"High o'er the verseful Throng, you stand, alone, / Asserting boundless Fancy's rightful Throne"
— Mitchell, Joseph (c. 1684-1738)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Harmen Noorthouck
Date
1732
Metaphor
"High o'er the verseful Throng, you stand, alone, / Asserting boundless Fancy's rightful Throne"
Metaphor in Context
O cou'd I imitate your lofty Lays,
Abhorrent from the vulgar Flights to Praise!
But who, like Hill, can raise his ev'ry Thought,
And sing, as boldly, as your[1] Gideon fought?
High o'er the verseful Throng, you stand, alone,
Asserting boundless Fancy's rightful Throne:
Others their soft, their sickly, Numbers boast,
Where all the sacred Energy is lost.
Them Soul-less Readers eagerly admire,
And, with uplifted Eyes, at every Line expire.
Harmonious Sounds supply the Want of Sense,
And Inspiration sinks, in flowing Eloquence!
A different Taste (I thank thee, Heav'n!) is mine;
Let me have Verse, enforc'd by Heat Divine.
I love the Lays, that, like a Genius, rise,
And strike the Soul, with Wonder and Surprize;
Where innate Virtues tow'r a Milton's Flight,
And steer the Work, with Maro's Judgment, right.
Give me the Poet, whose prodigious Thought,
(Tho' to the Plainness of Prose-writing brought)
Can still its Godlike Dignity maintain,
And just Applause of true Discernment gain.
Abhorrent from the vulgar Flights to Praise!
But who, like Hill, can raise his ev'ry Thought,
And sing, as boldly, as your[1] Gideon fought?
High o'er the verseful Throng, you stand, alone,
Asserting boundless Fancy's rightful Throne:
Others their soft, their sickly, Numbers boast,
Where all the sacred Energy is lost.
Them Soul-less Readers eagerly admire,
And, with uplifted Eyes, at every Line expire.
Harmonious Sounds supply the Want of Sense,
And Inspiration sinks, in flowing Eloquence!
A different Taste (I thank thee, Heav'n!) is mine;
Let me have Verse, enforc'd by Heat Divine.
I love the Lays, that, like a Genius, rise,
And strike the Soul, with Wonder and Surprize;
Where innate Virtues tow'r a Milton's Flight,
And steer the Work, with Maro's Judgment, right.
Give me the Poet, whose prodigious Thought,
(Tho' to the Plainness of Prose-writing brought)
Can still its Godlike Dignity maintain,
And just Applause of true Discernment gain.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "fancy" and "throne" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 3 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1729, 1732).
Joseph Mitchell, Poems on Several Occasions, 2 vols. (London: Harmen Noorthouck, 1732). <Link to ECCO>
Joseph Mitchell, Poems on Several Occasions, 2 vols. (London: Harmen Noorthouck, 1732). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
01/25/2006
