will-o'-wisp

The lame girl was very sorry to lose this little will-o'-wisp neighbor who had brought so much sunshine into her life during her short stay at the parsonage, but Elizabeth was to visit her every day, and the

The Lilac Lady Ruth Alberta Brown

She is the Fenella of the fireside; the will-o'-wisp of our souls; our gaiety; the life of the house.

Women in the Life of Balzac Juanita Helm Floyd

Sometimes it seemed to her as if this solemn-eyed child purposely misunderstood, and mocked at her attempts to lead unwilling feet along the path of learning, and she was at a loss to know how to deal with the sprightly elf who danced and flitted about like an elusive will-o'-wisp.

Heart of Gold Ruth Alberta Brown

I say dissipation, comparatively with the strictness, and sobriety, and regularity of Presbyterian country life; for though the will-o'-wisp meteors of thoughtless whim were almost the sole lights of my path, yet early ingrained piety and virtue kept me for several years afterward within the line of innocence.

Stories of Achievement, Volume IV (of 6) Authors and Journalists Various 1918

The ideal impetuosity of youthful movements aiming at emancipation is depicted by anti-democratic writers as a pious illusion, as the pursuit of a will-o'-wisp, arising from the need to make the particular good assume the aspect of the general good.

Political Parties; a Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy 1916

From gloom where mocks that will-o'-wisp, Freewill,

Songs of a Sourdough 1916

Followed stream down to very shoal bay of our big water, which like the will-o'-wisp has led us on.

Woman's Way Through Unknown Labrador Mina Benson Hubbard 1913

That he should care so, that he should have set his hopes on her, his star -- a will-o'-wisp of devious ways!

The Good Comrade Una Lucy Silberrad 1913

He begins generally well, but long ere the close, quibbles, conceits, and the temptation of shewing off recondite learning, prove too strong for him, and he who commenced following a serene star, ends pursuing a will-o'-wisp into a bottomless morass.

Specimens with Memoirs of the Less-known British Poets, Volume 1 George Gilfillan 1845

He begins generally well, but long ere the close, quibbles, conceits, and the temptation of shewing off recondite learning, prove too strong for him, and he who commenced following a serene star, ends pursuing a will-o'-wisp into a bottomless morass.

Specimens with Memoirs of the Less-known British Poets, Complete George Gilfillan 1845