text,updated_at,metaphor,created_at,context,theme,reviewed_on,dictionary,comments,provenance,id,work_id
"Mrs. WEBB.
Like a lusty old Sybil, who rambles elate,
With a raven-ton'd voice, to anticipate Fate;
Mark Webb, like a whale, bear her fatness before her,
As the sprats of the Drama for mercy implore her;
Her high-garnish'd phiz give young Pleasantries birth,
And her well-fed abdomen's a mountain of mirth:
See the coarse-hewn old Dowager's mix'd with the rest,
Like a piece of brown dowlas near lace from Trieste;
And darts her huge beak for the prizes and pickings,
As an overgrown hen amidst delicate chickens:
Impertinent Doubts run to measure her size,
While Temperance looks at her frame with surprise.
Her airs are as harsh as a Brighthelmstone dipper,
And loosely assum'd like a pantaloon's slipper;
Tho' base without force, like the oath of a harlot,
Or the impudent grin of a shoulder-deck'd varlet.--
This mould of the fair sex is true female stuff,
And warm at the heart, tho' her--manners are rough:
Like Queen Bess she disdains the resistance of man,
And knocks down a peer with the end of her fan;
Old Care knits his brows to coerce and impale her,
And eyes her with hatred, but dare not assail her.
For social contumely cares not a fig,
For if none call her great, all the world swears she's big.
She's a beef-lin'd adherent to thundering Rage,
And a prop of vast import to Wit and the stage;
But Bards have too potently season'd her song,
Which like garlic in soup makes the pottage too strong:
For by playing old furies so apt and so often,
No human device can the habitude soften;
Thus an exotic sapling we frequently see,
When engrafted by Art, become part of the tree.--
So poignant a mind in a vulgariz'd shell,
Resembles a bucket of gold in a well;
'Tis like Ceylon's best spice in a rude-fashion'd jar,
Or Comedy coop'd in a Dutch man of war.",2011-06-20 16:33:37 UTC,"""So poignant a mind in a vulgariz'd shell,/ Resembles a bucket of gold in a well; / 'Tis like Ceylon's best spice in a rude-fashion'd jar, / Or Comedy coop'd in a Dutch man of war.""",2005-05-27 00:00:00 UTC,"",Dualism,2011-06-20,Metal,"•I've included twice: Metal and Uncategorized
• Reviewed 2009-03-05
• I've nowconsolidated 3 entries in one.
","Searching ""mind"" and ""gold"" in HDIS (Poetry)",15114,5658
"C------e, whom providence hath placed
In the rich realms of polished taste,
Where judgment penetrates to find
The treasures of the unwrought mind,
Where conversation's ardent spirit
Refines from dross the ore of merit,
Where emulation aids the flame
And stamps the sterling bust of fame:
Can you, accustomed to behold
The purest intellectual gold,
Where genius sheds its living rays,
Bright as the sunny diamonds blaze,
Like idle virtuouso deign
To pick up pebbles from the plain?
Pleased if the worthless flints pretend
Fantastic characters to blend;
These in your cabinet insert,
And real excellence desert?
(ll. 1-18, p. 382 in Lonsdale; cf. p. 115-6 in 1791 ed.)",2014-02-22 04:59:37 UTC,"""In the rich realms of polished taste, / Where judgment penetrates to find / The treasures of the unwrought mind, / Where conversation's ardent spirit / Refines from dross the ore of merit, / Where emulation aids the flame / And stamps the sterling bust of fame.""",2003-07-28 00:00:00 UTC,"","",,Impressions and Metal,"•The poet asks Mrs C----e to suppose her a pebble.
•Rich verses. I've included four times: Treasure, Dross and Ore, Sterling, Stamp — now 5 times",Reading,15305,5746
"The merchant venturous in his search of gain,
Who ploughs the winter of the boist'rous main,
From various climes collects a various store,
And lands the treasure on his native shore.
Our merchant yet imports no golden prize,
What wretches covet, and what you despise!
A different store his richer freight imparts--
The gem of virtue, and the gold of hearts;
The social sense, the feelings of mankind,
And the large treasure of a godlike mind!",2013-06-11 18:52:38 UTC,"""A different store his richer freight imparts-- / The gem of virtue, and the gold of hearts; / The social sense, the feelings of mankind, / And the large treasure of a godlike mind!""",2005-05-27 00:00:00 UTC,"","",,Coinage and Metal,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),15447,5791
"FITZ.
I have a kind of movement, still, for Wilford,
I cannot conquer. What can be this charge
Sir Edward brings against him?--Should the boy
Prove guilty!--well; why should I pity guilt?
Philosophers would call me driv'ler.--Let them.
Whip a deserter, and philosophy
Stands by, and says he merits it. That's true:--
But wherefore should philosophy take snuff,
When the poor culprit writhes? A plague on stoicks!
I cannot hoop my heart about with iron,
Like an old beer-butt. I would have the vessel
What some call weak:--I'd have it ooze a little.
Better compassion should be set abroach.
'Till it run waste, then let a system-monger
Bung it with Logick; or a trencher cap
Bawl out his ethics on it, 'till his thunder
Turns all the liquor sour.--So! Here he comes!",2013-11-26 04:24:22 UTC,"""A plague on stoicks! / I cannot hoop my heart about with iron, / Like an old beer-butt""",2005-06-08 00:00:00 UTC,"Act III, scene ii",Stoicism,,Metal,•INTEREST,"Searching ""heart"" and ""iron"" in HDIS (Drama)",15630,5877
"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 16:58:21 UTC,"""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.""",2011-05-20 16:46:28 UTC,"","",,Metal,"","",18455,6859
"In France you are now in the crisis of a revolution, and in the transit from one form of government to another—you cannot see that character of men exactly in the same situation in which we see it in this country. With us it is militant; with you it is triumphant; and you know how it can act when its power is commensurate to its will. I would not be supposed to confine those observations to any description of men, or to comprehend all men of any description within them--No! far from it. I am as incapable of that injustice, as I am of keeping terms with those who profess principles of extremes; and who under the name of religion teach little else than wild and dangerous politics. The worst of these politics of revolution is this; they temper and harden the breast, in order to prepare it for the desperate strokes which are sometimes used in extreme occasions. But as these occasions may never arrive, the mind receives a gratuitous taint; and the moral sentiments suffer not a little, when no political purpose is served by their depravation. This sort of people are so taken up with their theories about the rights of man, that they have totally forgot his nature. Without opening one new avenue to the understanding, they have succeeded in stopping up those that lead to the heart. They have perverted in themselves, and in those that attend to them, all the well-placed sympathies of the human breast.
(pp. 95-6, p. 56 in Pocock ed.)",2013-04-22 03:54:11 UTC,"""The worst of these politics of revolution is this; they temper and harden the breast, in order to prepare it for the desperate strokes which are sometimes used in extreme occasions.""",2013-04-22 03:54:11 UTC,"","",,Metal,"",Reading,20112,5744
"Vain are a man's titles--vain his wealth--vain his pursuits of pleasure--the guilty mind has no enjoyment--neither rank nor riches can steel the breast against the stings of conscience--""The wicked fleeth when no man pursueth.""--He flies, like a hunted deer, from the terrors of his own mind, and the dread of future punishment drives him to despair.
(p. 71)",2014-03-12 15:32:48 UTC,"""Vain are a man's titles--vain his wealth--vain his pursuits of pleasure--the guilty mind has no enjoyment--neither rank nor riches can steel the breast against the stings of conscience.""",2014-03-12 15:25:58 UTC,"","",,Metal,"",ECCO-TCP,23631,7837
"You, Mr. Turl, say you can shew me better arguments, moral motives that are indispensable, why I ought to live. These are assertions, of which I must consider. You have restored me to life: prove that you have done me a favour! Of that I doubt! My first sensation, after recovering my faculties, was anger at your officious pity: shew me that it was ill timed and unjust. If you have reduced me to the necessity of again debating the same painful and gloomy question, if you cannot give that elasticity to my mind which will animate it to despise difficulty and steel it against injustice, however good your intentions may have been, I fear you have but imposed misery upon me.
(III.ix, pp. 209-10)",2014-03-12 15:37:44 UTC,"""If you have reduced me to the necessity of again debating the same painful and gloomy question, if you cannot give that elasticity to my mind which will animate it to despise difficulty and steel it against injustice, however good your intentions may have been, I fear you have but imposed misery upon me.""",2014-03-12 15:37:44 UTC,"","",,Metal,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""steel"" in ECCO-TCP.",23639,7838
"Ingratitude, it is justly observed, is a crime of Syrian dye; but alas! it is a crime from which very few of the human race can plead an exemption; particularly to that supreme Being whose mercies to us demand our most animated gratitude! while in the meridian of health and prosperity we neglect those great duties we ought to perform, and which, when descended under the clouded horizon of sickness and adversity, we cannot perform. It is in this state the mind resumes its salutary attribute of reflection--It is then she would wish, by a life of prudence and penance in future, to ward off calamities which antecedent intemperance or impiety make her dread for the present, both as to body and soul! When the human mind is in this susceptible disposition, a wise and humane clergyman should avail himself of its situation (as in it we are more inclined to hear and follow good advice than at any other time) by visiting patients in such situations, and admonishing them to refrain from a repetition of those irregularities, which perhaps laid the foundation of their present sickness; and that such sickness was the consequent punishment, of their criminal neglect of the performance of their religious duty:"" or in any other pathetic manner, that the love or duty of Christianity might dictate.--For, as the state of heat, in metallic substances, is the state wherein they are made capable to assume new or beautiful forms, so the state of affliction is the state to mould the human mind to every pursuit that is congenial to the dignity of its nature. But, I am extremely sorry to say, that there is very little attention paid to the discharge of this indispensible duty in an hospital; more especially at the time that it is most necessary, towards the approach of death!--For, it is truly lamentable to see, how shamefully negligent in this momentous concern, are the people about an expiring wretch in an hospital-- to whom custom, joined to innate insensibility, has made it as indifferent to see a patient leaving the world, as leaving the hospital! This conduct is not only inhuman, but impious in the highest degree; as at this awful tremendous moment, desponding fears and infidel doubts find an easy conquest of a mind, which, though not strengthened by Christian philosophy, is considerably weakened by disease. This, therefore, is the time to administer to the exhausted mind the lenient balsam of Christianity, by infusing into the anxious, trembling, palpitating soul a conviction, a hope, and a belief of its divine and merciful author's protection in a future state! I would not dwell so long on this matter, but from an internal conviction, that virtue and good morals are as often the means of preserving health, as medicine is in restoring it. A proper method of treating the minds and morals of patients shall be pointed out hereafter in its place; that is, immediately after suggesting a plan for the removal or mitigation of all the antecedent bodily inconveniencies alluded to.
(pp. 28-30)",2014-03-16 16:58:26 UTC,"""For, as the state of heat, in metallic substances, is the state wherein they are made capable to assume new or beautiful forms, so the state of affliction is the state to mould the human mind to every pursuit that is congenial to the dignity of its nature.""",2014-03-16 16:58:26 UTC,"","",,Metal,"",ECCO-TCP,23745,7858
"I will venture to say, that in no writings whatever can be found more bark and steel for the mind, if I may use the expression; more that can brace and invigorate every manly and noble sentiment. No. 32 on patience, even under extreme misery, is wonderfully lofty, and as much above the rant of stoicism, as the Sun of Revelation is brighter than the twilight of Pagan philosophy. I never read the following sentence without feeling my frame thrill: ""I think there is some reason for questioning whether the body and mind are not so proportioned, that the one can bear all which can be inflicted on the other; whether virtue cannot stand its ground as long as life, and whether a soul well principled will not be sooner separated than subdued.""
(I, p. 117; p. 120 in Penguin)",2016-03-15 14:59:37 UTC,"""I will venture to say, that in no writings whatever can be found more bark and steel for the mind, if I may use the expression; more that can brace and invigorate every manly and noble sentiment.""",2016-03-15 14:59:37 UTC,AETAT. 1750,"",,Metal,"",Reading,24881,5767