“It was not the house that grew dull, but I that grew dull in it. My wife was better than all women, and yet I could not feel it.”

“I grew sodden with light; my skin on the inside glowed a dull red.”

“Though he sought simplicity, he dread dulness. Dimly conscious that he was dull himself, he craved the stimulus of a quicker mind; yet he feared a dull wife less than a brilliant one, for with the latter how could he maintain his superiority?”

“Her house looked cold from the foggy lea,And the square of each window a dull black blurWhere showed no stir:Yes, her gloom within at the lack of meSeemed matching mine at the lack of her.The black squares grew to be squares of lightAs the eyeshade swathed the house and lawn,And viols gave tone;There was glee within. And I found that nightThe gloom of severance mine alone”

“How shall I abideIn this dull world, which in thy absence isNo better than a sty?”

“With wine and food, the confidence of my own table, and the necessity of reassuring my wife, I grew by insensible degrees courageous and secure.”