"Joy must beat high in ev'ry vein, / Pleasure thro' all thy bosom reign;"

— Watts, Isaac (1674-1748)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by J. Humfreys, for N. Cliff
Date
1709
Metaphor
"Joy must beat high in ev'ry vein, / Pleasure thro' all thy bosom reign;"
Metaphor in Context
With pleasing rev'rence I behold
The pearly portals wide unfold:
Enter, my soul, and view th'amazing scenes;
Sit fast upon the flying muse,
And let thy roving wonder loose
O'er all th'empyreal plains.
Noon stands eternal here: here may thy sight
Drink in the rays of primogenial light;
Here breathe immortal air:
Joy must beat high in ev'ry vein,
Pleasure thro' all thy bosom reign;

The laws forbid the stranger, pain,
And banish every care.
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 35 entries in ESTC (1709, 1715, 1731, 1737, 1743, 1748, 1750, 1751, 1753, 1758, 1762, 1764, 1765, 1770, 1772, 1778, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1785, 1786, 1788, 1790, 1792, 1793, 1795, 1796, 1798, 1799). Compare two-book and three-book versions.

See Isaac Watts, Horæ Lyricæ. Poems Chiefly of the Lyric Kind. In Three Books, 2nd ed. (London: Printed by J. Humfreys, for N. Cliff, 1709). <Link to ECCO>

Searching The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D., 6 vols. (London: Printed by and for John Barfield, 1810).
Date of Entry
03/06/2006

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.