" No glossy diction e'er can aid the thought, / First stamp'd in ignorance, with error fraught."

— Yearsley, Ann (bap. 1753, d. 1806)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed For T. Cadell
Date
1785
Metaphor
" No glossy diction e'er can aid the thought, / First stamp'd in ignorance, with error fraught."
Metaphor in Context
Excuse me, Stella, sunk in humble state,
With more than needful awe I view the great;
No glossy diction e'er can aid the thought,
First stamp'd in ignorance, with error fraught.

My friends I've prais'd--they stood in heavenly guise
When first I saw them, and my mental eyes
Shall in that heavenly rapture view them still,
For mine's a stubborn and a savage will;
No customs, manners, or soft arts I boast,
On my rough soul your nicest rules are lost;
Yet shall unpolish'd gratitude be mine,
While Stella deigns to nurse the spark divine.
A savage pleads--let e'en her errors move,
And your forgiving spirit melt in love.
O, cherish gentle Pity's lambent flame,
From Heaven's own bosom the soft pleader came!
Then deign to bless a soul, who'll ne'er degrade
Your gift, tho' sharpest miseries invade!
You I acknowledge, next to bounteous Heaven,
Like his, your influence cheers where'er 'tis given;
Blest in dispensing! gentle Stella, hear
My only, short, but pity-moving prayer,
That thy great soul may spare the rustic Muse,
Whom Science ever scorn'd, and errors still abuse.
Provenance
Searching "stamp" and "thought" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 4 entries in ESTC (1785, 1786).

See Poems, on Several Occasions. By Ann Yearsley, a Milkwoman of Bristol., 2nd edition (London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1785). <Link to ESTC><Link to LION>
Date of Entry
04/11/2005

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