‘Whispers of Immortality'
Webster was much possessed by death
And saw the skull beneath the skin;
And breastless creatures underground
Leaned backward with a lipless grin.
Baldwin Stanley 1867-1947
(speaking on the Abyssinian crisis)
I have seldom spoken with greater regret, for my lips are not yet unsealed. Were these troubles over I would make a case, and I guarantee that not a man would go into the lobby against us. (popularly quoted as: My lips are sealed.)
Bush George 1924-
(campaign pledge on taxation)
Read my lips: no new taxes.
Lodge Thomas 1558-1625
„Love guards the roses of thy lips"
Love guards the roses of thy lips
And flies about them like a bee;
If I approach he forward skips,
And if I kiss he stingeth me.
Mandelstam Osip 1892-1938
Selected Poems (translated by D. McDuff)
Perhaps my whisper was already born before my lips.
Marlowe Christopher 1564-1593
Doctor Faustus
Was this the face that launched a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss!
Her lips suck forth my soul: see, where it flies!
Come Helen, come give me my soul again.
Here will I dwell, for heaven be in these lips,
And all is dross that is not Helena.
Tennyson Alfred Lord 1809-1892
‘Locksley Hall'
And our spirits rushed together at the touching of the lips.
Thackeray William Makepeace 1811-1863
Mother is the name of God in the lips and hearts of children.
Young G.W. 1846-1919
‘The Lips That Touch Liquor'
Though in silence, with blighted affection, I pine,
Yet the lips that touch liquor must never touch mine!
Nash Ogden 1902-1971
‘The Perfect Husband'
He tells you when you've got on too much lipstick,
And helps you with your girdle when your hips stick.