"[T]hrough the cells / And channels of his phrensy-stricken brain / Rage and confusion rush'd; the solemn peal / Broke on his ear like his salvation's knell, / Whilst his vext conscience struggled, but too late, / To rend th' insatiate demon from his heart"
— Burges, Sir James Bland (1752-1824)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by J. Wright ... for Lackington, Allen, and Co. [etc.]
Date
1807-8
Metaphor
"[T]hrough the cells / And channels of his phrensy-stricken brain / Rage and confusion rush'd; the solemn peal / Broke on his ear like his salvation's knell, / Whilst his vext conscience struggled, but too late, / To rend th' insatiate demon from his heart"
Metaphor in Context
Forty succeeding days had now revolv'd,
Since the appointed twelve from Israel's camp
Adventur'd forth to search the promis'd land,
And still, unvisited by Heav'n's blest light,
Dark in his tent apostate Korah dwelt,
Outcast of God and man. Wretch more forlorn
Earth did not own; for day and night to him,
Irksome and drear and comfortless alike,
No grateful changes brought, that might induce
Or rest or pause from memory, but still
Th' imprison'd horror rankled in the depth
Of his relentless undiverted thought.
Sleep, that at times with silent step will come
To the sick couch, and soft oblivion bring,
Blest visitant! to sorrow-wounded souls,
Came not to him: alien from God was he;
And Heav'n's bright messengers will not consort
With hell's dark agents: for it is not sleep
To herd with nightly spectres; 'tis not rest
To wander and be tossing on the flood
Of wild imagination, till the soul
Feels anguish more intolerably fierce
Than all its waking torments.--Such the rest
Of Korah, such his dreams. When, at the hour
Of morn or ev'ning pray'r, the choral hymn
Hallow'd Jehovah's name, then through the cells
And channels of his phrensy-stricken brain
Rage and confusion rush'd; the solemn peal
Broke on his ear like his salvation's knell,
Whilst his vext conscience struggled, but too late,
To rend th' insatiate demon from his heart:
Hopeless attempt! The adamantine chain,
Temper'd by fiends, and to the centre knit
Of hell's tremendous furnace, held him fast.
Dathan, who, busied in rebellion's cause,
Of all authorities the foe, had spread
Contagious discontent throughout the camp,
Now at the close of day approach'd the tent
Of Korah, who, from the disastrous night,
That pledg'd him to perdition, had refus'd
Access to all the league, with whom prevail'd
Gloomy suspicions, that or death had quench'd,
Or melancholy damp'd his flaming zeal
For vengeance against Moses, which of late
Had rag'd so fiercely. Him the factious chief
Of Reuben found no longer now immur'd
Repulsive to enquiry, but pass'd on,
Led by the glimmering lamp to where he lay
In curtain'd privacy: before his couch
The kindred traitor stood, pond'ring the change,
Which in his ghastly visage had been wrought,
Since with that fiend infernal he had held
Impious communion, and allegiance pledg'd
To his soul's loss. "What agony is this,
That weighs so heavy upon Korah's health,
Dathan exclaim'd, and how hath it occurr'd,
When Sinai's fires are out, and Moses sinks,
Like an extinguisht meteor, into shade,
That thou, the day-star of our rising hope,
The chosen of our Israel above all
The sons of Levi, buried in this gloom
Art to be sought of me, when thou thyself
Should'st be the first to welcome and enjoy
The triumphs, that await thy coming forth?"
Since the appointed twelve from Israel's camp
Adventur'd forth to search the promis'd land,
And still, unvisited by Heav'n's blest light,
Dark in his tent apostate Korah dwelt,
Outcast of God and man. Wretch more forlorn
Earth did not own; for day and night to him,
Irksome and drear and comfortless alike,
No grateful changes brought, that might induce
Or rest or pause from memory, but still
Th' imprison'd horror rankled in the depth
Of his relentless undiverted thought.
Sleep, that at times with silent step will come
To the sick couch, and soft oblivion bring,
Blest visitant! to sorrow-wounded souls,
Came not to him: alien from God was he;
And Heav'n's bright messengers will not consort
With hell's dark agents: for it is not sleep
To herd with nightly spectres; 'tis not rest
To wander and be tossing on the flood
Of wild imagination, till the soul
Feels anguish more intolerably fierce
Than all its waking torments.--Such the rest
Of Korah, such his dreams. When, at the hour
Of morn or ev'ning pray'r, the choral hymn
Hallow'd Jehovah's name, then through the cells
And channels of his phrensy-stricken brain
Rage and confusion rush'd; the solemn peal
Broke on his ear like his salvation's knell,
Whilst his vext conscience struggled, but too late,
To rend th' insatiate demon from his heart:
Hopeless attempt! The adamantine chain,
Temper'd by fiends, and to the centre knit
Of hell's tremendous furnace, held him fast.
Dathan, who, busied in rebellion's cause,
Of all authorities the foe, had spread
Contagious discontent throughout the camp,
Now at the close of day approach'd the tent
Of Korah, who, from the disastrous night,
That pledg'd him to perdition, had refus'd
Access to all the league, with whom prevail'd
Gloomy suspicions, that or death had quench'd,
Or melancholy damp'd his flaming zeal
For vengeance against Moses, which of late
Had rag'd so fiercely. Him the factious chief
Of Reuben found no longer now immur'd
Repulsive to enquiry, but pass'd on,
Led by the glimmering lamp to where he lay
In curtain'd privacy: before his couch
The kindred traitor stood, pond'ring the change,
Which in his ghastly visage had been wrought,
Since with that fiend infernal he had held
Impious communion, and allegiance pledg'd
To his soul's loss. "What agony is this,
That weighs so heavy upon Korah's health,
Dathan exclaim'd, and how hath it occurr'd,
When Sinai's fires are out, and Moses sinks,
Like an extinguisht meteor, into shade,
That thou, the day-star of our rising hope,
The chosen of our Israel above all
The sons of Levi, buried in this gloom
Art to be sought of me, when thou thyself
Should'st be the first to welcome and enjoy
The triumphs, that await thy coming forth?"
Categories
Provenance
Searching "brain" and "cell" in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
08/29/2005
