work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
4945,"",HDIS (Poetry),2004-06-08 00:00:00 UTC,"Youth, you're mistaken, if you think to find
In shades a med'cine for a troubled mind:
Wan Grief will haunt you wheresoe'er you go,
Sigh in the breeze, and in the streamlet flow;
There pale Inaction pines his life away,
And, satiate, curses the return of day:
There naked Frenzy, laughing wild with pain,
Or bares the blade, or plunges in the main:
There Superstition broods o'er all her fears,
And yells of demons in the zephyr hears.
But if a hermit you're resolv'd to dwell,
And bid to social life a last farewell;
'Tis impious.--
God never made an independent man,
'Twould jar the concord of his general plan:
See every part of that stupendous whole,
""Whose body nature is, and God the soul;""
To one great end, the general good conspire,
From matter, brute, to man, to seraph, fire.
Should man through Nature solitary roam,
His will his sovereign, every where his home,
What force would guard him from the lion's jaw?
What swiftness wing him from the panther's paw?
Or should Fate lead him to some safer shore,
Where panthers never prowl, nor lions roar;
Where liberal Nature all her charms bestows,
Suns shine, birds sing, flowers bloom, and water flows,
Fool! dost thou think he'd revel on the store,
Absolve the care of Heaven, nor ask for more?
Though waters flow'd, flow'rs bloom'd and Phoebus shone,
He'd sigh, he'd murmur that he was alone.
For know, the Maker on the human breast,
A sense of kindred, country, man, impress'd;
And social life to better, aid, adorn,
With proper faculties each mortal's born.",,13341,"•Cross-reference: Pope's ""Whose body nature is, and God the soul;""
","One is mistaken if he hopes to find ""In shades a med'cine for a troubled mind""","",2009-09-14 19:38:12 UTC,""
5073,"","Searching ""mirror"" and ""mind"" in Past Masters; confirmed in ECCO-TCP.",2005-10-05 00:00:00 UTC,"Was it possible that a human creature could grow up to manhood in some solitary place without any communication with his own species, he could no more think of his own character, of the propriety or demerit of his own sentiments and conduct, of the beauty or deformity of his own mind, than of the beauty or deformity of his own face. All these are objects which he cannot easily see, which naturally he does not look at, and upon which he is provided with no mirror to enable him to turn his eyes. Bring him into society, and he is immediately provided with the mirror which he wanted before. It is placed in the countenance and behaviour of those he lives with, which always mark when they enter into, and when they disapprove of his sentiments; and it is here that he first views the propriety and impropriety of his own passions, the beauty and deformity of his own mind. To a man who from his birth was a stranger to society, the objects of his passions, the external bodies which either pleased or hurt him, would occupy his whole attention. The passions themselves, the desires or aversions, the joys or sorrows which those objects excited, tho' of all things the most immediately present to him, could scarce ever be the objects of his thoughts. The idea of them could never interest him so much as to call upon his attentive consideration. The consideration of his •oy could in him excite no new joy, nor that of his sorrow any new sorrow, tho' the consideration of the causes of those passions might often excite both. Bring him into society, and all his own passions will immediately become the causes of new passions. He will observe that mankind ap•rove of some of them and are disgusted by others. He will be elevated in the one case, and cast down in the other; his desires and aversions, his joys and sorrows will now often become the causes of new desires and new aversions, new joys and new sorrows: they will now therefore interest him deeply, and often call upon his most attentive consideration.
(pp. 254-6; cf. 110-1 in Liberty Fund ed.)",,13638,"•INTEREST: Others faces are mirrors of our minds. Our mind is then a face of a kind?
•I've included twice: Face and Mind
USE IN ENTRY","""Bring him into society, and he is immediately provided with the mirror which he wanted before. It is placed in the countenance and behaviour of those he lives with, which always mark when they enter into, and when they disapprove of his sentiments; and it is here that he first views the propriety and impropriety of his own passions, the beauty and deformity of his own mind.""",Mirror,2014-06-17 19:25:16 UTC,""
5100,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""room"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-08-29 00:00:00 UTC,"When Dinner comes, amid the various Feast,
That crowns your genial Board, where every Guest,
Or grave, or gay, is happy, and at home,
And none e'er sighed for the Mind's Elbow-room;
I warn you still to make your chief Repast
On one plain Dish, and trifle with the rest.
. . .
. . .
Beef, in a Fever, if your Stomach crave it,
Ox-cheek, or mawkish Cod, be sure you have it,
For still the Constitution, even the Case,
Directs the Stomach; this informs the Taste;
And what the Taste in her capricious Fits
Coyly, or even indifferently admits,
The peevish Stomach, or disdains to toil,
Or indolently works to vapid Chyle.
This Instinct of the Taste so seldom errs,
That if you love, yet smart for Cucumbers,
Or Plumbs of bad Repute, you'll likely find
'Twas for you separated what Nature join'd,
The spicey Kernel here, and there the Rind.",,13781,•There is at least one more elbow room metaphor...,"""When Dinner comes, amid the various Feast, / That crowns your genial Board, where every Guest, / Or grave, or gay, is happy, and at home, / And none e'er sighed for the Mind's Elbow-room""","",2009-09-14 19:39:12 UTC,""
5825,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2006-03-07 00:00:00 UTC,"Our friend, the Doctor, view'd with deep regret,
My sad catastrophé, my lifeless state;
Explor'd each ancient sage, whose labours tell
The force of powerful herb, or magic spell.
Physic in vain its boasted influence try'd;
My stupor incantation's voice defy'd:
No charm could light my fancy's languid flame,
No charm but friendship's voice and Spence's name.
So from the cold embraces of the tomb,
Involv'd in deep impenetrable gloom,
Should heav'n's great mandate bid some wretch arise,
How would he view the sun with ravish'd eyes;
Admire each part of nature's beauteous scene,
And welcome life and happiness again!
Amaz'd the Doctor stood, and lost in thought,
Nor could believe the wonder he had wrought;
Till, fir'd at last with sacerdotal pride,
""'Tis mine;--the work is all my own,"" he cried.
""Henceforth some nobler task my might shall prove,
""I mean some lofty mountain to remove,
""With woods and fountains bid it wing its way
""Thro' yielding air and settle in the sea.""
But recollecting, whence the virtue flow'd
To which returning life and sense I ow'd,
He snatch'd his pen, and with majestic tone;
""Hence Indolence and Sloth,"" he cry'd, ""be gone;
""Me Friendship's spirit, Spence's name inspire,
""My heart is pregnant, and my soul on fire;
""Thought crowds on thought, my brisk ideas flow,
""And much I long to tell, and much to know.""",,15542,•I've included twice: Pregnant and Fire,"""My heart is pregnant, and my soul on fire""","",2009-09-14 19:43:56 UTC,""
7501,"",C-H Lion (Poetry); confirmed in ECCO.,2013-07-02 15:55:06 UTC,"Mild, as the strains, that, at the close of day,
Warbling remote, along the vales decay!---
Yet, why with these compared? What tints so fine,
What sweetness, mildness, can be match'd with thine?
Why roam abroad? Since still, to Fancy's eyes,
I see, I see thy lovely form arise.
Still let me gaze, and every care beguile,
Gaze on that cheek, where all the Graces smile;
That soul-expressing eye, benignly bright,
Where meekness beams ineffable delight;
That brow, where Wisdom sits enthroned serene,
Each feature forms, and dignifies the mien:
Still let me listen, while her words impart
The sweet effusions of the blameless heart,
Till all my soul, each tumult charm'd away,
Yields, gently led, to Virtue's easy sway.
(p. 50, ll. 27-42; cf. p. 42 in 1760 ed.)",,21416,"","""Why roam abroad? Since still, to Fancy's eyes, / I see, I see thy lovely form arise.""","",2014-03-10 21:56:35 UTC,""
5073,Introspection,Reading,2014-06-19 16:15:55 UTC,"The desire of the approbation and esteem of those we live with, which is of so much importance to our happiness, cannot be fully and intirely contented but by rendering ourselves the just and proper objects of those sentiments, and by adjusting our own character and conduct according to those measures and rules by which esteem and approbation are naturally bestowed. It is not sufficient, that from ignorance or mistake, esteem and approbation should some way or other be bestowed upon us. If we are conscious that we do not deserve to be so favourably thought of, and that, if the truth was known, we should be regarded with very opposite sentiments, our satisfaction is far from being complete. The man who applauds us either for actions which we did not perform, or for motives which had no sort of influence upon our conduct, applauds not us, but another person. We can derive no sort of satisfaction from his praises. To us they should be more mortifying than any censure, and should perpetually call to our minds, the most humbling of all reflexions, the reflexion upon what we ought to be, but what we are not. A woman who paints to conceal her ugliness, could derive, one should imagine, but little vanity from the compliments that are paid to her beauty. These, we should expect, ought rather to put her in mind of the sentiments which her real complexion would excite, and mortify her the more by the contrast. To be pleased with such groundless applause is a proof of the most superficial levity and weakness. It is what is properly called vanity, and is the foundation of the most ridiculous and contemptible vices, the vices of affectation and common lying; follies which, if experience did not teach us how common they are, one should imagine the least spark of common sense would save us from. The foolish lyar, who endeavours to excite the admiration of the company by the relation of adventures which never had any existence, the important coxcomb who gives himself airs of rank and distinction which he well knows he has no just pretensions to, are both of them, no doubt, pleased with the applause which they fancy they meet with. But their vanity arises from so gross an illusion of the imagination, that it is difficult to conceive how any rational creature should be imposed upon by it. When they place themselves in the situation of those whom they fancy they have deceived, they are struck with the highest admiration for their own persons. They look upon themselves, not in that light in which, they know, they ought to appear to their companions, but in that in which they believe their companions actually look upon them. Their superficial weakness and trivial folly hinder them from ever turning their eyes inwards, or from seeing themselves in that despicable point of view in which their own consciences should tell them that they would appear to every body, if the real truth should ever come to be known.
(pp. 245-8; cf. 114-5 in Liberty Fund ed.)",,23979,"","""Their superficial weakness and trivial folly hinder them from ever turning their eyes inwards, or from seeing themselves in that despicable point of view in which their own consciences should tell them that they would appear to every body, if the real truth should ever come to be known.""","",2014-06-19 16:15:55 UTC,""
5073,"",Reading,2014-06-19 16:25:28 UTC,"When the action is over, indeed, and the passions which prompted it have subsided, we can enter more coolly into the sentiments of the indifferent spectator. What before interested us, is now become almost as indifferent to us as it always was to him, and we can now examine our own conduct with his candour and impartiality. But our judgments now are of little importance, compared to what they were before; and when they are most severely impartial, can commonly produce nothing but vain regret, and unavailing repentance, without securing us from the like errors for the future. It is seldom, however, that they are quite candid even in this case. The opinion which we entertain of our own character, depends entirely on our judgment concerning our past conduct. It is so disagreeable to think ill of ourselves, that we often purposely turn away our view from those circumstances which might render that judgment unfavourable. He is a bold surgeon, they say, whose hand does not tremble when he performs an operation upon his own person; and he is often equally bold who does not hesitate to pull off the mysterious veil of self-delusion, which covers from his view the deformities of his own conduct. Rather than see our own behaviour under so disagreeable an aspect, we too often, foolishly and weakly, endeavour to exasperate anew those unjust passions which had formerly misled us; we endeavour by artifice to awaken our old hatreds, and irritate afresh our almost forgotten resentments: we even exert ourselves for this miserable purpose and thus persevere in injustice, merely because we once were unjust, and because we are ashamed and afraid to see that we were so.
(pp. 262-4)",,23984,"","""He is a bold surgeon, they say, whose hand does not tremble when he performs an operation upon his own person; and he is often equally bold who does not hesitate to pull off the mysterious veil of self-delusion, which covers from his view the deformities of his own conduct. Rather than see our own behaviour under so disagreeable an aspect, we too often, foolishly and weakly, endeavour to exasperate anew those unjust passions which had formerly misled us; we endeavour by artifice to awaken our old hatreds, and irritate afresh our almost forgotten resentments: we even exert ourselves for this miserable purpose and thus persevere in injustice, merely because we once were unjust, and because we are ashamed and afraid to see that we were so.""","",2014-06-19 16:25:28 UTC,""
7933,Mind's Eye,Reading,2014-06-19 16:28:09 UTC,"The great judge of the world, has, for the wisest reasons, thought proper to interpose, between the weak eye of reason, and the throne of his eternal justice, a degree of obscurity and darkness, which though it does not intirely cover the great tribunal from the view of mankind, yet renders the impression of it faint and feeble in comparison of what might be expected from the grandeur and importance of so might an object. If those infinite rewards and punishments which the Almighty has prepared for those who obey or transgress his will, were perceived as distinctly as we forsee the frivolous and temporary retaliations which we may expect from one another, the weakness of human nature, astonished at the immensity of objects so little fitted to its comprehension, could no longer attend to the little affairs of this world; and it is absolutely necessary that the business of society could have been carried on, if, in this respect, there had been a fuller revelation of the intentions of providence that that which has already been made. That men, however, might never be without a rule to direct their conduct by, not without a judge whose authority should enforce its observation, the author of nature has made man the immediate judge of mankind, and has, in this respect, as in many others, created him after his own image, and appointed him viceregent upon earth to superintend the behaviour of his brethren. They are taught by nature to acknowledge that power and jurisdiction which has thus been conferred upon him, and to tremble and exult according as they imagine that they have either merited his censure, or deserved his applause.
(pp. 203-4; cf. p. 128n in Liberty Fund ed.)",,23986,"","""The great judge of the world, has, for the wisest reasons, thought proper to interpose, between the weak eye of reason, and the throne of his eternal justice, a degree of obscurity and darkness, which though it does not intirely cover the great tribunal from the view of mankind, yet renders the impression of it faint and feeble in comparison of what might be expected from the grandeur and importance of so might an object.""","",2014-06-19 16:28:09 UTC,""
7933,Mind's Eye,Reading,2014-06-19 16:43:46 UTC,"As to the eye of the body, objects appear great or small, not so much according to their real dimensions as according to the nearness or distance of their situation; so do they likewise to what may be called the natural eye of the mind: and we remedy the defects of both these organs pretty much in the same manner. In my present situation, an immense landscape of lawns and woods, and distant mountains, seems to do no more than cover the little window which I write by, and to be out of all proportion less than the chamber in which I am sitting. I can form a just comparison between those great objects and the little objects around me, in no other way than by transporting myself, at least in fancy, to a different station, from whence I can survey both at nearly equal distances, and thereby form some judgment of their real proportions. Habit and experience have taught me to do this so easily and so readily, that I am scarce sensible that I do it; and a man must be, in some measure, acquainted with the philosophy of vision, before he can be thoroughly convinced how little those distant objects would appear to the eye, if the imagination, from a knowledge of their real magnitudes, did not swell and dilate them.
(text from OLL; cf. Liberty Fund edition; cf. p. 210 in 2nd ed.)",,23999,"","""As to the eye of the body, objects appear great or small, not so much according to their real dimensions as according to the nearness or distance of their situation; so do they likewise to what may be called the natural eye of the mind: and we remedy the defects of both these organs pretty much in the same manner.""","",2014-06-19 16:43:46 UTC,""
5073,"",Reading,2014-06-19 20:01:19 UTC,"But still there is some fault in having made them. It is at least a departure from the highest and noblest maxims of magnanimity and honour. A brave man ought to die, rather than make a promise which he can neither keep without folly nor violate without Ignominy. For some degree of ignominy always attends a situation of this kind. Treachery and falsehood, are vices so dangerous, so dreadful, and at the same time, such as may so easily, and, upon many occasions, so safely be indulged, that we are more jealous of them than of almost any other. Our imagination therefore attaches the idea of shame to all violations of faith, in every circumstance and in every situation. They resemble, in this respect, the violations of chastity in the fair sex, a virtue of which, for the like reasons, we are excessively jealous; and our sentiments are not more delicate with regard to the one, than with regard to the other. Breach of chastity dishonours irretriveably. No circumstances, no sollicitation can excuse it; no sorrow, no repentance atone for it. We are so nice in this respect that even a rape dishonours, and the innocence of the mind cannot, in our imagination, wash out the pollution of the body. It is the same case with the violation of faith, when it has been solemnly pledged, even to the most worthless of mankind. Fidelity is so necessary a virtue, that we apprehend it in general to be due even to those to whom nothing else is due, and whom we think it lawful to kill and destroy. It is to no purpose that the person who has been guilty of the breach of it, urges that he promised in order to save his life, and that he broke his promise because it was inconsistent with some other respectable duty to keep it. These circumstances may alleviate, but cannot entirely wipe out his dishonour. He appears to have been guilty of an action with which, in the imaginations of men, some degree of shame is inseparably connected. He has broke a promise which he had solemnly averred he would maintain; and his character, if not irretrievably stained and polluted, has at least a ridicule affixed to it, which it will be very difficult entirely to efface; and no man, I imagine, who had gone thro' an adventure of this kind, would be fond of telling the story.
(pp. 533; cf. pp. 332-3 in Liberty Fund ed.)",,24050,"","""We are so nice in this respect that even a rape dishonours, and the innocence of the mind cannot, in our imagination, wash out the pollution of the body.""","",2014-06-19 20:01:19 UTC,""