"Hark! she invites from city smoke and noise, / Vapours impure, and from impurer joys; / From various evils, that, with rage combin'd, / Untune the body, and pollute the mind."
— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)
Work Title
Date
1734-1735
Metaphor
"Hark! she invites from city smoke and noise, / Vapours impure, and from impurer joys; / From various evils, that, with rage combin'd, / Untune the body, and pollute the mind."
Metaphor in Context
Her verdant mantle gracefully declines,
And, flow'r-embroider'd, as it varies, shines.
To form her garland, Zephir, from his wing,
Throws the first flow'rs and foliage of the spring.
Her looks how lovely! health and joy have lent
Bloom to her cheek, and to her brow content.
Behold, sweet-beaming, her etherial eyes!
Soft as the Pleiads o'er the dewy skies.
She blunts the point of care, alleviates woes,
And pours the balm of comfort and repose;
Bids the heart yield to Virtue's silent call,
And shews Ambition's sons mere children all;
Who hunt for toys which please with tinsel shine;
For which they squabble, and for which they pine.
Oh! hear her voice, more mellow than the gale,
That breath'd thro' shepherd's pipe, enchants the vale!
Hark! she invites from city smoke and noise,
Vapours impure, and from impurer joys;
From various evils, that, with rage combin'd,
Untune the body, and pollute the mind:
From crowds, to whom no social faith belongs,
Who tread one circle of deceit and wrongs;
With whom politeness is but civil guile,
And laws oppress, exerted by the vile.
To this oppos'd, the muse presents the scene;
Where sylvan pleasures ever smile serene;
Pleasures that emulate the blest above,
Health, innocence, and peace, the muse, and love;
Pleasures that ravish, while alternate wrought
By friendly converse, and abstracted thought.
These sooth my throbbing breast. No loss I mourn;
Tho' both from riches and from grandeur torn.
Weep I a cruel mother? No--I've seen,
From heav'n, a pitying, a maternal queen.
One gave me life; but would no comfort grant;
She more than life resum'd by giving want.
Would she the being which she gave destroy?
My queen gives life, and bids me hope for joy.
Honour and wealth I chearfully resign;
If competence, if learned ease be mine!
If I by mental, heartfelt joys be fir'd,
And in the vale, by all the muse inspir'd!
(pp. 228-229, ll. 29-70)
And, flow'r-embroider'd, as it varies, shines.
To form her garland, Zephir, from his wing,
Throws the first flow'rs and foliage of the spring.
Her looks how lovely! health and joy have lent
Bloom to her cheek, and to her brow content.
Behold, sweet-beaming, her etherial eyes!
Soft as the Pleiads o'er the dewy skies.
She blunts the point of care, alleviates woes,
And pours the balm of comfort and repose;
Bids the heart yield to Virtue's silent call,
And shews Ambition's sons mere children all;
Who hunt for toys which please with tinsel shine;
For which they squabble, and for which they pine.
Oh! hear her voice, more mellow than the gale,
That breath'd thro' shepherd's pipe, enchants the vale!
Hark! she invites from city smoke and noise,
Vapours impure, and from impurer joys;
From various evils, that, with rage combin'd,
Untune the body, and pollute the mind:
From crowds, to whom no social faith belongs,
Who tread one circle of deceit and wrongs;
With whom politeness is but civil guile,
And laws oppress, exerted by the vile.
To this oppos'd, the muse presents the scene;
Where sylvan pleasures ever smile serene;
Pleasures that emulate the blest above,
Health, innocence, and peace, the muse, and love;
Pleasures that ravish, while alternate wrought
By friendly converse, and abstracted thought.
These sooth my throbbing breast. No loss I mourn;
Tho' both from riches and from grandeur torn.
Weep I a cruel mother? No--I've seen,
From heav'n, a pitying, a maternal queen.
One gave me life; but would no comfort grant;
She more than life resum'd by giving want.
Would she the being which she gave destroy?
My queen gives life, and bids me hope for joy.
Honour and wealth I chearfully resign;
If competence, if learned ease be mine!
If I by mental, heartfelt joys be fir'd,
And in the vale, by all the muse inspir'd!
(pp. 228-229, ll. 29-70)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 8 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1777, 1780, 1775, 1777, 1780, 1790).
The fourth of at least five such "volunteer" birthday poems. See "The Volunteer Laureat. A Poem on Her Majesty's Birth-Day, 1734-5. No. IV.
Text from The Works of Richard Savage ... With an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author, by Samuel Johnson. A New Edition (London: Printed for T. Evans, 1777). <Link to LION>
The fourth of at least five such "volunteer" birthday poems. See "The Volunteer Laureat. A Poem on Her Majesty's Birth-Day, 1734-5. No. IV.
Text from The Works of Richard Savage ... With an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author, by Samuel Johnson. A New Edition (London: Printed for T. Evans, 1777). <Link to LION>
Date of Entry
08/25/2014
