text,updated_at,metaphor,created_at,context,theme,reviewed_on,dictionary,comments,provenance,id,work_id
"Good Lord, what is Man! For as simple he looks,
Do but try to develop his hooks and his crooks!
With his depths and his shallows, his good and his evil,
All in all he's a problem must puzzle the Devil.
On his one ruling passion Sir Pope hugely labors,
That, like th'old Hebrew walking-switch, eats up its neighbours.
Human Nature's his show-box--your friend, would you know him?
Pull the string, Ruling Passion--the picture will show him.
What pity, in rearing so beauteous a system,
One trifling particular--Truth--should have miss'd him!
For, spite of his fine theoretic positions,
Mankind is a science defies definitions.
Some sort all our qualities each to its tribe,
And think Human Nature they truly describe:
Have you found this, or t'other? There's more in the wind,
As by one drunken fellow his comrades you'll find.
But such is the flaw, or the depth of the plan
In the make of that wonderful creature called Man,
No two virtues, whatever relation they claim,
Nor even two different shades of the same,
Though like as was ever twin brother to brother,
Possessing the one shall imply you've the other.
",2013-08-09 22:51:57 UTC,"""On his one ruling passion Sir Pope hugely labors, / That, like th'old Hebrew walking-switch, eats up its neighbours.""",2004-05-20 00:00:00 UTC,Middle Stanzas,Ruling Passion,,Animals,"•Great anti-metaphor poem. INTEREST.
•Included twice: once in Animals and once Government.","Searching ""ruling passion"" in HDIS (Poetry)",15233,5709
" '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.'
",2009-12-02 19:26:45 UTC,"'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.""",2004-07-19 00:00:00 UTC,"","",,"","","Searching ""throne"" and ""reason"" in HDIS (Poetry)",15269,5730
"Quick parts and good practical sense and judgment are of a very different complexion [r], and have not unfrequently a separate existence. Men are caught indeed by the effusions of a brilliant fancy and bright imagination; but its refulgence and flashes, like the coruscations of the diamond, serve only to sparkle in the eye of the beholder, and to dazzle his sight, without further use or advantage to any one: whereas practical good sense circulates like current coin to general profit. Shining parts, like the bright colourings of porcelain, or the lustres of glass in a well furnished house, are beautiful decorations and striking ornaments; but good sense, like the solid service of plate, is alone substantial and intrinsically valuable. Sound judgment is of daily life, not only to its possessor, but to all, who have the good fortune to be connected with him. There is no station in life, which a plain, good understanding does not adorn, no occurrence of daily experience, which does not partake of its genial influence. The man of parts may be admired for his quickness, as the racer is, who flies before the wind; but it is the draft or road-horse of steadier pace that (like good sense) is useful to mankind. It is not the warmth and elevations of fancy, or the quick and bright assemblage of ideas, which irradiate the paths of beneficial truth; since none are more liable to error than they, who conduct themselves by the wild and dancing light of imagination alone. None can less bear the sobriety of plain reasoning, or have less patience to trace the process of a serious argument than they, whose fire and vivacity make them love nothing, but what is uncommon, marvellous, and striking. But useful truths and moral duties are neither uncommon nor marvellous; and consequently the exalted and elastic genius is apt to decry the poor, low, groveling spirit of those, who seek to conciliate the affections and to deserve the respect of mankind, by an anxiety to perform the plain duties of social life. The fear of being shackled by vulgar rules and vulgar opinions without inquiring into their propriety, decency, or truth, is the bane of many a promising genius, who owes his ruin to what he prides himself on possessing—-superior abilities; since these may be specious without solidity, and showy without sense.—-Such an one may likewise be endued (or think he is so) with a soul of sensibility; but not having cultivated the practical powers of a discriminating judgment, his affectation of sentiment will lead him captive at will, and his acute feelings will as often be exercised on wrong as right objects. He will encroach in many a particular on the powers of this poor tortured word, and will plead a sensibility in love, in friendship, in compliance with evil, as a sufficient, nay a meritorious excuse for transgressing the plainest rules of common sense and common morality. So little then are either bright parts, or the mere effusions of sentiment to be deemed respectable, unless they submit to be guided by discretion, prudence, and judgment; they may assist as ornamental and enlivening auxiliaries, but are too capricious, volatile, and unsteady, to be ever safely entrusted with the supreme command.
(pp. 371-2)",2011-05-20 16:58:48 UTC,"""The man of parts may be admired for his quickness, as the racer is, who flies before the wind; but it is the draft or road-horse of steadier pace that (like good sense) is useful to mankind.""",2011-05-20 16:48:22 UTC,"","",,Beasts,"",Browsing in Google Books,18456,6859
"What can such treasonable crimes atone,
Usurping, thus, their heavenly Sovereign's throne?
'Tis sacrilege; and Heav'n resents the wrongs,
When Creatures challenge what to Christ belongs!
'Tis Image-worship when a Mortal's shewn
The honours that pertain to God alone!
And are not such offences ever found,
In graceless Grandeur's fashionable round?
For is not all its glitter--all its gold--
Form'd into Images with Fancy's mould?
And tho' the Idol be a Knave or Fool,
When finish'd nice with Fashion's graving tool,
The reverence paid looks more or less divine,
In due proportion to the shew and shine.
All's calculated by the glow, and glare--
Frail, short-liv'd things their full affection share--
While Vanity unveils her whiffling flags,
Her glittering trinkets, and her tawdry rags--
Spreads spangled nets, and fills her philter'd bowl,
To fix each Sense, and fascinate the Soul--
Her birdlime twigs contrived with such sly Art,
That while they tangle thoughts, they trap the heart,
Thus to impair her strength, and spoil her wings,
No more to mount o'er temporary things,
But, drunk with spurious Pleasure--cag'd in State--
Forego true Freedom, and forget her Fate!",2012-04-29 18:47:54 UTC,"""While Vanity unveils her whiffling flags, / Her glittering trinkets, and her tawdry rags-- / Spreads spangled nets, and fills her philter'd bowl, / To fix each Sense, and fascinate the Soul-- / Her birdlime twigs contrived with such sly Art, / That while they tangle thoughts, they trap the heart, / Thus to impair her strength, and spoil her wings, / No more to mount o'er temporary things, / But, drunk with spurious Pleasure--cag'd in State-- / Forego true Freedom, and forget her Fate!""",2012-04-29 18:47:54 UTC,"","",,Beasts,"","Searching ""soul"" and ""bird"" in HDIS (Poetry)",19736,7238
"Tho' the Law's potent letter Ability puzzles,
We all know too well that it Innocence muzzles;
Like Loretto's old fane, it yields varlets a living,
And fools give it wealth, for the sake of the giving;
The Inns of Court tenants at random abuse it,
And turn it and twist it whenever they use it;
As children at fairs use their gingerbread breeches,
They lick off its gilding, and bite off its riches;
Its frame wants a head, like John Lade or the torso,
'Tis so hideous no effort can e'er make it more so;
'Tis the birdlime of reason to fasten our senses,
'Tis an engine to punish our moral offences;
Tho' 'tis cover'd with filth like the stairs of St. Peter's,
The senate are daily encrusting its features:
Tho' Wisdom and Worth bade gaunt Exigence send it,
Yet the more we survey it, the less comprehend it;
It is crooked, 'tis straight, it is square, it is round,
Like Gibbons' odd visage, or Salisbury pound:
'Tis a thing which rewards not the beings who find it,
And Hope and Despair play at bo-peep behind it:
'Tis more difficult far to be right ascertain'd,
Than the murrane inscription which Daniel explain'd:
Some tell you 'tis sable, and some swear 'tis white,
Some aver 'tis polluted, some big with delight;
But Truth owns it wond'rously guts every purse,
And proves Knavery's comfort, and Equity's curse.",2012-04-30 16:28:59 UTC,"""'Tis [the letter of the law] the birdlime of reason to fasten our senses.""",2012-04-30 16:28:59 UTC,"","",,Beasts,"","Searching ""reason"" and ""bird"" in HDIS (Poetry)",19747,7247
" But let me not thus pond'ring, gaping, stand--
But, lo, I am not at my own command:
Bed, bosom, kiss, embraces, storm my brains,
And, lawless tyrants, bind my will in chains.
O lovely lass! too pow'rful are thy charms,
And fascination dwells within thy arms.
The passions join the fierce invading host;
And I and virtue are o'erwhelm'd and lost--
Passions that in a martingale should move;
Wild horses loosen'd by the hands of Love.
I'm off--alas! unworthy to be seen--
The bard, and Virtue a poor captive queen!
O Lais, should our deeds to sins amount,
Just Heav'n will place them all to thy account.
(pp. 42-3)",2012-07-05 13:37:34 UTC,"""The passions join the fierce invading host; / And I and virtue are o'erwhelm'd and lost-- / Passions that in a martingale should move; / Wild horses loosen'd by the hands of Love.""",2012-07-05 13:37:34 UTC,"","",,Beasts,"OED: ""Horse Riding. A strap or arrangement of straps fastened at one end to the noseband, bit, or reins of a horse and at the other to its girth, in order to prevent it from rearing or throwing its head back, or to strengthen the action of the bit""",Searching HDIS (Poetry),19862,7293
"My friend the Angel climb'd up from his station into the mill; I remain'd alone, & then this appearance was no more, but I found myself sitting on a pleasant bank beside a river by moon light hearing a harper who sung to the harp. & his theme was, The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, & breeds reptiles of the mind.
(Plate 19)",2013-04-25 19:11:05 UTC,"""The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, & breeds reptiles of the mind.""",2013-04-25 19:11:05 UTC,"","",,Animals,"",Reading,20146,7382
"Sonnet XLII.
Composed During a Walk on the Downs, in November 1787
The dark and pillowy cloud; the sallow trees,
Seem o'er the ruins of the year to mourn;
And cold and hollow, the inconstant breeze
Sobs thro' the falling leaves and wither'd fern.
O'er the tall brow of yonder chalky bourn,
The evening-shades their gather'd darkness fling,
While, by the lingering light, I scarce discern
The shrieking night-jar, sail on heavy wing.
Ah! yet a little--and propitious Spring
Crown'd with fresh flowers, shall wake the woodland strain;
But no gay change revolving seasons bring,
To call forth pleasure from the soul of pain,
Bid Syren Hope resume her long lost part,
And chase the vulture Care--that feeds upon the heart.",2013-06-13 15:41:23 UTC,"""Bid Syren Hope resume her long lost part, / And chase the vulture Care--that feeds upon the heart.""",2013-06-13 15:41:23 UTC,"","",,Animals,"",Reading,20616,7426
"Let those who possess the talents, or the virtues, by which he was distinguished, avoid similar wretchedness, by guarding their minds against the influence of passion; since, if it be once suffered to acquire an undue ascendency over reason, we shall in vain attempt to controul its power: we might as soon arrest the winds in their violence, or stop the torrent in its course. It is too late to rear the mounds of defence when the impetuous flood rages in its strength, and overthrows all opposition. With a frame labouring under disease, we may recall, with regret, the blissful hours of health; but have no power to new string the nerves, or shake off the malady that loads the springs of life. Alas! the distempered heart, when it has suffered the disorders of passion to gain strength, can find no balsam in nature to heal their malignancy; no remedy but death. In vain we may lament the loss of our tranquillity; for peace, like the wandering dove, has forsaken its habitation in the bosom, and will return no more.
(II.xxxiv, pp. 238-9)",2013-08-16 06:34:44 UTC,"""In vain we may lament the loss of our tranquillity; for peace, like the wandering dove, has forsaken its habitation in the bosom, and will return no more.""",2013-08-16 06:34:44 UTC,Vol. II,"",,Animals,"",Searching in ECCO-TCP,22204,7591
"I was compelled to assist in cutting a great deal of mahogany wood on the shore as we coasted along it, and load the vessel with it, before she sailed. This fretted me much; but, as I did not know how to help myself among these deceivers, I thought patience was the only remedy I had left, and even that was forced. There was much hard work and little victuals on board, except by good luck we happened to catch turtles. On this coast there was also a particular kind of fish called manatee, which is most excellent eating, and the flesh is more like beef than fish; the scales are as large as a shilling, and the skin thicker than I ever saw that of any other fish. Within the brackish waters along shore there were likewise vast numbers of alligators, which made the fish scarce. I was on board this sloop sixteen days, during which, in our coasting, we came to another place, where there was a smaller sloop called the Indian Queen, commanded by one John Baker. He also was an Englishman, and had been a long time along the shore trading for turtle shells and silver, and had got a good quantity of each on board. He wanted some hands very much; and, understanding I was a freeman, and wanted to go to Jamaica, he told me if he could get one or two, that he would sail immediately for that Island: he also pretended to shew me some marks of attention and respect, and promised to give me forty-five shillings sterling a a month if I would go with him. I thought this much better than cutting wood for nothing. I therefore told the other captain that I wanted to go to Jamaica in the other vessel; but he would not listen to me; and, seeing me resolved to go in a day or two, he got the vessel to sail, intending to carry me away against my will. This treatment mortified mē extremely. I immediately, according to an agreement I had made with the captain of the Indian Queen, called for her boat, which was lying near us, and it came alongside; and, by the means of a north-pole shipmate which I met with in the sloop I was in, I got my things into the boat, and went on board of the Indian Queen, July the 10th. A few days after I was there, we got all things ready and sailed: but again, to my great mortification, this vessel still went to the south, nearly as far as Carthagena, trading along the coast, instead of going to Jamaica, as the captain had promised me: and, what was worst of all, he was a very cruel and bloody-minded man, and was a horrid blasphemer. Among others, he had a white pilot, one Stoker, whom he beat often as severely as he did some negroes he had on board. One night in particular, after he had beaten this man most cruelly, he put him into the boat, and made two negroes row him to a desolate key, or small island; and he loaded two pistols, and swore bitterly that he would shoot the negroes if they brought Stoker on board again. There was not the least doubt but that he would do as he said, and the two poor fellows were obliged to obey the cruel mandate; but, when the captain was asleep, the two negroes took a blanket and carried it to the unfortunate Stoker, which I believe was the means of saving his life from the annoyance of insects. A great deal of entreaty was used with the captain the next day, before he would consent to let Stoker come on board; and when the poor man was brought on board he was very ill, from his situation during the night, and he remained so till he was drowned a little time after. As we sailed southward we came to many uninhabited islands, which were overgrown with fine large cocoa nuts. As I was very much in want of provisions, I brought a boat load of them on board, which lasted me and others for several weeks, and afforded us many a delicious repast in our scarcity. One day, before this, I could not help observing the providential hand of God, that ever supplied all our wants, though in the ways and manner we know not. I had been a whole day without food, and made signals for boats to come off, but in vain. I therefore earnestly prayed to God for relief in my need; and at the close of the evening I went off the deck. Just as I laid down I heard a noise on the deck; and, not knowing what it meant, I went directly on the deck again, when what should I see but a fine large fish about seven or eight pounds, which had jumped aboard! I took it, and admired, with thanks, the good hand of God; and, what I considered as not less extraordinary, the captain, who was very avaricious, did not attempt to take it from me, there being only him and I on board; for the rest were all gone ashore trading. Sometimes the people did not come off for some days: this used to fret the captain, and then he would vent his fury on me by beating me, or making me feel in other cruel ways. One day especially, in his wild, wicked, and mad career, after striking me several times with different things, and once across my mouth, even with a red burning stick out of the fire, he got a barrel of gunpowder on the deck, and swore that he would blow up the vessel. I was then at my wit's end, and earnestly prayed to God to direct me. The head was out of the barrel; and the captain took a lighted stick out of the fire to blow himself and me up, because there was a vessel then in sight coming in, which he supposed was a Spaniard, and he was afraid of falling into their hands. Seeing this I got an axe, unnoticed by him, and placed myself between him and the powder, having resolved in myself as soon as he attempted to put the fire in the barrel to chop him down that instant. I was more than an hour in this situation; during which he struck me often, still keeping the fire in his hand for this wicked purpose. I really should have thought myself justifiable in any other part of the world if I had killed him, and prayed to God, who gave me a mind which rested solely on himself. I prayed for resignation, that his will might be done: and the following two portions of his holy word, which occured to my mind, buoyed up my hope, and kept me from taking the life of this wicked man.
'He hath determined the times before appointed, and set bounds to our habitations,'
Acts xvii. 26. And,
'Who is there among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God,'
Isaiah l. 20. And thus by the grace of God I was enabled to do. I found him a present help in the time of need, and the captain's fury began to subside as the night approached: but I found,
""That he who cannot stem his anger's tide
""Doth a wild horse without a bridle ride.""
(pp. 212-220)",2013-08-18 21:05:48 UTC,"""I found him a present help in the time of need, and the captain's fury began to subside as the night approached: but I found, 'That he who cannot stem his anger's tide / Doth a wild horse without a bridle ride.'""",2013-08-18 21:05:48 UTC,"","",,Animals,"Paraphrasing Colley Cibber, Love's Last Shift",ECCO-TCP,22402,6816