Examples of "would" for past habitual actions

Question

I am looking for authoritative literary examples of "would" being used to express a past habitual action, e.g.:
"As I child I would be crying all the time", or "When we lived there, we would walk along the promenade every night"
Could someone supply me with any such? (<== I'm not quite sure about this sentence, but that's life. Perhaps without "such", or with "some")

Anyhow, I hope you can help me. If somebody had the OED, it would be easier, maybe.
Bye, FB

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]I am looking for authoritative literary examples of "would" being used to express a past habitual action, e.g.: "As I ... or with "some") Anyhow, I hope you can help me. If somebody had the OED, it would be easier, maybe.[/nq]
Here are the relevant quotations in the OED CD-Rom :

c888 Ælfred Boeth. xxxv. §7 Wildu dior ðær woldon to irnan & stondan swilce hi tamu wæren. c1000 Ælfric Saints' Lives xxvi. 114 He wolde æfter uhtsange oftost hine ?ebiddan. c1290 Beket 26 in S. Eng. Leg. I.
107 Ofte-siþe heo wolde speke with him. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls)VIII. 33 Sche wolde selden come at cherche. 1470-85 Malory Arthur ix. xxxvii. 399 Euery day syr Palomydes wold repreue sir Tristram of old hate betwixe them. 1573 L. Lloyd Marrow of Hist. (1653) 40 The Athenians at any victory, would crown the Conqueror with a Garland made of Oken leaves. 1587 T. Underdown tr. Heliodorus vii. (1895) 184 So lay shee all that night+sometime would she rise up:. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII 210 They would also ruffle with Iurors. 1750 Gray Elegy 103 There at the foot of yonder nodding beech+His listless length at noontide would he stretch.
1805 Scott Last Minstr. iii. xvii, He never counted him a man, Wouldstrike below the knee. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxi, The girls would ask her+for a little music, and she would sing her three songs. 1915 W. Holt Beacon for Blind ***. 307 He would often return home exhausted from his work, and when Mrs. Fawcett read to him he would frequently fall fast asleep.
The + sign which appears from time to time is the way the peculiar OED ellipsis sign two dots is shown when I copy and paste.

Isabelle Cecchini

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I am looking for authoritative literary examples of "would" being used to express a past habitual action, e.g.: "As I child I would be crying all the time", or "When we lived there, we would walk along the promenade every night"[/nq]
I don't know about authoritative. Using Google and "would often":

(http://dickens.thefreelibrary.com/Great-Expectations/1-12)

Sometimes, she would coldly tolerate me; sometimes, she would condescend to me; sometimes, she would be quite familiar with me; sometimes, she would tell me energetically that she hated me. Miss Havisham would often ask me in a whisper ... And when I said yes ... would seem to enjoy it greedily. Also, when we played at cards Miss Havisham would look on ...
etc. etc. I can't stand Dickens, btw. A Hardy "would":
(http://www.literaturepage.com/read/tess-of-the-durbervilles-109.html)

But she would often clasp her hands behind her head and muse when she was supposed to be working hard.
Not so sure about this one:
(http://www.online-literature.com/austen/prideprejudice/10/)

A regard for the requester would often make one readily yield to a request without waiting for arguments to reason one into it.

She would bore us. Less would'en here:
(http://www.underthesun.cc/Classics/Austen/frieindsip/frieindsip4.html)

"Beware my Laura (she would often say) Beware of the insipid Vanities and idle Dissipations of the Metropolis of England; Beware of the unmeaning Luxuries of Bath and of the stinking fish of Southampton."
Woolf this down:
(http://www.literaturepage.com/read/woolf-night-and-day-84.html)

But silence depressed Mrs. Hilbery, and far from minding the presence of maids, she would often address herself to them, and was never altogether unconscious of their approval or disapproval of her remarks.
All these have "often" and may not suit your purposes. I have rushed my selection; others may do better.
R.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I am looking for authoritative literary examples of "would" being used to express a past habitual action, e.g.:[/nq]
They dwelt in a cold spot and a dangerous one; for a mountain towered above their heads, so steep, that the stones would often rumble down its sides and startle them at midnight.
Hawthorne, Ambitious Guest
Buck had a trick of love expression that was akin to hurt. He would often seize Thornton's hand in his mouth and close so fiercely that the flesh bore impress of his teeth for some time afterward.
London, Call of the Wild
The social compact would dissolve, and justice be extirpated the earth, of have only a casual existence were we callous to the touches of affection. The robber and the murderer, would often escape unpunished, did not the injuries which our tempers sustain, provoke us into justice.
Paine, Common Sense
She would often be lost in deep thought, with the saddest look upon her face.
Conan Doyle, Copper Beeches

Michael West

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"Isabelle Cecchini" (Email Removed) ha scritto nel messaggio
[nq:1]Here are the relevant quotations in the OED CD-Rom :[/nq]
Thank you very much.
[nq:1]Isabelle Cecchini[/nq]
Italian blood runs through your veins, I daresay!
Bye, FB

Usenet · Answer

"Rolleston" (Email Removed) ha scritto nel messaggio
[nq:1]I don't know about authoritative. Using Google and "would often": (http://www.literaturepage.com/read/tess-of-the-durbervilles-109.html) (http://www.online-literature.com/austen/prideprejudice/10/) (http://www.underthesun.cc/Classics/Austen/frieindsip/frieindsip4.html) (http://www.literaturepage.com/read/woolf-night-and-day-84.html)[/nq]
Thank you very much.
[nq:1]All these have "often" and may not suit your purposes. I have rushed my selection; others may do better.[/nq]
I think they'll do as well.
Bye, FB

Usenet · Answer

"Michael West" (Email Removed) ha scritto nel messaggio
[nq:1]They dwelt in a cold spot and a dangerous one; for a mountain towered above their heads, so steep, that the stones would often rumble down its sides and startle them at midnight. Hawthorne, Ambitious Guest[/nq]
[nq:1]She would often be lost in deep thought, with the saddest look upon her face. Conan Doyle, Copper Beeches[/nq]
Merci.
Bye, FB

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]FB a ?crit:[/nq]
[nq:2]I am looking for authoritative literary examples of "would" being ... If somebody had the OED, it would be easier, maybe.[/nq]
[nq:1]Here are the relevant quotations in the OED CD-Rom : c888 ?lfred Boeth. xxxv. §7 Wildu dior ??r woldon to ... time to time is the way the peculiar OED ellipsis sign two dots is shown when I copy and paste.[/nq]
What puzzled me was the character that appeared as Cyrillic 'zh' on my screen instead of "Wi".
Aha. When I clicked Send, I got a message saying what I had on my screen contained letters not contained in the standard character set.

Rob Bannister

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]c888 ?lfred Boeth. xxxv. §7 Wildu dior ??r woldon to ... Eng. Leg. I. 107 Ofte-si?e heo wolde speke with him.[/nq]
[nq:1]What puzzled me was the character that appeared as Cyrillic 'zh' on my screen instead of "Wi".[/nq]
I think it was an ash: = and =.
[nq:1]Aha. When I clicked Send, I got a message saying what I had on my screen contained letters not contained in the standard character set.[/nq]
Sorry about that. In my original message as I see it on my screen, the ash, the thorn and the eth had made it all right (or alright). The funny Anglo-Saxon didn't survive, though.
I'll try again:
?lfred =Aelfred
??r =thaer
w?ren =waeren
?lfric =Aelfric
?fter = aefter
?ebiddan = gebiddan.
Ofte-si?e = Ofte-sithe

Isabelle Cecchini

Examples of "would" for past habitual actions

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