work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
3380,"","Searching ""soul"" and ""mirror"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-11-21 00:00:00 UTC,"In borrow'd shape, no Vice thro' vizor seen,
Would mimic Virtue's godlike look and mien;
Or, with deception, of a darker shade,
Presume to purchase Heav'n by vain parade;
But let Religion act her honest part,
And clear each head of hypocritic Art,
While Heav'n's pure Word would prompt Affection win,
And purge the Soul from all polluting Sin;
Till, like a faithful mirror Man would shine,
By Wisdom polish'd, and by Grace, divine;
Reflecting that bless'd Pattern, plac'd above,
In perfect Peace--Goodwill--and holy Love!",,8658,"","""Heav'n's pure Word would prompt Affection win, / And purge the Soul from all polluting Sin; / Till, like a faithful mirror Man would shine, / By Wisdom polish'd, and by Grace, divine.""","",2009-09-14 19:33:42 UTC,Love Letters to my Wife; Written in 1789
5614,"","Reading; found again searching ""mirror"" and ""mind in HDIS (Poetry); and again in ECCO-TCP",2003-12-17 00:00:00 UTC,"There is a pleasure in poetic pains
Which only poets know. The shifts and turns,
The expedients and inventions multiform
To which the mind resorts, in chase of terms
Though apt, yet coy, and difficult to win,--
To arrest the fleeting images that fill
The mirror of the mind, and hold them fast,
And force them sit, till he has pencil'd off
A faithful likeness of the forms he views;
Then to dispose his copies with such art
That each may find its most propitious light,
And shine by situation, hardly less
Than by the labour and the skill it cost,
Are occupations of the poet's mind
So pleasing, and that steal away the thought
With such address, from themes of sad import,
That lost in his own musings, happy man!
He feels the anxieties of life, denied
Their wonted entertainment, all retire.
Such joys has he that sings. But ah! not such,
Or seldom such, the hearers of his song.
Fastidious, or else listless, or perhaps
Aware of nothing arduous in a task
They never undertook, they little note
His dangers or escapes, and haply find
There least amusement where he found the most.
But is amusement all? studious of song,
And yet ambitious not to sing in vain,
I would not trifle merely, though the world
Be loudest in their praise who do no more.
Yet what can satire, whether grave or gay?
It may correct a foible, may chastise
The freaks of fashion, regulate the dress,
Retrench a sword-blade, or displace a patch;
But where are its sublimer trophies found?
What vice has it subdued? whose heart reclaim'd
By rigour, or whom laugh'd into reform?
Alas! Leviathan is not so tamed.
Laugh'd at, he laughs again; and stricken hard,
Turns to the stroke his adamantine scales,
That fear no discipline of human hands.
(Bk. II, ll. 285-325, pp. 146-7)",,15004,"","""The shifts and turns, / The expedients and inventions multiform / To which the mind resorts, in chase of terms / Though apt, yet coy, and difficult to win,-- / To arrest the fleeting images that fill / The mirror of the mind, and hold them fast, / And force them sit, till he has pencil'd off / A faithful likeness of the forms he views.""",Mirror,2013-08-22 21:11:58 UTC,""
5614,Enlightenment,HDIS,2003-12-18 00:00:00 UTC,"God never meant that man should scale the heavens
By strides of human wisdom. In his works
Though wonderous, He commands us in his word
To seek him rather, where his mercy shines.
The mind indeed enlighten'd from above
Views him in all; ascribes to the grand cause
The grand effect; acknowledges with joy
His manner, and with rapture tastes his style.
But never yet did philosophic tube
That brings the planets home into the eye
Of observation, and discovers, else
Not visible, his family of worlds,
Discover Him that rules them; such a veil
Hangs over mortal eyes, blind from the birth
And dark in things divine. Full often too
Our wayward intellect, the more we learn
Of nature, overlooks her Author more,
From instrumental causes proud to draw
Conclusions retrograde and mad mistake.
But if his word once teach us, shoot a ray
Through all the heart's dark chambers, and reveal
Truths undiscern'd but by that holy light,
Then all is plain. Philosophy baptized
In the pure fountain of eternal love
Has eyes indeed; and viewing all she sees
As meant to indicate a God to man,
Gives Him his praise, and forfeits not her own.
Learning has borne such fruit in other days
On all her branches. Piety has found
Friends in the friends of science, and true prayer
Has flow'd from lips wet with Castalian dews.
Such was thy wisdom, Newton, child-like sage!
Sagacious reader of the works of God,
And in his word sagacious. Such too thine,
Milton, whose genius had angelic wings,
And fed on manna. And such thine in whom
Our British Themis gloried with just cause,
Immortal Hale! for deep discernment praised
And sound integrity not more, than famed
For sanctity of manners undefiled.
(Bk. III, ll. 221-60, pp. 168-9)",,15011,"","The mind may be ""enlighten'd from above""","",2009-09-14 19:42:32 UTC,""
5655,"","Searching ""mirror"" and ""soul"" in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in ECCO.",2005-11-21 00:00:00 UTC,"Child of the potent spell and nimble eye,
Young Fancy, oft in rainbow vest array'd,
Points to new scenes that in succession pass
Across the wond'rous mirror that she bears,
And bids thy unsated soul and wandering eye
A wider range o'er all her prospects take:
Lo, at her call, New-Zealand's wastes arise!
Casting their shadows far along the main,
Whose brows cloud-cap'd in joyless majesty,
No human foot hath trod since time began;
Here death-like silence ever-brooding dwells,
Save when the watching sailor startled hears,
Far from his native land at darksome night,
The shrill-ton'd petrel, or the penguin's voice,
That skim their trackless flight on lonely wing,
Through the bleak regions of a nameless main:
Here danger stalks and drinks with glutted ear
The wearied sailor's moan, and fruitless sigh,
Who, as he slowly cuts his daring way,
Affrighted drops his axe, and stops awhile,
To hear the jarring echoes lengthen'd din,
That fling from pathless cliffs their sullen sound:
Oft here the fiend his grisly visage shews,
His limbs of giant form in vesture clad
Of drear collected ice and stiffened snow,
The same he wore a thousand years ago,
That thwarts the sun-beam and endures the day.
(cf. pp. 12-13 in 1785 printing)",,15108,"","""Young Fancy, oft in rainbow vest array'd, / Points to new scenes that in succession pass / Across the wond'rous mirror that she bears, / And bids thy unsated soul and wandering eye / A wider range o'er all her prospects take.""",Inhabitants and Mirror,2014-07-15 19:05:33 UTC,""
5658,"","Searching ""heart"" and ""mirror"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-11-21 00:00:00 UTC,"In opposing the follies and vice of the stage,
I must stand as a mark for the arrows of Rage;
Proscrib'd from those douceurs enjoy'd by that crowd,
Who are mean without merit, and servile tho' loud;
If I fall by Resentment, effecting my plan,
I hope when I'm martyr'd, to fall--like a man.--
Oh! I'm sick to the soul, to see Music alone,
Stretch her negligent length on the Drama's gay throne;
Where Muses more honor'd by Wisdom should sit,
To adorn the heart's mirror, and fashion our wit.
Let the Wench have her place, as a Wench worth respecting,
But to wound her old sisters, is base and affecting:
As all the high orders of Science deplore,
That their use is neglected, and influence is o'er.--
Tho' obedient Shields charms the ear by his skill,
He exalts his meek name, by resigning his will.
And Linley pens canzonets Pleasure holds dear,
Tho' Pensiveness dims every note with a tear;
But Arnold steps forward with colossal stride,
To command in the van, and diminish their pride;
Unabash'd he disports with the Orphean lyre,
As Judgment and Harmony temper his fire;
While the spirit of Handel, with rapture imprest,
Thinks the doomsday is o'er, and it flits mid the bless'd.",,15120,"","""Oh! I'm sick to the soul, to see Music alone, / Stretch her negligent length on the Drama's gay throne; / Where Muses more honor'd by Wisdom should sit, / To adorn the heart's mirror, and fashion our wit""","",2009-09-14 19:42:49 UTC,""
5663,"","Searching ""reason"" and ""mirror"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-11-30 00:00:00 UTC,"May Europe's race the generous toil pursue,
And Truth's broad mirror spread to every view;
Awake to Reason's voice the savage mind,
Check Error's force, and civilize mankind;
Faith's radiant beam impart to farthest climes,
And teach pure Wisdom undebas'd by crimes;
To the free breeze the swelling sail unfold
Impell'd by Virtue, not allur'd by Gold.
No more with arms the trembling tribes destroy,
But soft Persuasion's gentler Powers employ,
Till, from her throne barbarian Rudeness hurl'd,
Refinement spread her Empire o'er the world.",,15150, •I've included twice: Mirror and Voice,"""May Europe's race the generous toil pursue, / And Truth's broad mirror spread to every view; / Awake to Reason's voice the savage mind, / Check Error's force, and civilize mankind.""",Mirror,2013-08-22 21:48:54 UTC,""
5663,"","Searching ""reason"" and ""mirror"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-11-30 00:00:00 UTC,"But does not Reason's faithful mirror shew
The future prospect of distress and woe,
And point what dangers modern softness wait
In the sad tale of Rome's declining state?--
Far yet such fears!--unnumber'd checks there lie
To stop the fatal flight of Luxury.
First, a less dangerous form it's power receives
From the strong influence Beauty's empire gives.
Of culinary skill the enormous waste
Offends with dull disgust her nicer taste;
Grandeur must art as well as wealth display,
And appetite to elegance give way.
Foul Gluttony, his beastly empire o'er,
Now snuffs the bleeding Hecatomb no more;
The rosy silk, and glittering gem, adorn
No rich tiara by the tyrant worn;
The flowing muslin in resplendent folds
No bloated son of selfish passion holds;
A nobler end the gifts of Commerce share,
And deck with heighten'd charms the lovely fair;
The snowy lawn's transparent web displays
The panting bosom to the enamor'd gaze;
For them the loom it's dædal labor plies,
For them the gems disclose their various dies,
Rival their glowing cheeks, and emulate their eyes.",,15152,"","""But does not Reason's faithful mirror she / The future prospect of distress and woe,/ And point what dangers modern softness wait / In the sad tale of Rome's declining state?""","",2009-09-14 19:42:53 UTC,""
5698,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2005-06-03 00:00:00 UTC,"Shall I trust the thoughts that rise
And struggle in my panting breast,
Tinted with a thousand dyes,
Image quick on image prest?
Shall they dare, my trembling lays,
Lift their notes in feeble praise,
To sing a theme might well inspire
An Homer's force, a Pindar's fire?
Avaunt! avaunt! each coward fear;
I feel the swelling raptures roll
In surging tides upon my soul;
Celestial promptings strike my ear!
Reach then, reach my sounding lyre;
My panting soul is all on fire:
Swift the silver strings accord;
My eager hand,
Thy skill command;
A mighty strain be pour'd!
O! for a strain so potent to impart
The great sensations struggling in my heart!
Let but the high enthusiasms roll
Warm from my hand, as active in my soul;
Let the loud thunders of my voice declare
The vivid lightning's flashing there!
Then strong shall be the flood of rhyme,
And all be full, and all sublime.
Seize! seize! the glowing images that pass
Like transient shadows o'er the mimic glass!
Let not their fervors faint and die!
It is the hour of extacy.
All, all the Muse upon me breaks!
I hear, I know her voice, and thus she speaks:--",,15193,"•INTEREST. Wouldn't have found this otherwise (""mimic glass"" replaces ""mind""). Should USE IN ENTRY on Mirrors (Mont Blanc and sublime, can compare c18 and Romantic).","""Seize! seize! the glowing images that pass / Like transient shadows o'er the mimic glass!""",Mirror,2013-08-22 21:55:21 UTC,Stanza II.
5718,"","Searching ""mirror"" and ""mind"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-06-28 00:00:00 UTC,"Long with a Mother's eye, a Mother's prayer,
In conscious rapture o'er her pleasing Care,
Like Eden's peerless Dame in bless'd retreat,
Bright Evelina, on your safety wait,
Fost'ring your vernal hues. Long see you grow
In Wisdom's soil: Your snowy bosoms glow
With female Worth, prime sense of Honour high,
Pure Truth, and Merit, sweet with downcast eye.
Immortal Blooms! surpassing Eden's kind,
Where Beauty shines the mirror of the Mind,
And rises fairer from the waste of Time,
To sky-born Lusture in the Heav'nly Clime.",,15247,"•C-H takes from Works, but nests it in a heading ""Occasional Poems."" Is the poem to be dated 1771 then?","""Immortal Blooms! surpassing Eden's kind, / Where Beauty shines the mirror of the Mind, / And rises fairer from the waste of Time, / To sky-born Lusture in the Heav'nly Clime.""","",2009-09-14 19:43:08 UTC,From Occasional Poems
5742,"","Searching ""fancy"" and ""mirror"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-11-30 00:00:00 UTC,"If such the texture luxury has thrown
O'er scenes confin'd to ruder man alone,
What shall we find them when the gentler fair
Mix with the band and every pleasure share?--
Not those bold dames who join the rustic train,
Chear the staunch hound, the fiery courser rein;
Or those to point the feather'd shaft who know,
And joy ""to bear, and draw the warrior bow.""
O may Britannia's nymphs such arts despise,
Content alone to conquer with their eyes!
For Omphale as ill the lion's spoil
Becomes, as Hercules the distaff's toil;
But such as haunt the seats of courtly fame,
Where female charms the first attention claim,
And their contending powers the arts employ
To ravish every sense with every joy.--
The splendid theatre's refulgent round,--
With pomp, with elegance, with beauty crown'd.--
Not that I mean whose homelier scenes invite
To tales of grief, of humour, of delight,
Where Shakespear's honied style enthralls the ear,
Wakes the loud laugh, or draws the heart-felt tear--
Shakespear! ador'd in these degenerate days,
To whom we hymns inscribe, and temples raise,
Worship his image, and neglect his plays.--
Ah! who the evening's festal hours will quit
For scenes of tragic woe or comic wit?--
Scenes of a purer polish must engage
The loose attention of a courtly age;
Scenes where satiric point ne'er gives offence,
Or verse disturbs its placid stream with sense;
Where from Hesperian fields the eunuch train
Trill with soft voice the unimpassion'd strain,
In measur'd cadence while the dancers art
Wakes without words the feelings of the heart.
Delightful joys! of universal power,
Suited to every taste and every hour,
Since the loose drama no connexion ties,
And all may judge who trust their ears and eyes.--
See in majestic swell yon festive dome,
Like the Pantheon of imperial Rome,
And where as many fabled forms unite,
Visions of bliss or demons of affright.
Or, sought in vernal hours, that ampler space
Where beauty's steps the eternal circle trace,
And midnight revelry delights her soul
With breezes redolent of tea and roll,
In fragrant steam while thro' the crouded room
The Arabian berry yields its rich perfume,
And 'mid the murmurs of the mingled throng
Unheeded music swells the slighted song;
Or, Lent's delight, the Oratorio dull,
Of yawning connoisseurs and coxcombs full;
When, plays profane deny'd, our ears explore
The pious freaks of Alexander's whore;
The rout repeated with incessant call,
The formal concert, and the mirthless ball.--
Say is this joy?--Yes, to the virgin's heart
First stung by potent love's resistless smart;
Who 'mid the empty croud of silken beaux
Her glance on one distinguish'd fav'rite throws;
Yes, to the insidious wretch whose guilty care
Hunts artless virtue into vice's snare,
Whose every thought and action is address'd
To wound a parent's or a husband's breast,
Or that more gross tho' less pernicious tribe
Who venal beauty's joyless favors bribe;
Yes, to the rural nymph of distant plains
Who three sweet months of charming London gains;
Yes, to the youth escap'd from smoke and trade
To shew the western town his stol'n cockade:--
To these, where passion gently soothes the breast,
Or vice affords their joys a guilty zest;
Or novelty, fair pleasure's youthful queen,
Gives fresh allurements to each splendid scene,
To these, in fancy's varying mirror shown,
Amusement charms with beauties not its own.--
To all the rest, with listless mind who fly
To midnight crouds from languor's leaden eye,
To the full circle run from home-felt care,
Then start to meet the ghastly spectre there,
The night of revel wears as dull away
As to th' o'erlabor'd hind the tedious day.--
Of these our joys how transient then the state,
Since still disgust must on possession wait!
Pleasure we all pursue with eager pace,
Yet lose the quarry when we lose the chace;
Thro' fancy's medium when our view we bend,
Ten thousand charms the ideal form attend;
Shewn plainly to our disappointed eyes
The enchantment breaks, and every beauty flies.--
The sprightly boy who draws in shadowy plan
The future pleasures of the envied man,
His father's hounds in all his brothers views,
And warm a visionary fox pursues;
Or else, like Hecat', mounted on a broom
His fancied racer spurs around the room;
Tho' airy phantoms then his mind employ,
Yet then he feels more true substantial joy
Than all the sports of ripen'd age shall gain
From Meynell's hunt, or fam'd Newmarket's plain.",,15298,"","""Or novelty, fair pleasure's youthful queen, / Gives fresh allurements to each splendid scene, / To these, in fancy's varying mirror shown, / Amusement charms with beauties not its own.""",Mirror,2013-08-23 16:46:40 UTC,""