In the "deep record of the Sibyl's leaves, / There no instruction the blank mind receives."
— Jerningham, Edward (1727-1812)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for W. Clarke
Date
1811, 1812
Metaphor
In the "deep record of the Sibyl's leaves, / There no instruction the blank mind receives."
Metaphor in Context
A subject now arrests the wand'ring lay,
A theme congenial to my closing day:
Say, in the future world, to friendship true,
Shall friends with friends the social pact renew?
Search the deep record of the Sibyl's leaves,
There no instruction the blank mind receives
Bid Science spread her riches to the eye,
Consult her volume--it makes no reply!
Not all the wisdom of the wisest sage
Can break the slumber of the silent page:
In this distress, the soul, entranc'd in fright,
Looks all around, and all around is night.
At length with smiling lip, and cheering eye,
Gay Hope, the Hebe of the Christian sky,
Appears--she mitigates the circling gloom;
And o'er the cheek of Darkness throws a bloom.
Hark! now the Cherub rears her voice divine:
'To soothe the gath'ring cares of man be mine;
'Be mine to raise, endu'd with sacred power,
'The human blossom bending from the shower:
'To those now weeping o'er a kindred urn
'This bland consoling answer I return:
A theme congenial to my closing day:
Say, in the future world, to friendship true,
Shall friends with friends the social pact renew?
Search the deep record of the Sibyl's leaves,
There no instruction the blank mind receives
Bid Science spread her riches to the eye,
Consult her volume--it makes no reply!
Not all the wisdom of the wisest sage
Can break the slumber of the silent page:
In this distress, the soul, entranc'd in fright,
Looks all around, and all around is night.
At length with smiling lip, and cheering eye,
Gay Hope, the Hebe of the Christian sky,
Appears--she mitigates the circling gloom;
And o'er the cheek of Darkness throws a bloom.
Hark! now the Cherub rears her voice divine:
'To soothe the gath'ring cares of man be mine;
'Be mine to raise, endu'd with sacred power,
'The human blossom bending from the shower:
'To those now weeping o'er a kindred urn
'This bland consoling answer I return:
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "blank" in HDIS (poetry)
Citation
His last poem, published a few months before his death.
Text from The Old Bard's Farewell: a Poem. 2nd ed. (London: Printed for W. Clarke, 1811).
Text from The Old Bard's Farewell: a Poem. 2nd ed. (London: Printed for W. Clarke, 1811).
Theme
Blank Slate
Date of Entry
03/02/2005
