work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
3866,"","Reading. Found again in S. H. Clark's ""'Pendet Homo Incertus': Gray's Response to Locke,"" in Eighteenth-Century Studies 24.4 (1991): 492.",2003-09-15 00:00:00 UTC,"Concerning the several degrees of lasting, wherewith Ideas are imprinted on the Memory, we may observe, That some of them have been produced in the Understanding, by an Object affecting the Senses once only, and no more than once: Others, that have more than once offer'd themselves to the Senses, have yet been little taken notice of; the Mind, either heedless, as in Children, or otherwise employ'd, as in Men, intent only on one thing, not setting the stamp deep into it self. And in some, where they are set on with care and repeated impressions, either through the temper of the Body, or some other default, the Memory is very weak: In all these cases, Ideas in the Mind, quickly fade, and often vanish quite out of the Understanding, leaving no more footsteps or remaining Characters of themselves, than Shadows do flying over fields of Corn; and the Mind is as void of them, as if they never had been there.
(II.x.4)",,9962,"•Wonderfully mixed metaphor.
•I've included thrice: Footstep, Character, Shadow, Field","""In all these cases, Ideas in the Mind, quickly fade, and often vanish quite out of the Understanding, leaving no more footsteps or remaining Characters of themselves, than Shadows do flying over fields of Corn; and the Mind is as void of them, as if they never had been there.""",Impressions,2016-03-26 19:02:31 UTC,II.x.4.
4153,Flights of Fancy,Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2005-08-29 00:00:00 UTC,"Here proper Ferments animate the Blood,
And give just Vigour to the bounding Flood.
The vital Streams with due impulsive Force
Spring from the Heart, and triumph in their Course;
Rarely a dull unagitated Mass
Do's lazy linger in its circling Race:
Nor do's a flaming rapid Torrent fry
The winding Tubes, and leave the Muscles dry;
While the mild Dews, forc'd with too great a Fire,
Desert the Limbs, and thro' the Pores perspire.
The Purple Streams, warm to a just Degree,
From Dregs and unconcocted Juices free,
As they pervade the Channels of the Brain,
Their purer Parts thro' the fine Meshes strain.
These active Liquors, which Admission find
Thro' the strait Paths, and leave the coarse behind,
Swift to the inmost Rooms their Passage beat,
And crowd around the Soul's Imperial Seat;
Of subtile Matter form'd, refin'd and bright,
As Light'ning sprightly, and serene as Light,
Watching their Soveraign's Nod, they ready stand
Apt to perform the Mind's supream Command.
Such noble Vital Instruments are fit
For Reason's Works, and beauteous Turns of Wit.
With finer Strokes they move the tender Strings
Tun'd in the Brain, whence clear Perception springs.
When Fancy makes superior Flight her Aim,
Wing'd with this vig'rous, clear seraphick Flame,
She ranges Nature's universal Frame;
Bright Seeds of Thought from various Objects takes,
Whence her fair Scenes and Images she makes:
Spirits so swift, so fine, so bold, so strong,
Gave Milton Genius fit for Milton's Song.",2009-07-31,10720,•I had included twice: Birds and Seeds. — I've since decide this is not an Animal metaphor: REVISED (Uncategorized::Wing),"""When Fancy makes superior Flight her Aim, / Wing'd with this vig'rous, clear seraphick Flame, / She ranges Nature's universal Frame; / Bright Seeds of Thought from various Objects takes, / Whence her fair Scenes and Images she makes: / Spirits so swift, so fine, so bold, so strong, / Gave Milton Genius fit for Milton's Song.""","",2013-06-04 15:27:07 UTC,""
4153,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2006-03-13 00:00:00 UTC,"And hence, ye various Nations dull of Thought,
To near the Solar Orb, or too remote,
Stupid of Mind, and obstinate of Will,
Unconscious of the Rules of Good and Ill,
Rarely your Souls to pious Acts incline,
Or feel th' impulsive Force of Light Divine:
Obdurate, rarely in your yielding Breast,
You entertain the Beatifick Guest.
Your Hearts, as barren as your Rocks and Sand,
Her Charms and pow'rful Influence withstand;
Whose heav'nly Rays defeated thence recoil,
Like Sun-Beams wasted on unfruitful Soil.",,10728,"•I've included thrice: Rock, Sand, Soil","""Your Hearts, as barren as your Rocks and Sand, / Her Charms and pow'rful Influence withstand; / Whose heav'nly Rays defeated thence recoil, / Like Sun-Beams wasted on unfruitful Soil.""","",2009-09-14 19:35:13 UTC,""
4167,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2006-01-18 00:00:00 UTC,"The Heart, as said, from its contracted Cave
On the Left Side, Ejects the bounding Wave.
Exploded thus, as splitting Channels lead,
Upward it springs, or downward is convey'd.
The Crimson Jets rais'd with Elastic Force
Swift to the Seats of Sense pursue their Course;
Arterial Streams thro' the soft Brain diffuse,
And water all its Fields with vital Dews.
From this o'erflowing Tyde the curious Brain
Does thro' its Pores the purer Spirits strain;
Which to its inmost Seats their Passage make,
Whence their dark Rise th' extended Sinews take.
With all their Mouths the Nerves these Spirits drink,
Which thro' the Cells of the fine Strainer sink.
These all the channel'd Fibres ev'ry way
For Motion and Sensation still convey.
The greatest Portion of th' Arterial Blood,
By the close Structure of the Parts withstood,
Whose narrow Meshes stop the grosser Flood,
By apt Canals and Furrows in the Brain,
Which here discharge the Office of a Vein,
Invert their Current, and the Heart regain.
(VI, ll. 362-383, pp. 286-7)",,10809,"•I've included four times: Seat, Stream, Field, Dew
•Note, like the previous metaphors, this is really a physiological and not psychological metaphor. Issue of categorization here. REVISIT.","""The Crimson Jets rais'd with Elastic Force / Swift to the Seats of Sense pursue their Course; / Arterial Streams thro' the soft Brain diffuse, / And water all its Fields with vital Dews.""",Throne,2013-08-07 16:06:35 UTC,Book VI
7168,"",Reading in EEBO,2012-01-12 17:28:50 UTC,"[...] The ingenious Montaign, enquiring into the reason why Men of Learning do generally seem to be more uncouth in their Discourse as also more unfit for Business than other Men, saith, I cannot conceive the true Cause hereof, unless it be, that as Plants are Choakt by over-much Moisture, and Lamps are Stifl'd with too much Oil; so are the Actions of the Mind overwhelm'd by over-abundance of Matter and Study: And in a diversity of things, as in a mist, the Mind is apt to lose it self. [...]
(pp. 89-90)",,19451,"","""I cannot conceive the true Cause hereof [that Men of Learning are uncouth in their discourse], unless it be, that as Plants are Choakt by over-much Moisture, and Lamps are Stifl'd with too much Oil; so are the Actions of the Mind overwhelm'd by over-abundance of Matter and Study.""","",2012-01-12 17:28:50 UTC,Essay II. The Great Mischief and Prejudice of Learning; And that a Wise Man ought to be preferr'd before a Man of Learning
4153,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2012-07-02 14:27:23 UTC,"As Rays direct are hurtful to the Mind,
So by their Heat our Nature is inclin'd
To various Passions, of destructive Kind.
The vital Ferments they exalt so high,
Their Dews exhal'd, the Channels grow so dry,
That fiery Spirits rising from the Blood,
Adust Extraction of the boiling Flood,
Thro' all their fib'rous Paths malignant dart,
Furious extend the Limbs, and fierce impel the Heart.
The Fire, untemper'd with proportion'd Flegme,
Scorches their Veins, and burns the Meagre Frame.
These Spirits rais'd from Choler to the Brain,
Like those extracted from the basest Grain,
Impure and crude, produce unnatural Heat,
And an ignoble Flame of Life create.
The Natives hence no tender Motions find,
No generous Passions agitate their Mind.
Fierce is their Rage, and all the Savage Beast
Reigns in their Soul, and haunts their desart Breast;
Where Hate, Revenge, and Jealousy are bred,
And livid Envy hides her spleenful Head.
(i, pp. 7-8)",,19833,See previous stanzas: Blackmore is versifying an environmental theory of passions. Sunny nations more choleric.,"""These Spirits rais'd from Choler to the Brain, / Like those extracted from the basest Grain, / Impure and crude, produce unnatural Heat, / And an ignoble Flame of Life create.""","",2012-07-02 15:03:45 UTC,Book I
7551,"",C-H Lion,2013-07-20 20:57:22 UTC,"DUKE OF GLOSTER.
Your Counsel likes me well, it shall be follow'd.
She waits without attending on her Suit,
Go, call her in, and leave us here alone.
[Exeunt. Ratcliff and Catesby.]
How poor a Thing is he, how worthy Scorn,
Who leaves the Guidance of Imperial Manhood
To such a paltry piece of Stuff as this is;
A Moppet made of Prettiness and Pride;
That oftner does her giddy Fancies change,
Than glittering Dew-drops in the Sun do Colours.--
Now shame upon it! Was our Reason given
For such a Use! to be thus puff'd about
Like a dry Leaf, an idle Straw, a Feather,
The Sport of every whifling Blast that blows?
Beshrew my Heart, but it is wond'rous strange;
Sure there is something more than Witchcraft in them,
That masters ev'n the wisest of us all.
[Enter Jane Shore.]
Oh! You are come most fitly. We have ponder'd
On this your Grievance: And tho' some there are,
Nay, and those Great Ones too, who wou'd enforce
The Rigour of our Power to afflict you,
And bear a heavy Hand, yet fear not you,
We've ta'en you to our Favour, our Protection
Shall stand between, and sheild you from Mishap.
(IV.i, pp. 36-7)",,21905,"","""Was our Reason given / For such a Use! to be thus puff'd about / Like a dry Leaf, an idle Straw, a Feather, / The Sport of every whifling Blast that blows?""","",2013-07-20 20:57:22 UTC,"Act IV, scene i"
7929,"",Reading,2018-03-20 19:54:01 UTC,"The Sett of Ideas, which we received from such a Prospect or Garden, having entered the Mind at the same time, have a Sett of Traces belonging to them in the Brain, bordering very near upon one another; when, therefore, any one of these Ideas arises in the Imagination, and consequently dispatches a flow of Animal Spirits to its proper Trace, these Spirits, in the Violence of their Motion, run not only into the Trace, to which they were more particularly directed, but into several of those that lie about it: By this means they awaken other Ideas of the same Sett, which immediately determine a new Dispatch of Spirits, that in the same manner open other Neighbouring Traces, till at last the whole Sett of them is blown up, and the whole Prospect or Garden flourishes in the Imagination. But because the Pleasure we received from these Places far surmounted, and overcame the little Disagreeableness we found in them; for this Reason there was at first a wider Passage worn in the Pleasure Traces, and, on the contrary, so narrow a one in those which belonged to the disagreeable Ideas, that they were quickly stopt up, and rendered incapable of receiving any Animal Spirits, and consequently of exciting any unpleasant Ideas in the Memory.
(Cf. III, p. 563 in Bond ed.)",,25155,"With ""flourishes"" being itself a metaphor! Lovely: the garden flourishes in the imagination...","""By this means they awaken other Ideas of the same Sett, which immediately determine a new Dispatch of Spirits, that in the same manner open other Neighbouring Traces, till at last the whole Sett of them is blown up, and the whole Prospect or Garden flourishes in the Imagination.""","",2018-03-20 19:54:01 UTC,""