"The best way to prove the clearness of our mind, is by shewing its Faults; as when a Stream discovers the Dirt at the bottom, it convinceth us of the transparency and purity of the Water."

— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)


Place of Publication
Dublin
Date
1737, 1743
Metaphor
"The best way to prove the clearness of our mind, is by shewing its Faults; as when a Stream discovers the Dirt at the bottom, it convinceth us of the transparency and purity of the Water."
Metaphor in Context
The best way to prove the clearness of our mind, is by shewing its Faults; as when a Stream discovers the Dirt at the bottom, it convinceth us of the transparency and purity of the Water.
(4)
Provenance
Reading Patricia Meyer Spacks, An Argument of Images: The Poetry of Alexander Pope (Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1971), 4.
Citation
Text from Thoughts on Various Subjects. By Alexander Pope, Esq. (Dublin: Printed by and for M. Pepyat, book-seller, in Castle-Street, 1743). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>

See also Thoughts on Various Subjects. By Alexander Pope, Esq. (Dublin: Printed by Sylvanus Pepyat, 1737). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
03/09/2017

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