text,updated_at,metaphor,created_at,context,theme,reviewed_on,dictionary,comments,provenance,id,work_id
"Thus into Nature's Secrets Men descend,
And may to Knowledge in her Works pretend;
But who can Heav'n's deep Counsels comprehend?
Who can inform th' Enquirer, who can tell
Where Skill Divine, and Heav'nly Wisdom dwell?
For sensless Man its value does not know,
'Tis never found midst Mortals here below.
The Land exclaims aloud, I am not blest
To be th' abode of this Celestial Guest.
The Sea and all its noisy Waves, declare,
In vain you seek the sacred Stranger here.
Th' Infernal Deep cries with a hollow Sound,
Here's no Apartment for her under ground.
Th' unvaluable Blessing can't be bought,
With all the golden Wealth from Ophir brought.
He that has Wisdom Rubies will despise,
And Pearl, if tender'd as an equal Price.
Saphires and Diamonds, with vast labour sought,
The Topaz fetch'd from Countries far remote;
Which worn by mighty Kings, attract regard,
Are worthless Toys, with this bright Gem compar'd.
Who can instruct us then whence Wisdom flows?
And who the place of Understanding knows:
Since after strict enquiry we despair
To find it in the Land, the Sea, or Air?
Death and Destruction cry, midst all our Slaves
We ne'r saw Wisdom; to our secret Caves
We the Celestial Stranger ne'er convey'd,
Nor hid her in our solitary Shade.
We only are acquainted with her Name,
Have only heard of her Immortal Fame.
Only the Great All-penetrating God
Knows his own Offspring, Wisdom's blest abode.
For he surveys from Heav'n's bright Crystal brow,
The vast expanded Universe below;
The spacious liquid Vales of Sky and Air,
And all his Worlds, that hang in order there.
The Bounds of Nature, Chaos, and old Night,
Limit the Sun's, but not its Maker's Sight:
He has in Prospect this Terrestrial Isle,
And sees th' extreamest Bound'rys of its Soil.
He forms the various Meteors which appear
Thro' the low Regions of the Atmosphere.
He deals out to the Winds their proper weight,
Gives them their Wings, and then directs their Flight.
He measures out the drops with wondrous Skill,
Which the black Clouds his floating Bottles fill.
When he decreed the manner of the Rain,
And did the Lightning's crooked Path ordain;
When he appointed Nature's course and way,
And gave command that thence she should not stray;
Then Wisdom he beheld, he search'd with care
His own All-seeing Mind, and found it there.
He oft reflected on the sacred Guest,
Which had her fixt abode within his Breast,
And in his Works her God-like Form exprest.
But then to Man, to whom he had deny'd
The perfect Knowledge of his Ways, he cry'd,
The Fear of God is Wisdom, to depart
From Evil, this is Science, this is Art.
Attempt to know no more than God reveals,
Search not the Secrets which his Breast conceals.
In this Abyss trust not thy vent'rous Oar,
Wouldst thou be safe, then keep upon the Shore,
And from afar this awful Deep adore.
Thy Happiness in being Righteous lies,
Be Good, and in Perfection thou art wise.
Justly thou mayst despise the boastful Schools,
And learned Cant of grave, disputing Fools.",2009-09-14 19:34:53 UTC,"""He oft reflected on the sacred Guest, / Which had her fixt abode within his Breast, / And in his Works her God-like Form exprest.""",2006-03-15 00:00:00 UTC,"","",,Inhabitants,•I've included twice: Guest and Abode,"Searching ""breast"" and ""guest"" in HDIS (Poetry)",10327,3963
"Here too did Clifford's Course of Glory end,
A Man of Honour, and a faithful Friend.
None the Theorbo with a softer Hand,
Few with a stronger did the Sword command.
Whene'er he took the Lute, or grasp'd the Spear,
He touch'd the Heart with Pleasure, or with Fear.
By the same Hand, the Lute, the Lance, the Foe,
Did tremble in their turn, and like Emotion show.
The envious Ball pass'd thro' from Ear to Ear,
And did the tuneful Drums to pieces tear,
Which aeiey Accents beat, to make us hear.
It did the curious Instruments confound,
And all the winding Labarynths of Sound,
The charming Musick-Rooms, that entertain
The Soul high seated in her Throne the Brain.
(Bk IV, pp. 104-5)
",2014-07-02 16:49:58 UTC,"""It did the curious Instruments confound, / And all the winding Labarynths of Sound, / The charming Musick-Rooms, that entertain / The Soul high seated in her Throne the Brain.""",2004-07-28 00:00:00 UTC,Book IV,"",2012-01-12,Inhabitants and Throne,•I've included twice: Government and Architecture,"Searching ""throne"" and ""soul"" in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in ECCO.",10455,4038
"When other Potentates their Subjects scare,
With fain'd Invasions, and pretended War,
To make their Kingdoms bleed at every Vein;
And to enrich themselves, their Subjects drain:
Th'indulgent Queen, when Danger was sincere,
The Mother felt, and did her Britons spare.
When for their own Defence, she ask'd their Aid,
She with Reluctance easy Burdens laid.
She publick Wants and Pressures to supply,
Her State, and private Pleasures did deny.
From publick Thrift, to Sov'raign Pow'rs unknown,
She streighten'd for her Subjects Ease, the Crown;
Their Families to spare, almost distress'd her own.
She frugal of their Treasure and their Blood,
Still quitting private Ends for publick Good;
Friends to her Empire all her Subjects made,
And in their Hearts its deep Foundations laid.",2009-09-14 19:35:00 UTC,"A monarch may make ""all her Subjects"" ""Friends to her Empire and ""in their Hearts"" lay ""its deep Foundations""",2004-08-19 00:00:00 UTC,"","",,"",•I've included twice: Empire and Architecture,"Searching ""heart"" and ""empire"" in HDIS (Poetry)",10457,4038
"Haughton, for finer Conversation nam'd,
For shining Wit, and Erudition fam'd,
Lay, helpless Man! extended on the Ground,
And pour'd his vital Purple from his Wound.
The deadly Bullet thro' his Forehead past,
An Inch above the Eye-brows, and effac'd
The Haunts and Tracks of Learning in the Brain,
The num'rous Lodgings, which did entertain
All Mem'ry's crowded Guests, and Fancy's aeiry Train.",2009-09-14 19:35:01 UTC,"A bullet may efface ""The num'rous Lodgings, which did entertain / All Mem'ry's crowded Guests, and Fancy's aeiry Train.""",2006-03-08 00:00:00 UTC,"","",,Inhabitants,"•Great passage. INTEREST.
•I've included four times: Lodging, Crowd, Guest, Train","Searching ""fancy"" and ""crowd"" in HDIS (Poetry)",10470,4038
"In vain you hope Illustrious Youth will shine
Beneath th' Æquator, or th' Ecliptick Line;
Where Sun-burnt Nations, of a swarthy Skin,
Are fully'd o'er with blacker Clouds within.
Their Spirits suffer by too hot a Ray,
And their dry Brain grows dark with too much Day.
For while the Solar Orb, with Heat intense,
Concocts their Gold, it dissipates their Sense:
So much his Beam the Nerves of Moisture drains,
So draws transpiring Vapours from the Veins
Thro' gaping Pores, the Channels can't diffuse
O'er the parcht Head, sufficient gentle Dews.
Their Spirits burning with too fierce a Fire
Unqualify'd by proper Flegme, acquire
A Disposition so inept for Thought,
Few just Perceptions in their Minds are wrought.
The scorcht and pathless Desarts of the Brain,
Want proper Caves and Cells to entertain
A Crowd of airy Forms and long Ideal Train.",2009-09-14 19:35:12 UTC,"""The scorcht and pathless Desarts of the Brain, / Want proper Caves and Cells to entertain / A Crowd of airy Forms and long Ideal Train.""",2005-08-28 00:00:00 UTC,"","",,"","•I've included thrice: Desert, Cell, and Cave. INTEREST. Postcolonial. USE.",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),10712,4153
"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.",2009-09-14 19:35:13 UTC,"""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.""",2005-08-29 00:00:00 UTC,"",Interiority,2009-05-26,Rooms,"•I've included thrice: Rooms, Crowd, Seat","Searching ""soul"" and ""room"" in HDIS (Poetry)",10715,4153
"These Out-guards of the Mind are sent abroad,
And still patrolling beat the neighb'ring Road:
Or to the Parts remote obedient fly,
Keep Posts advanc'd, and on the Frontier lye.
The watchful Centinels at ev'ry Gate,
At ev'ry Passage to the Senses wait.
Still travel to and fro the Nervous way,
And their Impressions to the Brain convey,
Where their Report the Vital Envoys make,
And with new Orders are remanded back.
Quick, as a darted Beam of Light, they go,
Thro' diff'rent Paths to diff'rent Organs flow,
Whence they reflect as swiftly to the Brain,
To give it Pleasure, or to give it Pain.
(VI, ll. 670-683, pp. 305-6)",2013-08-07 14:43:02 UTC,"""The watchful Centinels at ev'ry Gate, / At ev'ry Passage to the Senses wait.""",2005-05-18 00:00:00 UTC,Book VI,"",,Inhabitants,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),10783,4167
"Where dwells this Sovereign Arbitrary Soul,
Which does the human Animal controul,
Inform each Part, and agitate the whole?
O'er Ministerial Senses does preside,
To all their various Provinces divide,
Each Member move, and ev'ry Motion guide.
Which by her secret uncontested Nod
Her Messengers the Spirits sends abroad,
Thro' ev'ry nervous Pass, and ev'ry vital Road.
To fetch from ev'ry distant Part a Train,
Of outward Objects to enrich the Brain.
Where sits this bright Intelligence enthron'd,
With numberless Ideas pour'd around?
Where Wisdom, Prudence, Contemplation stand,
And busie Fantoms watch her high Command:
Where Sciences and Arts in order wait,
And Truths Divine compose her Godlike State.
Can the dissecting Steel the Brain display,
And the august Apartment open lay,
Where this great Queen still chuses to reside
In Intellectual Pomp, and bright Ideal Pride?
Or can the Eye assisted by the Glass
Discern the strait, but hospitable Place,
In which ten thousand Images remain,
Without Confusion, and their Rank maintain?
(VII, ll. 303-327, pp. 329-30)",2013-08-07 15:21:00 UTC,"""Can the dissecting Steel the Brain display, / And the august Apartment open lay, / Where this great Queen still chuses to reside / In Intellectual Pomp, and bright Ideal Pride? / Or can the Eye assisted by the Glass / Discern the strait, but hospitable Place, / In which ten thousand Images remain, / Without Confusion, and their Rank maintain?""",2005-06-13 00:00:00 UTC,Book VII,Seat of Soul,,Rooms,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),10794,4167
"The ready Phantomes at her Nod advance,
And form the busie Intellectual Dance:
While her fair Scenes to vary, or supply,
She singles out fit Images, that lye
In Memory's Records, which faithful hold
Objects immense in secret Marks inroll'd,
The sleeping Forms at her Command awake,
And now return, and now their Cells forsake;
On active Fancy's crowded Theater,
As she directs, they rise or disappear.
(VII, ll. 436-445, pp. 337-8)",2013-08-07 15:23:51 UTC,"""The ready Phantomes at her Nod advance, / And form the busie Intellectual Dance: / While her fair Scenes to vary, or supply, / She singles out fit Images, that lye / In Memory's Records, which faithful hold / Objects immense in secret Marks inroll'd, / The sleeping Forms at her Command awake, / And now return, and now their Cells forsake; / On active Fancy's crowded Theater, / As she directs, they rise or disappear.""",2005-08-28 00:00:00 UTC,Book VII,"",2012-01-12,Rooms and Inhabitants and Writing,"•INTEREST. Cross-reference: Hume's metaphor from the Treatise.
•Rich Passage. REVISIT.
•I've included twice: Theater and Crowd
•Cross-reference: Blackmore uses the same metaphor in Redemption.
• USE IN ENTRY.","Searching in HDIS (Poetry); found again ""fancy"" and ""theat""",10797,4167
" Whilst on the Earth such Darkness dwells,
Malicious Fiends forsake their hateful Cells,
Like rav'ning Wolves, or roaring Lions stray,
Hunt and devour by Night their Prey.
These Tyrants, as their Empire, did possess
This wide, unlightsome Wilderness,
And fierce infest th' unhappy Regions, grown
In Guilt and Blackness, like their own;
Should from the Earth the Sun conceal his Face,
What Terrors would invade this dismal Place?
Nature and Order would be soon depos'd,
And all their Subjects from Obedience loos'd;
Which their first Monarch Chaos would restore,
And prove the wild Assertors of his Pow'r:
Confusion, Misrule, Uproar, Chance,
His blind Adherents, would support
Their ancient Lord, and swift advance
To take their Stations in his lawless Court.
Since Guilt did first Admission find,
This is the fatal State of Humane Kind.
Passions Subjection to their Guide disown,
Insult their Soveraign, and subvert his Throne.
Fancy does fickle reign in Reason's Seat,
And Thy wild Empire, Anarchy, uphold,
Hostile Desires fierce Wars repeat,
By Turns victorious, and by Turns controul'd:
Which e'er prevails the Suff'ring is the same,
A Tyrant 'tis, tho' with a milder Name.
All that unhappy Man can hope to gain
Is various Servitude, and endless Change of Pain.
",2009-09-14 19:35:32 UTC,"Fancy may ""fickle reign in Reason's Seat, / And Thy wild Empire, Anarchy, uphold""",2004-07-15 00:00:00 UTC,Stanza X,"",,"","•I've included four times: Rule and Subjection, Seat, Empire, and Anarchy",Found again searching HDIS (Poetry),11074,4255