All 28 Uses of
compose
in
A Tale of Two Cities
- A face habitually suppressed and quieted, was still lighted up under the quaint wig by a pair of moist bright eyes that it must have cost their owner, in years gone by, some pains to drill to the composed and reserved expression of Tellson's Bank.†
Chpt 1.4
- Her look so discomposed him that he stopped, wandered, and began anew: "As I was saying; if Monsieur Manette had not died; if he had suddenly and silently disappeared; if he had been spirited away; if it had not been difficult to guess to what dreadful place, though no art could trace him; if he had an enemy in some compatriot who could exercise a privilege that I in my own time have known the boldest people afraid to speak of in a whisper, across the water there; for instance, the…†
Chpt 1.4
- Madame Defarge was a stout woman of about his own age, with a watchful eye that seldom seemed to look at anything, a large hand heavily ringed, a steady face, strong features, and great composure of manner.†
Chpt 1.5 *
- At this second interchange of the Christian name, Madame Defarge, still using her toothpick with profound composure, coughed another grain of cough, and raised her eyebrows by the breadth of another line.†
Chpt 1.5
- You see how composed he has become, and you cannot be afraid to leave him with me now.†
Chpt 1.6
- He was quiet and attentive; watched the opening proceedings with a grave interest; and stood with his hands resting on the slab of wood before him, so composedly, that they had not displaced a leaf of the herbs with which it was strewn.†
Chpt 2.2
- The lion then composed himself on his back on a sofa on one side of the drinking-table, while the jackal sat at his own paper-bestrewn table proper, on the other side of it, with the bottles and glasses ready to his hand.†
Chpt 2.5
- She hurries to him, and they go on together, walking up and down, walking up and down, until he is composed.†
Chpt 2.6
- So, leaving only one light burning on the large hearth, he let his thin gauze curtains fall around him, and heard the night break its silence with a long sigh as he composed himself to sleep.†
Chpt 2.9
- "For instance," returned Madame Defarge, composedly, "shrouds."†
Chpt 2.15
- And as mere human knowledge can split a ray of light and analyse the manner of its composition, so, sublimer intelligences may read in the feeble shining of this earth of ours, every thought and act, every vice and virtue, of every responsible creature on it.†
Chpt 2.16 *
- "How long," demanded madame, composedly, "does it take to make and store the lightning?†
Chpt 2.16
- "Her husband's destiny," said Madame Defarge, with her usual composure, "will take him where he is to go, and will lead him to the end that is to end him.†
Chpt 2.16
- But, in the composure of his manner he was unaltered, except that to the shrewd glance of Mr. Lorry it disclosed some shadowy indication that the old air of avoidance and dread had lately passed over him, like a cold wind.†
Chpt 2.18
- In all other respects, however, he was so composedly himself, that Mr. Lorry determined to have the aid he sought.†
Chpt 2.19
- Here you see me!" said madame, composed as ever, but not knitting to-day.†
Chpt 2.21
- …him as the people drew one another back that they might see; now, a log of dead wood drawn through a forest of legs; he was hauled to the nearest street corner where one of the fatal lamps swung, and there Madame Defarge let him go—as a cat might have done to a mouse—and silently and composedly looked at him while they made ready, and while he besought her: the women passionately screeching at him all the time, and the men sternly calling out to have him killed with grass in his mouth.†
Chpt 2.22
- Checking the postmaster, who was for turning his horse's head to the yard (the drunken patriot sat composedly in his saddle looking on, with the line round his wrist), Darnay said, as soon as he could make his voice heard: "Friends, you deceive yourselves, or you are deceived.†
Chpt 3.1
- Lucie, my child, if ever you were brave and serviceable in your life—and you were always both—you will compose yourself now, to do exactly as I bid you; for more depends upon it than you can think, or I can say.†
Chpt 3.2
- "Your husband is not my business here," returned Madame Defarge, looking down at her with perfect composure.†
Chpt 3.3
- "You scarcely seem to like your hand," said Sydney, with the greatest composure.†
Chpt 3.8
- I released her arms, and called the woman to assist me to compose her figure and the dress she had torn.†
Chpt 3.10
- Nevertheless, it was not easy, with the face of his beloved wife fresh before him, to compose his mind to what it must bear.†
Chpt 3.13
- And now, while he was composed, and hoped that he could meet the end with quiet heroism, a new action began in his waking thoughts, which was very difficult to master.†
Chpt 3.13
- "Whatever housekeeping arrangement that may be," said Miss Pross, striving to dry her eyes and compose herself, "I have no doubt it is best that Mrs. Cruncher should have it entirely under her own superintendence.†
Chpt 3.14
- The necessity of composing her appearance so that it should attract no special notice in the streets, was another relief.†
Chpt 3.14
- She needed both advantages, for the marks of gripping fingers were deep in her face, and her hair was torn, and her dress (hastily composed with unsteady hands) was clutched and dragged a hundred ways.†
Chpt 3.14
- But for you, dear stranger, I should not be so composed, for I am naturally a poor little thing, faint of heart; nor should I have been able to raise my thoughts to Him who was put to death, that we might have hope and comfort here to-day.†
Chpt 3.15
Definitions:
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(compose as in: compose myself) to calm someone or settle something
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(compose as in: compose a poem) to write or create something with care -- especially music or a literary work, but could be other things as diverse as a plan or a letter