Riddle me this?

Ever since I was a young lad I have always been fascinated by a well worded riddle that within the question held the answer no matter how much it seemed impossible to solve at the time of reading.

I recently came across such a store of them although many were either far to easy to solve or almost nonsensical due to our modern language having changed usage so much since they were written.

And so I have taken and re-written some of them so as to modernise them somewhat to twist your brains into knots and keep you awake at night (much as some of them did for me before I would allow myself to read the answer) and perhaps give you all something to do while wasting some time :).

The riddles are in a short verse form and followed by dashes indicating the number of letters in the answer.
I encourage you to please leave comments if you think you have the right answers.
If you have an answer that seems to make sense but doesn't match the number of letters post it anyway as it could be another interpretation for the riddle.

Each Riddle has a coresponding number so just type the number of the riddle and then the one word answer :).

I am planning on posting the answers in my next weekly update but that may change if people want more time to try and work them out.

So without further preamble...

1: A thoughtful gift,
Yet it has no beginning or end,
And in the middle, nothing

_ _ _ _

2: A strange earthen house,
Faces many seasons of rain
And yet those who stay there,
Never do complain.

_ _ _ _

3: All around the house,
With his Lady he dances.
Still he always works,
And never romances.

_ _ _ _ _

4: Barrels, baskets, chests and cans;
What do you fill with empty hands?

_ _ _ _ _

5: Most everyone offers this thing.
But not many will take it when it
is offered by someone else.

_ _ _ _ _ _

6: He grows short when he gets old.
He goes out then it gets cold.
His orange eye blinks.
The burning tears flow.
But what his sorrow is,
None may ever know.

_ _ _ _ _ _

7: It glides without wings,
Falls without fear,
But should it be held in warm hands,
Soon shall it disappear.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

8: A journey whose path depends,
upon an other's vision
of where it ends.

_ _ _ _ _

9: Sometimes too much for one.
Two it is meant for.
But it no longer can exist,
When the two become more.

_ _ _ _ _ _

10: It has never been before.
It is not now.
Fools forever wait for it.

_ _ _ _ _ _

11: A name known gives power,
Magic to control.
But what is broken,
by naming it?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

12: Many languages of men
can be mastered.
But what English word
is always pronounced wrong?

_ _ _ _ _

13: This one runs on forever,
But never moves at all.
He has not lungs, nor throat, nor breath
Still gives a mighty roaring call.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

14: Easy to see,
when allowed to plume,
It is hard to see,
Whilst in a room.

_ _ _ _ _

15: Today it is here to trip you up,
And it will torture you tomorrow.
Yet it is there also to ease your pain,
When you become lost in grief and sorrow.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

16: Identical they are on either side of
a ridge that smells.
They can never see
each other directly.

_ _ _ _

17: Both up and down they can go,
but never ever move.

_ _ _ _ _ _

18: You can see it in winter
but never in summer.
And even though it is as light
as a feather, the mightiest man
can't hold it for long.

_ _ _ _ _ _