work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
5681,Materialism,First encountered reading in Lonsdale,2003-07-28 00:00:00 UTC,"Perish th' illiberal thought which would debase
The native genius of the sable race!
Perish the proud philosophy, which sought
To rob them of the powers of equal thought!
Does then th' immortal principle within
Change with the casual colour of the skin?
Does matter govern spirit? or is mind
Degraded by the form to which 'tis joined?
No: they have heads to think, and hearts to feel
And souls to act with firm, thought unerring zeal;
For they have keen affections, kind desires,
Love strong as death, and active patriot fires;
All the rude energy, the fervid flame,
Of high-souled passions, and ingenuous shame:
Strong but luxuriant virtues boldly shoot
From the wild vigour of a savage root.
Nor weak their sense of honour's proud control,
For pride is virtue in a pagan soul;
A sense of worth, a conscience of desert,
A high, unbroken haughtiness of heart:
That self-same stuff which erst proud empires swayed,
Of which the conquerors of the world were made.
Capricious fate of man! that very pride
In Afric scourg'd, in Rome was deify'd.
(ll. 59-82, p. 103 in Wood, pp. 330-1 in Lonsdale)
",2012-08-14,15155,"•Excerpted in Lonsdale
•""Sable"" minds: watch More's racialism construct them. I should look at the complete poem for richer metaphors.[Done so: 8/2012]
Reviewed 2009-06-09","""Does matter govern spirit? or is mind / Degraded by the form to which 'tis joined?""","",2012-08-14 13:23:26 UTC,""
5729,"","Searching ""throne"" and ""mind"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2004-07-09 00:00:00 UTC,"But she was not content. Her sickly mind
Was ill at ease, though seated on the throne
Of affluence and plenty. She could see
Another's happiness was thrice her own,
And she had little reason to rejoice,
Cut off from sweet society, and lost
To all but Elmer. He was old and grave.
He little relish'd the gay mood of youth,
And she as little relish'd his. She sigh'd
From morn to noon, from noon to latest night,
From night to morn. The good man saw concern'd,
But sought the reason of her grief in vain.
She pin'd and he was sad.
",,15268,"","""Her sickly mind / Was ill at ease, though seated on the throne / of affluence and plenty.""",Empire,2014-07-28 03:54:02 UTC,""
5730,"","Searching ""throne"" and ""reason"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2004-07-19 00:00:00 UTC," 'Ah!' he cried,
'At that dear name my sear'd wound bleeds afresh.
''Tis music that would make a savage tame.
'It overwhelms, my soul, and my fond heart,
'Convuls'd at the sweet sound, recoils and faints.
'I have two souls (such impious sophistry
'Love teaches me) which, like two mighty Kings,
'Ever contending for the sov'reignty,
'Stir up sedition and revolt within me.
'While we converse together, and I feel
'Secret correction from the bolt of truth
'Shot home, my better soul in triumph rides,
'Borne on the wings of reason to her throne.
'But when Panthea with the rebel sides,
'She comes with power not to be withstood,
'Contends with reason's self, and overturns
'The throne of her adopted. Once again
'My better soul, by revolution strange,
'Sits on her throne. O Cyrus, I am thine
'Yet wholly. To confound thy foes I fly
'With all the good-will of an honest heart,
'Which never feels itself so much at large
'As when it serves so generous a friend.'
",,15269,"","'While we converse together, and I feel / 'Secret correction from the bolt of truth / 'Shot home, my better soul in triumph rides, / Borne on the wings of reason to her throne.""","",2009-12-02 19:26:45 UTC,""
5730,"","Searching ""throne"" and ""reason"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2004-07-19 00:00:00 UTC," 'Ah!' he cried,
'At that dear name my sear'd wound bleeds afresh.
''Tis music that would make a savage tame.
'It overwhelms, my soul, and my fond heart,
'Convuls'd at the sweet sound, recoils and faints.
'I have two souls (such impious sophistry
'Love teaches me) which, like two mighty Kings,
'Ever contending for the sov'reignty,
'Stir up sedition and revolt within me.
'While we converse together, and I feel
'Secret correction from the bolt of truth
'Shot home, my better soul in triumph rides,
'Borne on the wings of reason to her throne.
'But when Panthea with the rebel sides,
'She comes with power not to be withstood,
'Contends with reason's self, and overturns
'The throne of her adopted. Once again
'My better soul, by revolution strange,
'Sits on her throne. O Cyrus, I am thine
'Yet wholly. To confound thy foes I fly
'With all the good-will of an honest heart,
'Which never feels itself so much at large
'As when it serves so generous a friend.'
",,15270,•I've included twice: in War and Government,"One may have two souls ""which, like two mighty Kings, / 'Ever contending for the sov'reignty, / 'Stir up sedition and revolt within""","",2009-09-14 19:43:12 UTC,""
5730,"","Searching ""throne"" and ""reason"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2004-07-19 00:00:00 UTC," 'Ah!' he cried,
'At that dear name my sear'd wound bleeds afresh.
''Tis music that would make a savage tame.
'It overwhelms, my soul, and my fond heart,
'Convuls'd at the sweet sound, recoils and faints.
'I have two souls (such impious sophistry
'Love teaches me) which, like two mighty Kings,
'Ever contending for the sov'reignty,
'Stir up sedition and revolt within me.
'While we converse together, and I feel
'Secret correction from the bolt of truth
'Shot home, my better soul in triumph rides,
'Borne on the wings of reason to her throne.
'But when Panthea with the rebel sides,
'She comes with power not to be withstood,
'Contends with reason's self, and overturns
'The throne of her adopted. Once again
'My better soul, by revolution strange,
'Sits on her throne. O Cyrus, I am thine
'Yet wholly. To confound thy foes I fly
'With all the good-will of an honest heart,
'Which never feels itself so much at large
'As when it serves so generous a friend.'
",,15272,•I've included twice in Government: in Throne and Revolution,"A better soul ""by revolution strange"" may come to sit on her throne","",2009-09-14 19:43:12 UTC,""
5732,"","Searching ""empire"" and ""soul"" in HDIS (Poetry); Found again searching ""empire"" and ""reason"" (8/16/2004)",2004-08-11 00:00:00 UTC,"""Doubtless"" said he: ""O it delights me much
""To find such sense in woman, she can see
""The fatal tendency of tales like these.
""'Tis thus the arch deceiver, busy still
""To ruin man, besets the female heart,
""Insinuates evil counsel, and inflames
""The hungry passions, that like arid flax
""Catch at a spark, and mount into a blaze.
""The passions heated, reason strives in vain;
""Her empire's lost, and the distracted soul
""Becomes the sport of devils, wholly bent
""To turn and wind it in a world of sin.""
",2012-04-03,15276,"","""The passions heated, reason strives in vain; / Her empire's lost, and the distracted soul / Becomes the sport of devils, wholly bent / To turn and wind it in a world of sin.""",Empire,2012-04-03 20:47:17 UTC,""
5730,"","Searching ""heart"" and ""empire"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2004-08-22 00:00:00 UTC,"'It is enough,' he cried,
'I give thee mine, unbounded as the sky,
'And as the ocean deep. O lovely queen,
'Beauty usurps the empire of my heart,
'All its affections -- Artabazus here!
'What would you, soldier?'",2012-04-03,15278,"","""O lovely queen, / Beauty usurps the empire of my heart, / All its affections.""",Empire,2012-04-03 20:57:46 UTC,""
5732,"","Searching ""heart"" and ""engrav"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-03-08 00:00:00 UTC,"""What reads my child?"" he cried; ""some tender ""tale
""Of virtuous suff'ring?"" Startled at the voice,
She shut her book, and wiping her warm cheek
Put it away disorder'd. ""Let me see,""
Said Adriano kindly; ""let me see
""What tale has pow'r to wring exhausted grief
""To such a flood of woe!"" He seiz'd the book,
And found it Werter's Sorrows. ""Aye, my child,
""A wretched tale, but not to be believ'd.
""O pestilent example, to describe
""As worthy pity and the fair one's tears
""Deeds by no arguments to be excus'd.
""Who kills himself, involves him in the guilt
""Of foulest murder. True, no written law
""Commands our strict forbearance; but be sure
""The laws of nature are the laws of God;
""And he, who said Thou shalt not murder, made
""This universal law that binds our hands
""From mischief to ourselves. Else why so strong
""The love of being and the fear of death?
""Why stands the tortur'd sick on the grave's brink,
""And trembles to step in? Why linger I,
""Assur'd that nothing painful waits me there?
""'Tis God's decree engrav'd upon the heart
""To make us wait with patience, till he comes,
""Undraws the curtain, and dispels the gloom,
""And takes us to his bosom, and rewards
""Our constancy and truth. That mortal then,
""Who shuns the suff'rance of impending ills,
""Is cowardly and rash. For what more rash
""Than wilfully to spoil a noble work
""God made, and said, let live? What more betrays
""Rank cowardice, than tim'rously to shake
""And fly distracted at a foe's approach?
""Can there be aught more painful, than to lose
""An amiable wife? in one short hour
""To fall from affluence and joy and peace,
""To poverty and grief? Can there be felt
""Heavier misfortune, than to lose a son,
""And find myself a beggar at his death;
""Forc'd into solitude without a friend,
""And only one poor little weeping child
""To be the sad companion of my grief?
""Yet am I living still, and kiss the hand
""That smote me so severely. Tell me not
""That life has pains too heavy to support.
""Look towards Calvary, and learn from thence
""The noblest fortitude is still to bear
""Accumulated ills, and never faint.
""We may avoid them, if we can with honour;
""But, God requiring, let weak man submit,
""And drink the bitter draught, and not repine.
""Had Cato been a Christian, he had died
""By inches, rather than have ta'en the sword
""And fall'n unlike his master.""",2012-04-03,15281,"","""'Tis God's decree engrav'd upon the heart / To make us wait with patience, till he comes, / Undraws the curtain, and dispels the gloom, / And takes us to his bosom, and rewards / Our constancy and truth.""",Writing,2012-04-03 20:56:06 UTC,""
5787,"","Searching ""passion"" and ""throne"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2006-01-26 00:00:00 UTC,"Thus, then, the essentials hath the muse unveil'd
Perceptive:--Studious thou, meanwhile, to trace
Their union and their order, as thy sphere
And genius of the just oration wills;
Except where versatile occasion's turn,
Or sudden impulse of thy audience points
A devious course. For oft, their due degrees
Abandon'd, one essential ev'n excludes
The rest; or argument, perhaps, usurps
The throne of pathos; or the passions, free
From previous forms, as great emergence calls,
Burst on a CATILINE's devoted head
Impetuous. Thus, my liberal youth, thy art
Uunravelled and illustrated, erelong
Shall bid thee seize the moments to persuade,
Soon as thy persevering practice adds
To knowledge, vigor; and to nervous strength
Adroit activity. And now survey
The high importance of persuasion's power--
The power of human conduct! Awful trust!
Yet haply thine! And O! if doom'd to guide,
Blest arbiter of good, the moral scale;
Whether thy care to vindicate the rights
Of outrag'd innocence, and crush the fiends
That weave the specious artifice; or stem,
In evil hour, corruption's torrent tide;
Or shine the sacred delegate of heaven;
O! be thy study to impress on all
The features of thy honest worth, and gain
The fame of virtue! Hence persuasion draws
New dignity and grace! Attention hangs
Enamour'd, on the music of a voice
Inspir'd by genuine probity; and breath'd
From unaffected goodness! Charms, like these,
Are virtue's!--Yet her semblance, uninform'd
By the warm heart, how vain! O feed the fires
That glow in generous bosoms! Be thy care
To give each exemplary deed the force
Of truth, and plain sincerity of soul!
For there's an energy in conscious worth--
A noble daring that excites the flame
Of emulative merit, spreads around
A kindred feeling, and impels the mind
To all that high activity, the source
Of happiest execution. Such the fire
Of ancient days, while Greece survey'd her sons
Crown'd, awful victors, with the double wreath
Of eloquence and virtue! With an eye
Prophetic of its quick-rekindling beams,
Thy Albion to effulgent glory weaves
That wreath: And--""Be it thine, (she raptur'd cries)
""Auspicious youth, to nobler deeds foredoom'd,
""To merit all the renovated rays;
""And, thus, reflected from thy brighter brows,
""Beyond the boast of Greece be Albion's fame!""",,15461,"","""For oft, their due degrees / Abandon'd, one essential ev'n excludes / The rest; or argument, perhaps, usurps / The throne of pathos; or the passions, free / From previous forms, as great emergence calls, / Burst on a CATILINE's devoted head / Impetuous.""","",2009-09-14 19:43:42 UTC,""
5787,"","Searching ""passion"" and ""throne"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2006-01-26 00:00:00 UTC,"Then deem not (as my previous strains have taught)
Religion, a cold metaphysic form,
Musing o'er moral problems, and confin'd
To wisdom's eyes alone--behold, she sits,
While faith unveils her to the vulgar gaze,
Streaming cherubic effluence o'er her heaven
Of spotless azure! To the dazzling light
Her everlasting robe, the asbestos floats
In vivid folds. Around her emerald throne
The passions tremble at her awful beck--
""Her ministers as flaming fire,"" to waft
Into the mortal bosom the pure spark
Æthereal, that refines our thought! Hence fly
The words that burn; while her impulsive power
Imparts an oratory only less
Than what inspir'd the apostles, when of old
They spake all tongues, and saw confusion's reign,
The curse of jarring Shinar, disappear.",,15462,"","""Around [Religion's] emerald throne / The passions tremble at her awful beck-- ' Her ministers as flaming fire,' to waft / Into the mortal bosom the pure spark / Æthereal, that refines our thought""","",2009-09-14 19:43:42 UTC,""