work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
6982,"",Reading,2011-06-25 03:55:41 UTC,"""Sincere th'unalter'd bliss her charms impart,
""Sedate th'enlivening ardors they inspire;
""She bids no transient rapture thrill the heart,
""She wakes no feverish gust of fierce desire.
""Unwise, who, tossing on the watery way,
""All to the storm th'unfetter'd sail devolve;
""Man more unwise resigns the mental sway,
""Born headlong on by passion's keen resolve.
""While storms remote but murmur on thine ear,
""Nor waves in ruinous uproar round thee roll,
""Yet yet a moment check thy prone career,
""And curb the keen resolve that prompts thy soul.
(pp. 15-6)",,18816,"","""""Unwise, who, tossing on the watery way, / All to the storm th'unfetter'd sail devolve; / Man more unwise resigns the mental sway, / Born headlong on by passion's keen resolve.""","",2011-06-25 03:55:41 UTC,""
7486,"",Reading in C-H Lion,2013-06-27 13:32:43 UTC,"Genius implies likewise activity of imagination. Whenever a fine imagination possesses healthful vigour, it will be continually starting hints, and pouring in conceptions upon the mind. As soon as any of them appears, fancy, with the utmost alertness, places them in every light, and enables us to pursue them through all their consequences, that we may be able to determine, whether they will promote the design which we have in eye. This activity of imagination, by which it darts with the quickness of lightning, through all possible views of the ideas which are presented, arises from the same perfection of the associating principles, which produces the other qualities of genius. These principles are so vigorous, that they will not allow the mind to be unemployed for a moment, and at the same time constantly suggest the design of the work, as the point to which all this employment tends. A false agility of imagination produces mere useless musing, or endless reveries, and hurries a man over large fields, without any settled aim: but true genius pursues a fixt direction, and employs its activity in continually starting such conceptions as not only arise from the present idea, but also terminate in the general subject: and though a thousand arrangements of the conceptions which it starts, should fail of answering the intention, it is indefatigable in trying new arrangements, till it can happily accomplish one that answers it. Whenever an image or a sentiment occurs to the poet or the orator, imagination sets it in every possible light, enables him to conceive its genuine effect, and thus puts it in his power to judge, whether it ought to be rejected or retained. A philosopher no sooner thinks of an experiment or an argument, than imagination, by representing it in every attitude, enables him to determine, what will be its force, and whether it will be to his purpose. In this manner the restless activity of imagination quickly constructs a sort of model by which we may form some idea of the work, before we proceed to execute it.
(I.iii, pp. 57-9)",,21174,"","""Genius implies likewise activity of imagination. Whenever a fine imagination possesses healthful vigour, it will be continually starting hints, and pouring in conceptions upon the mind.","",2013-06-27 13:32:43 UTC,""
7492,"",C-H Lion,2013-06-28 16:18:41 UTC,"LADY RANDOLPH.
Silent, alas! is he for whom I mourn:
Childless, without memorial of his name,
He only now in my remembrance lives.
This fatal day stirs my time-settled sorrow,
Troubles afresh the fountain of my heart.
(Act I, p. 8)",,21267,"","""This fatal day stirs my time-settled sorrow, / Troubles afresh the fountain of my heart.""","",2013-06-28 16:18:41 UTC,Act I
7492,"",C-H Lion,2013-06-28 16:22:36 UTC,"LORD RANDOLPH.
When was it pure of sadness! These black weeds
Express the wonted colour of thy mind,
For ever dark and dismal. Seven long years
Are pass'd, since we were join'd by sacred ties:
Clouds, all the while have hung upon thy brow,
Nor broke, nor parted by one gleam of joy.
Time, that wears out the trace of deepest anguish,
As the sea smooths the prints made in the sand,
Has past o'er thee in vain.
(Act I, p. 8)",,21270,"","""Time, that wears out the trace of deepest anguish, / As the sea smooths the prints made in the sand, / Has past o'er thee in vain.""",Impressions,2013-06-28 16:22:36 UTC,Act I
7492,"",C-H Lion,2013-06-28 16:24:22 UTC,"LORD RANDOLPH.
That I confess; yet ever must regret
The grief I cannot cure. Would thou wert not
Compos'd of grief and tenderness alone,
But had'st a spark of other passions in thee,
Pride, anger, vanity, the strong desire
Of admiration, dear to woman kind;
These might contend with, and allay thy grief,
As meeting tides and currents smooth our firth.
(Act I, p. 9)",,21271,"","""Would thou wert not / Compos'd of grief and tenderness alone, / But had'st a spark of other passions in thee, / Pride, anger, vanity, the strong desire / Of admiration, dear to woman kind;/ These might contend with, and allay thy grief, / As meeting tides and currents smooth our firth.""","",2013-06-28 16:24:22 UTC,Act I
7492,"",C-H Lion,2013-06-28 16:44:56 UTC,"EPILOGUE.
An Epilogue I ask'd; but not one word
Our bard will write. He vows, 'tis most absurd
With comic wit to contradict the strain
Of tragedy, and make your sorrows vain.
Sadly he says, that pity is the best,
The noblest passion of the human breast:
For when its sacred streams the heart o'erflow,
In gushes pleasure with the tide of woe;
And when its waves retire, like those of Nile,
They leave behind them such a golden soil,
That there the virtues without culture grow,
There the sweet blossoms of affection blow.
These were his words:---void of delusive art
I felt them; for he spoke them from his heart.
Nor will I now attempt, with witty folly,
To chase away celestial melancholy.",,21288,"","""Sadly he says, that pity is the best, / The noblest passion of the human breast: / For when its sacred streams the heart o'erflow, / In gushes pleasure with the tide of woe; / And when its waves retire, like those of Nile, / They leave behind them such a golden soil, / That there the virtues without culture grow, / There the sweet blossoms of affection blow.""
","",2013-06-28 16:44:56 UTC,Epilogue
7498,"","Searching in C-H Lion. Found again reading Sean Silver, The Mind is a Collection: Case Studies in Eighteenth-Century Thought (Philadelphia: Penn Press, 2015), 3.",2013-07-01 16:45:42 UTC,"Imagination is that faculty whereby the mind not only reflects on its own operations, but which assembles the various ideas conveyed to the understanding by the canal of sensation, and treasured up in the repository of the memory, compounding or disjoining them at pleasure; and which, by its plastic power of inventing new associations of ideas, and of combining them with infinite variety, is enabled to present a creation of its own, and to exhibit scenes and objects which never existed in nature. So indispensibly necessary is this faculty in the composition of Genius, that all the discoveries in science, and all the inventions and improvements in art, if we except such as have arisen from mere accident, derive their origin from its vigorous exertion. At the same time it must be confessed, that all the false and fallacious systems of the former, and all the irregular and illegitimate performances in the latter, which have ever been obtruded upon mankind, may be justly imputed to the unbounded extravagance of the same faculty: such effects are the natural consequences of an exuberant imagination, without any proportionable share of the reasoning talent. It is evidently necessary therefore, in order to render the productions of Genius regular and just, as well as elegant and ingenious, that the discerning and coercive power of judgment should mark and restrain the excursions of a wanton imagination; in other words, that the austerity of reason should blend itself with the gaiety of the graces. Here then we have another ingredient of Genius; an ingredient essential to its constitution, and without which it cannot possibly be exhibited to full advantage, even an accurate and penetrating JUDGMENT.
(pp. 6-8)",,21354,"","""Imagination is that faculty whereby the mind not only reflects on its own operations, but which assembles the various ideas conveyed to the understanding by the canal of sensation, and treasured up in the repository of the memory, compounding or disjoining them at pleasure; and which, by its plastic power of inventing new associations of ideas, and of combining them with infinite variety, is enabled to present a creation of its own, and to exhibit scenes and objects which never existed in nature.""","",2016-03-11 18:17:29 UTC,""
7498,"",C-H Lion,2013-07-01 16:59:48 UTC,"Philosophers have distinguished two general sources of our ideas, from which we draw all our knowledge, SENSATION and REFLECTION. Very different ideas however are excited in the minds of some, from those excited in the minds of others, even by the first of these, which may be said to be the original fountain of our knowledge, though the ideas produced by it are conveyed by organs common to human nature; and still more different ideas are excited in the minds of different persons by the other faculty, that of REFLECTION. Some persons indeed have few ideas except such as are derived from sensation; they seldom ruminate upon, revolve, and compare the impressions made upon their minds, unless at the time they are made, or while they are recent in their remembrance: hence they become incapable of tracing those relations and analogies which exist in nature, but which can only be traced by men of a comprehensive Imagination and penetrating Judgment. Others, endued with these qualities, are rendered thereby capable of associating and disjoining, of comparing and transforming their ideas in such a manner, as to perceive almost all their possible relations; by which means they are qualified to discover the latent truths of science, and to produce the noblest monuments of human ingenuity in the several arts. In other words, they by these means become original Geniuses in that particular art or science, to which they have received the most remarkable bias from the hand of Nature.
(pp. 87-9)",,21369,"","""Very different ideas however are excited in the minds of some, from those excited in the minds of others, even by the first of these, which may be said to be the original fountain of our knowledge, though the ideas produced by it are conveyed by organs common to human nature; and still more different ideas are excited in the minds of different persons by the other faculty, that of REFLECTION.""","",2013-07-01 16:59:48 UTC,""
7498,"",C-H Lion,2013-07-01 18:16:44 UTC,"The third species of Invention, by which we observed original Genius will be distinguished, is that of IMAGERY. The stile of an original Author in Poetry is for the most Part FIGURATIVE and METAPHORICAL. The ordinary modes of speech being unable to express the grandeur or the strength of his conceptions, appear FLAT and LANGUID to his ardent Imagination. In order therefore to supply the poverty of common language, he has recourse to METAPHORS and IMAGES; which, though they may sometimes occasion the want of precision, will always elevate his stile, as well as give a peculiar dignity and energy to his sentiments. An original Author indeed will frequently be apt to exceed in the use of this ornament, by pouring forth such a blaze of imagery, as to dazzle and overpower the mental sight; the effect of which is, that his Writings become obscure, if not unintelligible to common Readers; just as the eye is for some time rendered incapable of distinguishing the objects that are presented to it, after having stedfastly contemplated the Sun. Well chosen images, happily adapted to the purpose for which they are adduced, if not too frequently employed, produce a fine effect in Poetry. They impart a pleasing gratification to the mind, arising from the discovery of the resemblance betwixt the similitude and the object to which it is compared; they remarkably enliven description, at the same time that they embellish it with additional graces; they give force as well as grandeur to the stile of Poetry, and are a principal source of those exquisite sensations, which it is calculated to inspire. On the other hand, the too liberal use of IMAGERY even in Poetry (besides that obscurity which it occasions to the ordinary class of Readers, as well as that fatigue which the Imagination experiences from its excessive glare) so disgusts the mind with the perpetual labour of tracing relations and resemblances, which cannot always be immediately perceived, that the tide of passion is by this means diverted, if it doth not subside, and the pleasure arising from poetic imitation is greatly diminished, if not utterly destroyed. A Writer however, who is only possessed of a moderate degree of Genius, is in very little hazard of falling into this extreme. His imagination is not extensive enough to comprehend those remote analogies which subsist betwixt different objects in nature, nor does it possess force sufficient to throw off a bold and glowing image founded upon such analogies: the performances of such an Author therefore will either be intirely destitute of the images of Poetry, excepting such as arise from the most obvious relations of ideas; of else those which he adopts will be borrowed from Authors of superior Genius. Hence it is, that the images of Homer have been so often copied by modern Poets, who either possessed not fertility of Invention enough to strike out new similitudes for themselves, or dared not to exert it. A Poet endued with a truly original Genius, will however be under no necessity of drawing any of the materials of his composition from the Works of preceding Bards; since he has an unfailing resource in the exuberance of his own Imagination, which will furnish him with a redundance of all those materials, and particularly with an inexhaustible variety of new and splendid imagery, which must be regarded as one distinguishing mark of original poetic Genius.
(pp. 143-8)",,21379,"","""On the other hand, the too liberal use of IMAGERY even in Poetry (besides that obscurity which it occasions to the ordinary class of Readers, as well as that fatigue which the Imagination experiences from its excessive glare) so disgusts the mind with the perpetual labour of tracing relations and resemblances, which cannot always be immediately perceived, that the tide of passion is by this means diverted, if it doth not subside, and the pleasure arising from poetic imitation is greatly diminished, if not utterly destroyed.""","",2013-07-01 18:16:44 UTC,""
7698,"",Reading,2013-10-03 02:30:51 UTC,"Poor Man! how happy once in thy first State!
When yet but warm from thy great Maker's Hand,
He stamp'd thee with his Image, and well pleas'd
Smil'd on his last fair Work. Then all was well.
Sound was the Body, and the Soul serene;
Like two sweet Instruments ne'er out of Tune,
That play their several Parts. Nor Head, nor Heart,
Offer'd to ache: Nor was there Cause they should;
For all was pure within: No fell Remorse,
Nor anxious Castings up of what might be,
Alarm'd his peaceful Bosom: Summer Seas
Shew not more smooth, when kiss'd by Southern Winds
Just ready to expire. Scarce importun'd
The generous Soil with a luxuriant Hand
Offer'd the various Produce of the Year,
And every Thing most perfect in its Kind.
Blessed! thrice blessed Days! But Ah, how short!
Bless'd as the pleasing Dreams of Holy Men;
But fugitive like those, and quickly gone.
Oh! slipp'ry State of Things! What sudden Turns?
What strange Vicissitudes, in the first Leaf
Of Man's sad History? To-day most Happy,
And 'ere To morrow's Sun has set, most Abject!
How scant the Space between these vast Extremes!
Thus far'd it with our Sire: Not long he' enjoy'd
His Paradise! Scarce had the happy Tenant
Of the fair Spot due Time to prove its Sweets,
Or sum them up; when strait he must be gone
Ne'er to return again. And must he go?
Can nought compound for the first dire Offence
Of erring Man? Like one that is condemn'd
Fain would he trifle Time with idle Talk,
And parley with his Fate. But 'tis in vain.
Not all the lavish Odours of the Place
Offer'd in Incense can procure his Pardon,
Or mitigate his Doom. A mighty Angel
With flaming Sword forbids his longer Stay,
And drives the Loit'rer forth; nor must he take
One last and farewel Round. At once he lost
His Glory and his God. If mortal now,
And sorely maim'd, No Wonder! Man has sinn'd.
Sick of his Bliss, and bent on new Adventures,
Evil he wou'd needs try: Nor try'd in vain.
(Dreadful Experiment! Destructive Measure!
Where the worst Thing could happen, is Success.)
(pp. 33-4, ll. 541-585)",,22917,"","""For all was pure within: No fell Remorse, / Nor anxious Castings up of what might be, / Alarm'd his peaceful Bosom: Summer Seas / Shew not more smooth, when kiss'd by Southern Winds / Just ready to expire.""","",2013-10-03 02:30:51 UTC,""