work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
5612,"",Reading,2003-07-29 00:00:00 UTC,"O, Montagu! forgive me, if I sing
Thy wisdom tempered with the milder ray
Of soft humanity, and kindness bland:
So wide its influence, that the bright beams
Reach the low vale where mists of ignorance lodge,
Strike on the innate spark which lay immersed,
Thick-clogged, and almost quenched in total night--
On me it fell, and cheered my joyless heart.
Unwelcome is the first bright dawn of light
To the dark soul; impatient, she rejects,
And fain would push the heavenly stranger back;
She loathes the cranny which admits the day;
Confused, afraid of the intruding guest;
Disturbed, unwilling to receive the beam,
Which to herself her native darkness shows.
The effort rude to quench the cheering flame
Was mine, and e'en on Stella could I gaze
With sullen envy, and admiring pride,
Till, doubly roused by Montagu, the pair
Conspire to clear my dull, imprisoned sense,
And chase the mists which dimmed my visual beam.
Oft as I trod my native wilds alone,
Strong gusts of thought would rise, but rise to die;
The portals of the swelling soul ne'er oped
By liberal converse, rude ideas strove
Awhile for vent, but found it not, and died.
Thus rust the Mind's best powers. Yon starry orbs,
Majestic ocean, flowery vales, gay groves,
Eye-wasting lawns, and heaven-attempting hills
Which bound th' horizon, and which curb the view;
All those, with beauteous imagery, awaked
My ravished soul to ecstasy untaught,
To all the transport the rapt sense can bear;
But all expired, for want of powers to speak;
All perished in the mind as soon as born,
Erased more quick than cyphers on the shore,
O'er which cruel waves, unheedful roll.
Such timid rapture as young Edwin seized,
When his lone footsteps on the Sage obtrude,
Whose noble precept charmed his wondering
Such rapture filled Lactilla's vacant soul,
When the bright Moralist, in softness dressed,
Opes all the glories of the mental world,
Deigns to direct the infant thought, to prune
The budding sentiment, uprear the stalk
Of feeble fancy, bid idea live,
Woo the abstracted spirit form its cares,
And gently guide her to scenes of peace.
Mine was than balm, and mine the grateful heart,
Which breathes its thanks in rough, but timid strains.
(ll. 30-79, pp. 395-6)",,14996,•I've included all the stanzas but the first because of the density of metaphors (8 entries total).,"""Thus rust the Mind's best powers.""",Metal,2013-11-17 17:03:58 UTC,""
5666,Refinement,"Searching in HDIS (Poetry); found again ""mind"" and ""sterling""",2005-04-14 00:00:00 UTC,"Love was ever the touchstone to try the fine mind,
Sterling Virtue 'twill never debase;
No alloy can we know, from a passion refin'd,
But to Beauty it still adds a grace.
",,15133,"•INTEREST. Use in entry. A touchstone is ""A hard black stone, such as jasper or basalt, formerly used to test the quality of gold or silver by comparing the streak left on the stone by one of these metals with that of a standard alloy.""
•I've included twice: Silver and Alloy","""Love was ever the touchstone to try the fine mind, / Sterling Virtue 'twill never debase; / No alloy can we know, from a passion refin'd,""",Metal,2009-09-14 19:42:51 UTC,I've included the entire poem
5671,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2005-06-07 00:00:00 UTC,"Yet, who would dare, for all the wealth of Ind,
Quench that bright spark which burns, and still shall burn
Eternal in the soul? To Glory dead,
Creation must be desart! Virtue sleeps
While all the finest faculties of mind
Rust, like the iron long unus'd; then turn,
My dearest Fred'rick, turn, when glory calls,
But seize that point which trembles to the soul,
With sympathy magnetic. Self-applause
Is her most valu'd gem; she holds it high;
For who the spirit-raising gift receives
From aught, but just conviction, falsely boasts.
For me the wing of Time is nearly plum'd;
For thee, yet scarcely fledg'd; yet, when the hour
Of Judgment comes, with filial feeling join'd,
Remember, Frederick, 'twas a Mother's wish,
That self-denying Virtue, rigid Rule,
And Heaven-attempting Hope be ever thine.",,15139,•I've included twice: Rust and Iron,"""Virtue sleeps / While all the finest faculties of mind / Rust, like the iron long unus'd""",Metal,2009-09-14 19:42:52 UTC,""
5746,"",Reading,2003-07-28 00:00:00 UTC,"C------e, whom providence hath placed
In the rich realms of polished taste,
Where judgment penetrates to find
The treasures of the unwrought mind,
Where conversation's ardent spirit
Refines from dross the ore of merit,
Where emulation aids the flame
And stamps the sterling bust of fame:
Can you, accustomed to behold
The purest intellectual gold,
Where genius sheds its living rays,
Bright as the sunny diamonds blaze,
Like idle virtuouso deign
To pick up pebbles from the plain?
Pleased if the worthless flints pretend
Fantastic characters to blend;
These in your cabinet insert,
And real excellence desert?
(ll. 1-18, p. 382 in Lonsdale; cf. p. 115-6 in 1791 ed.)",,15305,"•The poet asks Mrs C----e to suppose her a pebble.
•Rich verses. I've included four times: Treasure, Dross and Ore, Sterling, Stamp — now 5 times","""In the rich realms of polished taste, / Where judgment penetrates to find / The treasures of the unwrought mind, / Where conversation's ardent spirit / Refines from dross the ore of merit, / Where emulation aids the flame / And stamps the sterling bust of fame.""",Impressions and Metal,2014-02-22 04:59:37 UTC,""
6048,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""dross"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-07-19 00:00:00 UTC,"When resignation, bending from the sky,
Steals the fond lingering tear from virtue's eye;
When the keen agonies of grief are flown,
And reason triumphs on her tranquil throne;
The Muse to worth and genius tunes her lyre,
While the chords glisten with celestial fire:
The Muse, in strains untutor'd, and unsought,
Soars on the pinions of enraptur'd thought;
While memory to her eagle eye pourtrays
The lustrous tablet of a nation's praise;
While fame, exulting, spreads her fost'ring wings,
And truth spontaneous sweeps the bounding strings!
Hark! the full chords in mystic sounds aspire,
To swell the chorus of the heavenly choir!
Where, to seraphic harps, ethereal borne,
The song of patience bids us cease to mourn;
Contemns the tear that gems each kindred eye,
Calms the quick throb, and checks the frequent sigh!
While, 'midst the blaze of pure Promethean light,
The meek-ey'd cherub bends to mortal sight!
See from her dazzling wing soft essence pour
Heaven's sacred balm for mis'ry's darkest hour;
When Fate inexorable deals her blow
O'er this rude wilderness of human woe,
'Till virtue, pointing out the purer mind,
Secures the gem, and leaves the dross behind,
Claims the bright spirit from its native clod,
And bears it, spotless, to the sight of God!
Yet, Reynolds, while the winged minstrels join
In all the melodies of sounds divine,
Round thy cold image, on its icy bed,
Some light illumes the mansion of the dead;
An unextinguish'd light, that gilds the gloom
Where weeping genius guards her fav'rite's tomb!
Brightly it shines where thy pure ashes sleep;
And while pale melancholy hides to weep,
Fame, with glittering wing, shall fan the fire,
To shed new lustre on the Muse's lyre!",,16067,"•Note, not all Dross metaphors are Metal metaphors... This, for example, is a Gem Metaphor (Precious Stone?... Do I even need an entry yet?) I should only include certain dross metaphors in the Metal entry.","""'Till virtue, pointing out the purer mind, / Secures the gem, and leaves the dross behind, / Claims the bright spirit from its native clod, / And bears it, spotless, to the sight of God!""","",2009-09-14 19:45:36 UTC,""
7080,"",Reading,2011-09-02 18:47:06 UTC,"Shall Virtue's lips record, and claim
The fairest honors of thy name!
'Tis ever Nature's gen'rous view;
Great minds should noble ends pursue;
As the clear sun-beam, when most bright,
Warms, in proportion to its light.--
And RICHMOND, he! who, high in birth,
Adds the unfading rays of worth;
Who stoops, from scenes in radiance drest,
To east the mourner's aching breast;
The tale of private woe to hear,
And wipe the friendless orphan's tear!--
His bosom for the Captive bleeds,
He, Guardian of the injur'd! pleads
With all the force that Genius gives,
And warmth that but with Virtue lives;
For Virtue, with divine controul,
Collects the various powers of soul;
And lends, from her unsullied source,
The gems of thought their purest force.
(pp. 5-6, ll. 61-80)",,19120,"","""For Virtue, with divine controul, / Collects the various powers of soul; / And lends, from her unsullied source, / The gems of thought their purest force.""","",2011-09-02 18:47:06 UTC,""
7080,"",Reading,2011-09-02 19:11:33 UTC,"Who, from his far-divided shore,
The half-expiring Captive bore?
Those, whom the traffic of their race
Has robb'd of every human grace;
Whose harden'd souls no more retain
Impressions Nature stamp'd in vain;
All that distinguishes their kind,
For ever blotted from their mind;
As streams, that once the landscape gave
Reflected on the trembling wave,
Their substance change, when lock'd in frost,
And rest, in dead contraction lost;--
Who view unmov'd, the look, that tells
The pang that in the bosom dwells;
Heed not the nerves that terror shakes,
The heart convulsive anguish breaks;
The shriek that would their crimes upbraid,
But deem despair a part of trade.--
Such only, for detested gain,
The barb'rous commerce would maintain.
The gen'rous sailor, he, who dares
All forms of danger, while he bears
The BRITISH Flag o'er untrack'd seas,
And spreads it on the polar breeze;
He, who in Glory's high career,
Finds agony, and death are dear;
To whose protecting arm we owe
Each blessing that the happy know;
Whatever charms the soften'd heart,
Each cultur'd grace, each finer art,
E'en thine, most lovely of the train!
Sweet Poetry! thy heav'n-taught strain--
His breast, where nobler passions burn,
In honest poverty, would spurn
That wealth, Oppression can bestow,
And scorn to wound a fetter'd foe.
True courage in the unconquer'd soul
Yields to Compassion's mild controul;
As, the resisting frame of steel
The magnet's secret force can feel.
(pp. 13-6, ll. 209-247)",,19127,INTEREST: USE IN ENTRY,"""True courage in the unconquer'd soul / Yields to Compassion's mild controul; / As, the resisting frame of steel / The magnet's secret force can feel.""",Metal,2011-09-02 19:11:33 UTC,""
7080,"",Reading,2011-09-02 19:21:06 UTC,"When borne at length to Western Lands,
Chain'd on the beach the Captive stands,
Where Man, dire merchandize! is sold,
And barter'd life is paid for gold;
In mute affliction, see him try
To read his new possessor's eye;
If one blest glance of mercy there,
One half-form'd tear may check despair!--
Ah, if that eye with sorrow sees
His languid look, his quiv'ring knees,
Those limbs, which scarce their load sustain,
That form, consum'd in wasting pain;
Such sorrow melts his ruthless eye
Who sees the lamb, he doom'd to die,
In pining sickness yield his life,
And thus elude the sharpen'd knife.--
Or, if where savage habit steels
The vulgar mind, one bosom feels
The sacred claim of helpless woe--
If Pity in that soil can grow;
Pity! whose tender impulse darts
With keenest force on nobler hearts;
As flames that purest essence boast,
Rise highest when they tremble most.--
Yet why on one poor chance must rest
The int'rests of a kindred breast?
Humanity's devoted cause
Recline on Humour's wayward laws?
To Passions rules must Justice bend,
And life upon Caprice depend?--
(pp. 16-18, ll. 249-278)",,19128,"","""Or, if where savage habit steels / The vulgar mind, one bosom feels / The sacred claim of helpless woe-- / If Pity in that soil can grow; / Pity! whose tender impulse darts / With keenest force on nobler hearts; / As flames that purest essence boast, / Rise highest when they tremble most.""",Metal,2011-09-02 19:21:06 UTC,""
5681,Meta-Metaphorical,Reading,2012-08-14 14:32:46 UTC,"When the fierce Sun darts vertical his beams,
And thirst and hunger mix their wild extremes;
When the sharp iron * wounds his inmost soul,
And his strain'd eyes in burning anguish roll;
Will the parch'd negro find, ere he expire,
No pain in hunger, and no heat in fire?
[...]
* This is not said figuratively. The writer of these lines has seen a complete set of chains, fitted to every separate limb of these unhappy, innocent men; together with instruments for wrenching open the jaws, contrived with such ingenious cruelty as would shock the humanity of an inquisitor.
(ll. 171-6, p. 13, p. 106 in Wood)",,19915,"CRAZY! USE IN ENTRY: ""This is not said figuratively.""","""When the sharp iron wounds his inmost soul, / And his strain'd eyes in burning anguish roll; / Will the parch'd negro find, ere he expire, / No pain in hunger, and no heat in fire?""",Fetters,2012-08-14 14:33:41 UTC,""
7996,"",Searching in ECCO,2014-07-29 20:08:47 UTC,"[...]
The storm once past, he gains the friendly ray
Of hope, to guide him through the dang'rous way;
Smiling, she bids each future prospect rise,
Through fancy's vary'd mirror, to his eyes.
Not so the slave; oppress'd with secret care,
He sinks the hapless victim of despair;
Or, doom'd to torments that might even move
The steely heart, and melt it into love;
Till worn with anguish, with'ring in his bloom,
He falls an early tenant of the tomb! [...]
(p. 20)",,24351,"","""Not so the slave; oppress'd with secret care, / He sinks the hapless victim of despair; / Or, doom'd to torments that might even move / The steely heart, and melt it into love; / Till worn with anguish, with'ring in his bloom, / He falls an early tenant of the tomb!""",Metal,2014-07-29 20:08:47 UTC,""