely oblige him with the loan of these 50,000 livres to extricate him from his present peril; they shall be faithfully and quickly restored to you, and a note of hand given you for that purpose ...
— "Written by Herself" • Baron Etienne Leon Lamothe-Langon
... employees of the Winnsboro mills, just across the railroad from his home. He likes to talk, and pricks up his ears,(so to speak), whenever anything is related as having occurred in the past. He will importune those present to hear his version ...
— Slave Narratives Vol. XIV. South Carolina, Part 1 • Various
... countess, for whom indeed she had never entertained any affection, remained the avowed object of her utter antipathy even after the death of Leicester, and in spite of all the intercessions in her behalf with which her son Essex, in the meridian of his favor, never ceased to importune his sovereign. ...
— Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth • Lucy Aikin
... replied, "I cannot wonder at your feelings. I will not importune you. I will trust to your own kindness of heart when I am at a distance from you." But this, with the look of sorrow accompanying it, was enough to melt Catherine's pride in a moment, and she instantly said, "Oh, Eleanor, I will ...
— Persuasion • Jane Austen
... Desperate Father Once more to the Sheikh a-running, Catches at his Garment, crying— "Sheikh, my only Hope and Helper! One more Prayer! that God who laid Will take that Trouble from my Head!" But the Sheikh replied: "Remember How that very Day I warn'd you Better not importune Allah; Unto whom remains no other Prayer, unless to pray for Pardon. When from this World we are summon'd On to bind the pack of Travel Son or Daughter ill shall help us; Slaves we are and unencumber'd Best may do the Master's mind; And, whatever ...
— Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Salaman and Absal • Omar Khayyam and Ralph Waldo Emerson
... said: "There is no doubt that Benvenuto was formerly without his peer in this art; but now that he has abandoned it, I believe it will be too much trouble for him to make a little ring of the sort you want. I pray you, therefore, not to importune him about this trifle, which would be no trifle to him owing to his want of practice." I thanked the Duke for his kind words, but begged him to let me render this trifling service to the Duchess. Then I took the ring in hand, and finished it ...
— The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini • Benvenuto Cellini
... at every hour pass through, Pass through, and tread upon that solemn floor, Yet come not back to tell what they have found. We will not importune, as others do, With tears and cries, the keeper of the door, But wait till ...
— Robert F. Murray - his poems with a memoir by Andrew Lang • Robert F. Murray
... console all the sorrowful ones. Dost Thou take pleasure in our destruction? Our groaning touches Thee to the heart, and those whom Thou hast cast down Thou wilt lift up again. In Thee, Lord Jesus, I put my trust; I will not cease to importune Thee that Thou bringest me not to shame. Help me, save me, so I will praise ...
— Camps, Quarters, and Casual Places • Archibald Forbes
... my heart, my being's fortune, The search for thee my growth's first conscious date; For nought, for everything, I thee importune; Thou art my all, ...
— Poetical Works of George MacDonald, Vol. 2 • George MacDonald
... to the people of the lodgings the dear lady went from, to find out where she was gone to, if possible, that he might have an opportunity to importune her to be his, before their difference was public. The wicked people (officious at least, if not wicked) discovered where she was on Wednesday; and, for fear she should remove before they could have his orders, they put her under a gentle restraint, as they call ...
— Clarissa, Volume 7 • Samuel Richardson
... any person in the house? To this interrogation the stranger replied, without lifting up his head, "Overwhelmed as I am with Count Melvil's generosity, together with a consciousness of my own unworthiness, it ill becomes a wretch like me to importune him for further favour; yet I could not bear the thought of withdrawing, perhaps for ever, from the presence of my benefactor, without soliciting his permission to see his face in mercy, to acknowledge my atrocious ...
— The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, Complete • Tobias Smollett
... these things are not very important, and we quit the ground of equity and high philosophy on which we have given ourselves such airs, and go back to common sense as unjust judges that will hear those widows only who importune us. ...
— Luck or Cunning? • Samuel Butler
... The more to God ought I to do fea'ty With will, life, land, and love of perfectness. I deny not but Calisto is of great worthiness, But what of that? for all his high estate, His desire I defy, and utterly shall hate. Oh, his sayings and suits so importune, That of my life he maketh me almost weary! Oh, his lamentations and exclamations on fortune, With similitude [of] manner as one that should die! But who shall pity this? In faith, not I. Shall I accomplish his carnal ...
— A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume I. • R. Dodsley
... the lawyer and his fellow-accomplices of the law were plotting to get the wretched woman placed in some private asylum. Bloomingdale and Flushing asylums were full, and as she continued to follow her whilom lover and importune him to visit her, he found it politic and convenient to renew his attentions and to feign a revival of his passion. In a certain sense, he was to be pitied. Love of this kind begins as a gift; but a woman of this temperament does not leave it so. She promptly turned it into a debt, ...
— Danger! A True History of a Great City's Wiles and Temptations • William Howe
... the valley, Men and women, like new-hatched spiders, Come out with the morning to greet our riders. 390 And up they wound till they reached the ditch, Whereat all stopped save one, a witch That I knew, as she hobbled from the group, By her gait directly and her stoop, I, whom Jacynth was used to importune To let that same witch tell us our fortune. The oldest Gipsy then above ground; And, sure as the autumn season came round, She paid us a visit for profit or pastime, And every time, as she swore, ...
— Dramatic Romances • Robert Browning
... creatures whom he loves? If God is a father full of tenderness and goodness, is it necessary to ask him to "give us day by day our daily bread"? If this God, so good, foresaw the wants of his children, and knew much better than they what they could not know of themselves, whence is it he bids them importune him to grant them their requests? If this God is immutable and wise, how can his creatures change the fixed resolution of the Deity? If this God is just and good, how can he injure us, or place us in a situation to require the use of that prayer which ...
— Letters to Eugenia - or, a Preservative Against Religious Prejudices • Baron d'Holbach
... troublest me with thine admonitions as vainly as [thou mightest] a billow.[79] Never let it enter your thoughts that I, affrighted by the purpose of Jupiter, shall become womanish, and shall importune the object whom I greatly loathe, with effeminate upliftings of my hands, to release me from these shackles: I ...
— Prometheus Bound and Seven Against Thebes • Aeschylus
... the clear surface of my consciousness, this memory, this old, dead moment which the magnetism of an identical moment has travelled so far to importune, to disturb, to raise up out of the very depths of my being? I cannot tell. Now that I feel nothing, it has stopped, has perhaps gone down again into its darkness, from which who can say whether it will ever rise? Ten times over I must essay the task, must lean down over the abyss. And each ...
— Swann's Way - (vol. 1 of Remembrance of Things Past) • Marcel Proust
... ignorant What we have spurned, attempt to climb To heavenly places at our will— Finding no path thereto but one, Nemesis-guarded, where atone To heaven, all such as hopeful still, Press toward the mount,—yet find it strewn With corses, perished by the way, Of those who Fate did importune Too rashly, or her will gainsay. If I have been thrust out from heaven, This night, for insolent disdain, Of putting a young god in pain, How shall I hope to be forgiven? Yet let me not be judged as one Who mocks ...
— The New Penelope and Other Stories and Poems • Frances Fuller Victor
... in him had been awakened. If you escape to the end of the world he will pursue you; if you dig yourselves into the ground he will dig you out with his hands; if you escape to Heaven he will stand at the gate and importune the saints until they fly all over the universe and give ...
— Selected Polish Tales • Various
... not live for this. Had I seen you less noble—less good—less generous, had I not for you in the bottom of my heart the tender feeling of a sister for a brother, I should say, 'Rise, comte, and do not importune with love my ears, which hold it in horror.' But I do not say so, comte, because I suffer in seeing you suffer. I say more; now that I know you, I will take your hand and place it on my heart, and I will say to you willingly, 'See, ...
— The Forty-Five Guardsmen • Alexandre Dumas
... Graevenitz, Landhofmeisterin de Wirtemberg.—In view of a great change impending in my dukedom, I command you to depart instantly from my court of Ludwigsburg. You are at liberty to reside at any of the castles you have obtained from me, but I forbid you to venture into my presence or to importune the members either of my government or of my court. You have refused obedience to my commands, delivered by my Finance Minister, Baron Schuetz, and by various high law officials. I now make known to you that such future defiance will be punished as traitorous ...
— A German Pompadour - Being the Extraordinary History of Wilhelmine van Graevenitz, - Landhofmeisterin of Wirtemberg • Marie Hay
... was a fog. This seemed now a long time ago. What, then, was to prevent her from showing herself on his arm before the whole world without any fear on her part, and without any mental reservation on his, not having anyone around them who could importune them? ...
— Sentimental Education, Volume II - The History of a Young Man • Gustave Flaubert
... no traffic together. I am of a quite contrary humour to other men, for I always despise it; but when I am sick, instead of recanting, or entering into composition with it, I begin, moreover, to hate and fear it, telling them who importune me to take physic, that at all events they must give me time to recover my strength and health, that I may be the better able to support and encounter the violence and danger of their potions. I let nature work, supposing her to be sufficiently armed with teeth and claws ...
— The Essays of Montaigne, Complete • Michel de Montaigne
... wars, to try their fortune there; Some to discover islands far away; Some to the studious universities. 10 For any, or for all these exercises, He said that Proteus your son was meet; And did request me to importune you To let him spend his time no more at home, Which would be great impeachment to his age, 15 In having known no travel in ...
— Two Gentlemen of Verona - The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] • William Shakespeare
... for a husband, they ought not to hinder me from partaking of his fortunes; that I was resolved to go to him, and that if I had not their leave, I would get away how I could, even at the hazard of my life. The King answered: "Sister, it is not now a time to importune me for leave. I acknowledge that I have, as you say, hitherto prevented you from going, in order to forbid it altogether. From the time the King of Navarre changed his religion, and again became a Huguenot, I have been against your going to him. What the Queen my mother and ...
— Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois, Complete • Marguerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre
... angry feelings, which I would not provoke, till I feel at liberty to obey the dictates of my own will. My guardian has now a right to prevent my choice, and I have no doubt he would exercise it to the utmost; but when I am freed by law from his authority, he will cease to importune me on a subject so entirely unavailing. My promise also is pledged to my aunt, that I will not even enter into an engagement without her sanction, before ...
— The Rivals of Acadia - An Old Story of the New World • Harriet Vaughan Cheney
... at my house myselfe; and to looke after my charge, trusting in the providence and goodnesse of God.' Prisoners poured in in larger numbers than he could receive and guard in fit places, and he was continually forced to importune for money lest the prisoners should starve. It was then, perhaps, that Evelyn was thrown most in contact with his intimate friend Pepys, for both of them remained steadfast when others had fled. And they had their reward in coming ...
— Sylva, Vol. 1 (of 2) - Or A Discourse of Forest Trees • John Evelyn
... into their pockets or, like Marshall Villeroi ("a-t-on mis de l'or dans mes poches?"), have it put by their valets, to replace what was lost overnight, these proud and often honourable nobles would ante-chamber and cringe for sinecures, pensions, indemnities, privileges, importune and supplicate the King, the King's mistress, pandar or lacquey. And the sinecure, pension, indemnity or privilege was always deducted out of the bread—rye-bread, straw-bread, grass-bread—which those parched, prone ...
— Laurus Nobilis - Chapters on Art and Life • Vernon Lee
... their young daughters to me daily to importune me to choose a sweetheart for my son or for any other officer who happened to be at our headquarters. I know that one young officer was offered $100,000 to marry the daughter of one of the richest men in the town of Molo, and it was a great wonder to the father that the ...
— An Ohio Woman in the Philippines • Emily Bronson Conger
... will man importune heaven with unjust complaint? How long, with vain clamors, will he accuse Fate as the author of his calamities? Will he forever shut his eyes to the light, and his heart to the admonitions of truth and reason? The light of truth meets him everywhere; yet he ...
— The Ruins • C. F. [Constantin Francois de] Volney
... to ask you again to look after my interests with the Kinsky family, and I subjoin the necessary receipt for this purpose [see No. 144]. Perhaps some other way may be found, though it does not as yet occur to me, by means of which I need not importune you in future. On the 15th October [1815] I was attacked by an inflammatory cold, from the consequences of which I still suffer, and my art likewise; but it is to be hoped that I shall now gradually recover, and at all events be able once more to display ...
— Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826, Volume 1 of 2 • Lady Wallace
... me rend la vie importune Une volage me trahit, J'eus peu de bien de la fortune, L'injustice ...
— Ebrietatis Encomium - or, the Praise of Drunkenness • Boniface Oinophilus
... once more within my shell, Where unobtrusive pleasures dwell; True, I shall here by Fortune be forgot Her favors with my verse agree not well; To importune ...
— A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times - Volume V. of VI. • Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot
... contents! En depit de Bavus, soyez lents a me suivre; Peut-etre en de plus heureux temps J'ai moi-meme, a l'aspect des pleurs de l'infortune, Detourne mes regards distraits; A mon tour, aujourd'hui, mon malheur importune; Vivez, amis, ...
— French Lyrics • Arthur Graves Canfield
... the invitation," he said slowly, hesitantly, with the air of one who does not wish to importune. "My sister would like to ask for one who is known personally to herself. She thought you could render her a ...
— The Palace of Darkened Windows • Mary Hastings Bradley
... startle your nerves and confuse your intellect with a history that, as yet, you could not understand. Do not importune me again; I ...
— Mabel's Mistake • Ann S. Stephens
... understand that every man in Cumberland or Westmoreland whose name happens to be Ratcliffe (I knew the late Mr. Charles Ratcliffe, that Suffered with a Red Feather in his Hat, very well), must give himself out to be titular Earl of Derwentwater, and Importune the Government to reverse the Attainder, and restore him the Lands of which the Greenwich Commissioners have gotten such a tight Hold; and as for Grandchildren of the by-blows of King Charles II., good lack! to ...
— The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 2 of 3 • George Augustus Sala
... flattery? O'er plains they ramble unconfined, No politics disturb their mind; They eat their meals, and take their sport Nor know who's in or out at court. They never to the levee go To treat, as dearest friend, a foe: They never importune his grace, Nor ever cringe to men in place: Nor undertake a dirty job, Nor draw the quill to write for Bob.[1] Fraught with invective, they ne'er go To folks at Paternoster Row. No judges, fiddlers, dancing-masters, No pickpockets, or poetasters, Are known to honest quadrupeds; No single ...
— The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume I (of 2) • Jonathan Swift
... the portico of the post-office, looking at the two or three omnibuses stopping and starting in front of him. Then he rushed along the Strand, through Holywell Street, and on to Old Boswell Court. Kicking aside the shoeblacks who began to importune him as he passed under the colonnade, he turned up the narrow passage to the publishing-office of the Post-Office Directory. He begged to be allowed to see the Directory of the south-west counties of England for ...
— Desperate Remedies • Thomas Hardy
... resolution. She would see him; she would tell him the truth, and she believed he would sympathize with her and at once withdraw his suit, while her sister would have to accept his decision as final, and cease to importune her ...
— His Heart's Queen • Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
... words were given to the winds of heaven. Roderic fled far, far away. The heart of Edwin was wrung with anguish. "Ye kind and merciful Gods!" exclaimed he, "grant but this one prayer, and the voice of Edwin shall no more importune you with presumptuous vows. Blot from the book of fate the tedious interval. Give me to find the potent villain. Though he be hemmed in with guards behind guards; though his impious mansion strike its foundations deep to ...
— Imogen - A Pastoral Romance • William Godwin
... knowing that I had some credit in the place, he used his utmost efforts to engage me in his sentiments. I answered him with so much clearness and energy, that he had not a word to reply. This increased his desire to win me in order to do it, to contract a friendship for me. He continued to importune me for two years and a half. As he was very polite, and of an obliging temper, and had a good share of learning, I did not mistrust him. I even conceived a hope of his conversion, in which I found myself mistaken. I then ceased going near him. He came to ...
— The Autobiography of Madame Guyon • Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon
... blushing morn dare show her light, Such sad, lamenting strains, that night attends, Become all ear; stars stay to hear thy plight, If one whose grief even reach of thought transcends, Who ne'er, not in a dream, did taste delight, May thee importune who like case pretends, And seems to joy in woe, in woe's despite. Tell me (so may thou fortune milder try, And long, long sing) for what thou thus complains, Since winter's gone, and sun in dappled sky, Enamour'd, smiles on woods and flowery plains? The bird, as if my questions did her move, ...
— Specimens with Memoirs of the Less-known British Poets, Complete • George Gilfillan
... you do importune her] The meaning required is, against all reason and natural affection; Shakespeare, therefore, judiciously uses a single word that implies both; sense signifying both ...
— Johnson's Notes to Shakespeare Vol. I Comedies • Samuel Johnson
... up his hand and draw the fork down to his mouth as gracefully as a grown person. Unless necessity compelled, he would not eat in the kitchen, but insisted upon his meals in the dining-room, and would wait patiently, unless a stranger were present; and then he was sure to importune the visitor, hoping that the latter was ignorant of the rule of the house, and would give him something. They used to say that he preferred as his table-cloth on the floor a certain well-known church ...
— Lords of the Housetops - Thirteen Cat Tales • Various
... you importune me so earnestly to write? Of what importance can it be to hear of distant friends, to a man who finds himself welcome wherever he goes, and makes new friends faster than he can want them? If to the delight of such universal kindness of reception, ...
— The Life Of Johnson, Volume 3 of 6 • Boswell
... me a handsome salary, it would be worth my notice. At present nobody thinks of me, because they imagine I am employed by a great King. I have lost some powerful friends: those who are now in power wish me well; but they have too much business on their hands, and I don't love to importune." ...
— The Life of the Truly Eminent and Learned Hugo Grotius • Jean Levesque de Burigny
... sovereign prince," cried Casanova, somewhat theatrically, as was his wont when strongly moved. "Had I but the power to commit men to prison, to send them to the scaffold. But I am nothing. A beggar, and a liar into the bargain. I importune the Supreme Council for a post, a crust of bread, a home! What a poor thing have I become! Are you not sickened ...
— Casanova's Homecoming • Arthur Schnitzler
... clouded at this reference, 'she is but so-so. And this,' said Mr. Micawber, nodding his head sorrowfully, 'is the Bench! Where, for the first time in many revolving years, the overwhelming pressure of pecuniary liabilities was not proclaimed, from day to day, by importune voices declining to vacate the passage; where there was no knocker on the door for any creditor to appeal to; where personal service of process was not required, and detainees were merely lodged at the gate! Gentlemen,' said Mr. Micawber, 'when the shadow of that iron-work on the summit ...
— David Copperfield • Charles Dickens
... an indispensable basis for all my operations. I only knew three persons from whom I had any right to ask pecuniary assistance—M. de T——, Tiberge, and my father. There appeared little chance of obtaining any from the two latter, and I was really ashamed again to importune M. de T——. But it is not in desperate emergencies that one stands upon points of ceremony. I went first to the seminary of St. Sulpice, without considering whether I should be recognised. I asked for ...
— Manon Lescaut • Abbe Prevost
... he, gravely; "you are the only person who could not disturb me, since my employment was making memorandums for a letter to yourself: with which, however, I did not desire to importune you, but that you have denied me the honour of ...
— Cecilia vol. 2 - Memoirs of an Heiress • Frances (Fanny) Burney (Madame d'Arblay)
... of this year and a half, my father's regiment was again ordered to shift their quarters to a small town, the name of which I now forget, but Luneville lay in their route. My mother had for some time ceased to importune my father about my return. The fact was, that she had been so coldly treated by the other ladies at Nance, in consequence of her behaviour to me, that she did not think it advisable; but now that they were about to remove, she insisted upon my father taking me with him, promising that I ...
— Valerie • Frederick Marryat
... kindness, and whatever she said was listened to with much attention. They are by no means obtrusive; and as their fisheries supply them with a competent, if not an abundant subsistence, although they receive thankfully whatever we choose to give, they do not importune us by begging. Fish is, indeed, their chief food, except roots and casual supplies of antelope, which latter, to those who have only bows and arrows, must be very scanty. This diet may be the direct or the remote cause of the chief disorder which prevails among them, as well as among the Flatheads ...
— First Across the Continent • Noah Brooks
... therefore, from the throne was not only unfavorable; but the authorities of Vitebsk were reprimanded for allowing the girl to importune his majesty ...
— Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 2, No. 12, May, 1851. • Various
... dared, then, to importune you?" asked the prince, turning his threatening eyes toward the door. "Oh, I will release you from further molestation by this madman, for I tell you the gentle words of your husband will not be able to do so. Baron Weichs is not the man to lend ...
— LOUISA OF PRUSSIA AND HER TIMES • Louise Muhlbach
... like a child before such a combination of qualities. Then he began to talk. He has an air, that brigand; he can cock his head so as to deceive a bailiff; he can wear a certain nobility of countenance; and with it all he can importune like a beggar. He has a horrid and plausible fluency; he is deaf to denials; he drugs you with words and robs you before you recover consciousness. He had got the length of quoting my own verses to me, and I felt myself going, when deliverance ...
— The Second Class Passenger • Perceval Gibbon |
