"For wary Clerks learn all these Arts / To gain Esteem, and conquer Hearts."

— Amhurst, Nicholas (1697-1742)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for E. Curll
Date
1720
Metaphor
"For wary Clerks learn all these Arts / To gain Esteem, and conquer Hearts."
Metaphor in Context
All Writers in this Point agree,
That he was jovisant and free,
A merry Wight! and after Mass,
Would smoke his Pipe, and drink his Glass:
Oft fond of Mirth and Conversation,
Or press'd by courteous Invitation,
To neighb'ring Farmers he'd repair,
And spend a winter Ev'ning there;
Sometimes of grizly Sprights would talk,
That in white Sheets at Midnight walk,
'Till all the list'ning Children groan,
And dare not go to Bed alone;
Sometimes would on the Musick play,
Or Putt, to pass the Time away,
Sometimes to ravish'd Clowns would speak
Mouthfuls of Latin, and of Greek,
His Logick shew and Classick Knowledge,
And tell of merry Freaks at College;
Play with the Louts at Christmas Games,
And in their Absence--with their Dames
For wary Clerks learn all these Arts
To gain Esteem, and conquer Hearts.

(pp. 107-8)
Provenance
Searching "conque" and "heart" in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in ECCO.
Citation
At least 8 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1720, 1723, 1724, 1732, 1745, 1751, 1757, 1785). Reprinted in The Muse in Good Humour.

See Poems on Several Occasions. To Which Is Added, a Letter to Mr. Law. By a Student of Oxford. (London: Printed for E. Curll, in Fleet-Street, 1720). <Link to ESTC>

Found searching in Poems on Several Occasions. Dedicated to the Reverend Dr. Delaune, President of St. John's College in Oxford. by N. Amhurst, Sometime of the Same College. (London: Printed for R. Francklin, at the Sun Fleetstreet, 1723). Text drawn from this edition.

See also The Bottle-Scrue: a Tale. (London, printed, and Dublin, reprinted, in the year, 1732). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
02/09/2005

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