work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
3195,"",HDIS (Poetry),2003-12-01 00:00:00 UTC,"The aërial flow of Sound was known to him,
From whence it first in wavy circles breaks,
Till the touch'd organ takes the message in.
Nor could the darting beam of speed immense
Escape his swift pursuit, and measuring eye.
E'en Light itself, which every thing displays,
Shone undiscover'd, till his brighter mind
Untwisted all the shining robe of day;
And, from the whitening undistinguish'd blaze,
Collecting every ray into his kind,
To the charm'd eye educed the gorgeous train
Of parent colours. First the flaming Red
Sprung vivid forth; the tawny Orange next;
And next delicious yellow; by whose side
Fell the kind beams of all-refreshing Green.
Then the pure Blue, that swells autumnal skies,
Ethereal play'd; and then, of sadder hue,
Emerged the deepen'd Indico, as when
The heavy-skirted evening droops with frost.
While the last gleamings of refracted light
Dyed in the fainting violet away.
These, when the clouds distil the rosy shower,
Shine out distinct adown the watery bow;
While o'er our heads the dewy vision bends
Delightful, melting on the fields beneath.
Myriads of mingling dyes from these result,
And myriads still remain; infinite source
Of beauty, ever blushing, ever new.
(ll. 91-118, p. 10)",2009-04-15,8418,Newton unwove the rainbow. INTEREST.,"""E'en Light itself, which every thing displays, / Shone undiscover'd, till [Newton's] brighter mind / Untwisted all the shining robe of day.""","",2013-06-20 20:30:23 UTC,""
4319,"","Searching ""soul"" and ""lamp"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2006-01-19 00:00:00 UTC,"Six Times the Day with Light and Hope arose,
As oft the Night her Terrors did oppose,
While toss'd on roring Waves the tender Crew
Had nought but Death and Horror in their View:
Pale Famine, Seas, bleak Cold at equal Strife,
Conspiring all against their Bloom of Life:
Whilst like the Lamp's last Flame, their trembling Souls
Are on the Wing to leave their mortal Goals;
And Death before them stands with frightful Stare,
Their Spirits spent, and sunk down to despair.",,11256,"•I've included thrice: Lamp, Flame, Prison
","""Whilst like the Lamp's last Flame, their trembling Souls / Are on the Wing to leave their mortal Goals.""","",2010-07-01 20:36:17 UTC,""
4329,Inwardness,"Searching ""head"" and ""interio"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-08-09 00:00:00 UTC,"Now to Kilbank he bent his Course apace,
In Martial Pomp, and quickly reach'd the Place.
The Knight to every Soul a welcome Guest,
Enjoys the Love of all, and fills each Breast.
His Nephew here Resides in Bloom of Years,
And chearful Gladness in his Aspect wears.
Mean while th'unwelcome News to Piercie came,
Of our Young Heroe's Acts and growing Fame.
How with a Run of Conquests he had slain,
His Foes, and all their Cities storm'd and ta'en:
Asper in Speech and swell'd with vengeful Spite,
Piercie demands what shelter held the Knight?
And sure, cry'd out, wou'd he his Warfare cease,
Acknowledge Edward, and accept of Peace.
Soon might our King with unresisted Sway,
Thro' Scotia's bleeding Vitals urge his Way,
Wallace would quickly tame the rugged North,
Inspire our Men and call their Courage forth.
But still his Rage a cruel Rancour feeds,
And bursts in winged Thunder on our Heads.
Sages Illumin'd with interiour Light,
Who search the Depths of Fate immers'd in Night,
These have foretold, how Wallace great in Arms,
Shall fill our Plains with War and fierce Alarms.
The Chief mean while with active thoughts employ'd
A Messenger dispatch'd to Blair and Boyd.
Fame catch'd the News, and spread the welcome Sound
In buzzing Whispers quickly all around:
His Friends conveen apace, in gath'ring Swarms,
Enur'd to War and bred to Feats of Arms.
But Blair above the rest for Learning fam'd,
The first Place in our Heroe's Bosom claim'd:
With early Infancy their Love began.
And grew as ripening Youth shot up to Man,",,11320,"","""Sages Illumin'd with interiour Light, [...] have foretold, how Wallace great in Arms, / Shall fill our Plains with War and fierce Alarms.""","",2009-09-14 19:35:47 UTC,""
4488,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2006-01-25 00:00:00 UTC,"Be taught, my Soul, with an assiduous Strife,
To manage well th' important Hours of Life.
With solemn Awe, the Ways of Truth revere,
And all thou do'st, by Wisdom's Dictates, steer.
So shall not Death, with an unfriendly Frown,
Inglorious, throw thy ruin'd Cottage down:
But, smiling, lead thee thro' the dubious Way,
And leave thee raptur'd in immortal Day.
So sings the Muse, by pious Fancy warm'd;
But, ah! how weakly is the Conduct arm'd?
We think, resolve, and make Essays to live;
Yet faster in the devious Courses drive.
Reason exerts her pure, celestial, Rays,
To guide our Steps thro' Errors weary Maze:
But upstart Passions mount her rightful Throne,
And blindly push our vanquish'd Judgment on.
Hence we, perversely, wander, in the Night,
Uncertain, when the Road, we take, is right.",,11819,•I've included twice: Ray and Throne,"""Reason exerts her pure, celestial, Rays, / To guide our Steps thro' Errors weary Maze: / But upstart Passions mount her rightful Throne, / And blindly push our vanquish'd Judgment on.""","",2009-09-14 19:36:17 UTC,""
7479,"",Reading,2013-06-20 15:52:34 UTC,"Thus in some deep retirement would I pass
The winter-glooms, with friends of various turn,
Or blithe, or solemn, as the theme inspir'd:
With them would search, if Nature's boundless frame
Of nature rose from unproductive night,
Or sprung eternal from th' Eternal Cause;
Its springs, its laws, its progress, and its end.
Hence larger prospects of the beauteous whole
Would gradual open on our opening minds;
And each diffusive harmony unite,
In full perfection, to th' astonish'd eye.
Thence would we plunge into the moral world;
Which, though seemingly more perplex'd, moves on
In higher order; fitted and impell'd
By Wisdom's finest hand, and issuing all
In universal good. Historic truth
Should next conduct us thro' the deeps of time:
Point us how empire grew, revolv'd, and fell,
In scatter'd states; what makes the nations smile,
Improves their soil, and gives them double suns;
And why they pine beneath the brightest skies,
In nature's richest lap. As thus we talk'd,
Our hearts would burn within us, would inhale
That portion of divinity, that ray
Of purest Heaven, which lights the glorious flame
Of patriots, and of heroes. But if doom'd,
In powerless humble fortune, to repress
These ardent risings of the kindling soul;
Then, even superior to ambition, we
Would learn the private virtues; how to glide
Through shades and plains, along the smoothest stream
Of rural life: or snatch'd away by hope,
Through the dim spaces of futurity,
With earnest eye anticipate those scenes
Of happiness and wonder; where the mind,
In endless growth and infinite ascent,
Rises from state to state, and world to world.
And when with these the serious thought is foil'd,
We, shifting for relief, would play the shapes
Of frolic fancy; and incessant form
Unnumber'd pictures, fleeting o'er the brain
Yet rapid still renew'd, and pour'd immense
Into the mind, unbounded without space:
The great, the new, the beautiful; or mix'd,
Burlesque, and odd, the risible and gay;
Whence vivid Wit and Humour, droll of face,
Call Laughter forth, deep-shaking every nerve.
(ll. 568-614)",,21047,"","""As thus we talk'd, / Our hearts would burn within us, would inhale / That portion of divinity, that ray / Of purest Heaven, which lights the glorious flame / Of patriots, and of heroes.""","",2013-06-20 15:52:34 UTC,""
7479,"",Reading,2013-06-20 15:59:52 UTC,"Clear frost succeeds; and thro' the blue serene,
For sight too fine, the ethereal nitre flies:
Killing infectious damps, and the spent air
Storing afresh with elemental life.
Close crowds the shining atmosphere; and binds
Our strengthen'd bodies in its cold embrace,
Constringent; feeds, and animates our blood;
Refines our spirits, through the new-strung nerves,
In swifter sallies darting to the brain;
Where sits the soul, intense, collected, cool,
Bright as the skies, and as the season keen.
All nature feels the renovating force
Of Winter, only to the thoughtless eye
[I]n desolation seen. The vacant glebe
Draws in abundant vegetable soul,
And gathers vigour for the coming year,
A stronger glow sits on the lively cheek
Of ruddy fire: and luculent along
The purer rivers flow; their sullen deeps,
Amazing, open to the shepherd's gaze,
And murmur hoarser at the fixing frost.
(l. 650-670)",,21050,"","""Close crowds the shining atmosphere; and binds / Our strengthen'd bodies in its cold embrace, / Constringent; feeds, and animates our blood; / Refines our spirits, through the new-strung nerves, / In swifter sallies darting to the brain; / Where sits the soul, intense, collected, cool, / Bright as the skies, and as the season keen.""",Throne,2013-06-20 15:59:52 UTC,""
4393,"",Reading,2013-06-20 16:52:54 UTC,"Can answer Love, and render Bliss secure.
Let Him, ungenerous, who, alone intent
To bless himself, from sordid Parents buys
The loathing Virgin, in eternal Care,
Well-merited, consume his Nights and Days.
Let barbarous Nations, whose inhuman Love
Is wild Desire fierce as the Suns they feel,
Let Eastern Tyrants from the Light of Heaven
Seclude their Bosom-slaves, meanly possest
Of a meer, lifeless, violated Form:
While those whom Love cements, in holy Faith,
And equal Transport, free as Nature, live,
Disdaining Fear; for what's the World to them,
It's Pomp, it's Pleasure, and it's Nonsense all!
Who in each other clasp whatever fair
High Fancy forms, and lavish Hearts can wish,
Something than Beauty dearer, should they look
Or on the Mind, or Mind-illumin'd Face,
Truth, Goodness, Honour, Harmony and Love,
The richest Bounty of indulgent Heaven.
Mean-time a smiling Offspring rises round,
And mingles both their Graces. By degrees,
The human Blossom blows; and every Day,
Soft as it rolls along, shows some new Charm,
The Father's Lustre, and the Mother's Bloom.
Then infant Reason grows apace, and calls
For the kind Hand of an assiduous Care:
Delightful Task! to rear the tender Thought,
To teach the young Idea how to shoot,
To pour the fresh Instruction o'er the Mind,
To breathe th' inspiring Spirit, and to plant
The generous Purpose in the glowing Breast.
Oh speak the Joy! You, whom the sudden Tear
Surprizes often, while you look around,
And nothing strikes your Eye but Sights of Bliss,
All various Nature pressing on the Heart,
Obedient Fortune, and approving Heaven.
These are the Blessings of diviner Love;
And thus their Moments fly; the Seasons thus,
As ceaseless round a jarring World they roll,
Still find Them happy; and consenting SPRING
Sheds her own rosy Garland on their Head:
Till Evening comes at last, cool, gentle, calm;
When after the long vernal Day of Life,
Enamour'd more, as Soul approaches Soul,
Together, down They sink in social Sleep.",,21051,"","""Who in each other clasp whatever fair / High Fancy forms, and lavish Hearts can wish, / Something than Beauty dearer, should they look / Or on the Mind, or Mind-illumin'd Face, / Truth, Goodness, Honour, Harmony and Love, / The richest Bounty of indulgent Heaven.""","",2013-06-20 16:52:54 UTC,""
4393,"","",2013-06-20 17:58:40 UTC,"'Tis Harmony, that World-embracing Power,
By which all Beings are adjusted, each
To all around, impelling and impell'd
In endless Circulation, that inspires
This universal Smile. Thus the glad Skies,
The wide-rejoycing Earth, the Woods, the Streams,
With every Life they hold, down to the Flower
That paints the lowly Vale, or Insect-Wing
Wav'd o'er the Shepherd's Slumber, touch the Mind
To Nature tun'd, with a light-flying Hand,
Invisible, quick-urging, thro' the Nerves,
The glittering Spirits, in a Flood of Day.
(pp. 46-7)",,21056,"","""Thus the glad Skies, / The wide-rejoycing Earth, the Woods, the Streams, / With every Life they hold, down to the Flower / That paints the lowly Vale, or Insect-Wing / Wav'd o'er the Shepherd's Slumber, touch the Mind / To Nature tun'd, with a light-flying Hand, / Invisible, quick-urging, thro' the Nerves, / The glittering Spirits, in a Flood of Day.""","",2013-06-20 17:59:06 UTC,Reading
4393,"",Reading,2013-06-20 19:52:04 UTC,"AND let th' aspiring Youth beware of Love,
And shun th' enchanting Glance, for 'tis too late
When on his Heart the Torrent Softness pours.
Then Interest sinks to Dirt, and distant Fame
Dissolves in Air away. While the fond Soul
Is wrapt in Dreams of Ecstacy, and Bliss;
Still paints th' illusive Form, the kindling Grace,
Th' alluring Smile, the full aethereal Eye
Effusing Heaven; and listens ardent still
To the small Voice, where Harmony and Wit,
A modest, melting, mingled Sweetness, flow.
No sooner is the fair Idea form'd,
And Contemplation fixes on the Theme,
Than from his own Creation wild He flies,
Sick of a Shadow. Absence comes apace,
And shoots his every Pang into his Breast.
'Tis nought but Gloom around. The darken'd Sun
Loses his Light. The rosy-bosom'd Spring
To weeping Fancy pines; and yon bright Arch
Of Heaven low-bends into a dusky Vault.
All Nature fades extinct; and She alone
Heard, felt, and seen, possesses every Thought,
Fills every Sense, and pants in every Vein.
Books are but formal Dulness, tedious Friends,
And sad amid the Social Band he sits,
Lonely, and inattentive. From the Tongue
Th' unfinish'd Period falls: while, born away
On swelling Thought, his wafted Spirit flies
To the dear Bosom of his absent Fair;
And leaves the Semblance of a Lover, fix'd
In melancholy Site, with Head declin'd,
And Love-dejected Eyes. Sudden he starts,
Shook from his tender Trance, and restless runs
To glimmering Shades, and sympathetic Glooms,
Where the dun Umbrage o'er the falling Stream
Romantic hangs; there thro' the pensive Dusk
Strays, in Heart-thrilling Meditation lost,
Indulging all to Love: or on the Bank
Thrown, amid drooping Lillies, swells the Breeze
With Sighs unceasing, and the Brook with Tears.
Thus in soft Anguish he consumes the Day;
Nor quits his deep Retirement, till the Moon
Peeps thro' the Chambers of the fleecy East,
Enlighten'd by Degrees, and in her Train
Leads on the gentle Hours; then forth He walks,
Beneath the trembling Languish of her Beams,
With soften'd Soul, and wooes the Bird of Eve
To mingle Woes with his: or while the World,
And all the Sons of Care lie hush'd in Sleep,
Associates with the Mid-night Shadows drear,
And, sighing to the lonely Taper, pours
His sweetly-tortur'd Heart into the Page
Meant for the moving Messenger of Love.
But ah how faint, how meaningless, and poor
To what his Passion swells! which bursts the Bounds
Of every Eloquence, and asks for Looks,
Where Fondness flows on Fondness, Love on Love;
Entwisting Beams with Her's, and speaking more
Than ever charm'd, ecstatic Poet sigh'd
To listening Beauty, bright with conscious Smiles,
And graceful Vanity. But if on Bed
Delirious flung, Sleep from his Pillow flies.
All Night he tosses, nor the balmy Power
In any Posture finds; 'till the grey Morn
Lifts her pale Lustre on the paler Wretch,
Exanimate by Love: and then perhaps
Exhausted Nature sinks a-while to Rest,
Still interrupted by disorder'd Dreams,
That o'er the sick Imagination rise,
And in black Colours paint the mimic Scene.
Oft with the Charmer of his Soul he talks;
Sometimes in Crowds distrest; or if retir'd
To secret-winding, Flower-inwoven Bowers,
Far from the dull Impertinence of Man,
Just as He kneeling all his former Cares
Begins to lose in vast oblivious Love,
Snatch'd from her yielded Hand, he knows not how,
Thro' Forests huge, and long untravel'd Heaths
With Desolation brown, he wanders waste,
In Night and Tempest wrapt; or shrinks aghast,
Back, from the bending Precipice; or wades
The turbid Stream below, and strives to reach
The farther Shore, where succourless, and sad,
His Dearer Life extends her beckoning Arms,
But strives in vain, born by th' outragious Flood
To Distance down, he rides the ridgy Wave,
Or whelm'd beneath the boiling Eddy sinks.
Then a weak, wailing, lamentable Cry
Is heard, and all in Tears he wakes, again
To tread the Circle of revolving Woe.
These are the charming Agonies of Love,
Whose Misery delights. But thro' the Heart
Should Jealousy it's Venom once diffuse,
'Tis then delightful Misery no more,
But Agony unmixt, incessant Rage,
Corroding every Thought, and blasting all
The Paradise of Love. Ye Fairy Prospects then,
Ye Beds of Roses, and ye Bowers of Joy,
Farewell! Ye Gleamings of departing Peace,
Shine out your last! The yellow-tinging Plague
Internal Vision taints, and in a Night
Of livid Gloom Imagination wraps.
Ay then, instead of Love-enliven'd Cheeks,
Of Sunny Features, and of ardent Eyes
With flowing Rapture bright, dark Looks succeed,
Suffus'd, and glaring with untender Fire,
A clouded Aspect, and a burning Cheek,
Where the whole poison'd Soul, malignant, fits,
And frightens Love away. Ten thousand Fears,
Invented wild, ten thousand frantic Views
Of horrid Rivals, hanging on the Charms
For which he melts in Fondness, eat him up
With fervent Anguish, and consuming Pine.
In vain Reproaches lend their idle Aid,
Deceitful Pride, and Resolution frail,
Giving a Moment's Ease. Reflection pours,
Afresh, her Beauties on his busy Thought,
Her first Endearments, twining round the Soul,
With all the Witchcraft of ensnaring Love.
Strait the fierce Storm involves his Mind anew,
Flames thro' the Nerves, and boils along the Veins;
While anxious Doubt distracts the tortur'd Heart;
For even the sad Assurance of his Fears
Were Heaven to what he feels. Thus the warm Youth,
Whom Love deludes into his thorny Wilds,
Thro' flowery-tempting Paths, or leads a Life
Of feavor'd Rapture, or of cruel Care;
His brightest Aims extinguish'd all, and all
His lively Moments running down to Waste.
(pp. 48-54)",,21062,"","""Ye Fairy Prospects then, / Ye Beds of Roses, and ye Bowers of Joy, / Farewell! Ye Gleamings of departing Peace, / Shine out your last! The yellow-tinging Plague / Internal Vision taints, and in a Night / Of livid Gloom Imagination wraps.""","",2013-06-20 19:52:04 UTC,""
7481,"",Reading,2013-07-07 18:20:09 UTC,"With Thee, serene Philosophy! with Thee!
And thy high Praises, let me crown my Song!
Effusive Source of Evidence, and Truth!
A Lustre shedding o'er the ennobled Mind,
Stronger than Summer-Noon, and pure as that,
Which gently vibrates on the Eye of Saint,
New to the Dawning of coelestial Day.
Hence, thro' her nourish'd Powers, enlarged by Thee,
She soaring, spurns, with elevated Pride,
The tangling Mass of Cares, and low Desires,
That bind the fluttering Crowd; and, Angel-wing'd,
The Heights of Science and of Vertue gains,
Where all is calm and bright! with Nature round,
Or in the starry Regions, or th' Abyss,
To Reason's and to Fancy's eye display'd;
The First up-tracing, from the vast Inane,
The Chain of Causes and Effects to Him,
Who, absolutely, in Himself, alone
Possesses being; while the Last receives
The whole Magnificence of Heaven and Earth,
And every Beauty, delicate or bold,
Obvious or more remote, with livelier Sense,
A World swift-painted, on th' attentive Mind!
(p. 84-5 in original, pp. 84-5 in Sambrook ed.)",,21484,Text keyed from original,"""Effusive Source of Evidence, and Truth! / A Lustre shedding o'er the ennobled Mind, / Stronger than Summer-Noon, and pure as that, / Which gently vibrates on the Eye of Saint, / New to the Dawning of coelestial Day.""","",2013-07-07 18:20:09 UTC,""