text,updated_at,metaphor,created_at,context,theme,reviewed_on,dictionary,comments,provenance,id,work_id
"""To wake the soul by tender strokes of art,
To raise the genius, and to mend the heart,""--
Hold, hold! that's not my cue, we 've no intention
By ""tender strokes"" to sharpen girls' invention:
The soul will waken time enough, ne'er fear;
No lines shall rouse the slumbering passions here.
O! ever sacred be the deep repose
Which Youth, on Innocence' pure bosom, knows;
Before a wish, a throb, a care, have taught
The pangs of feeling or the lines of thought.
O happy period! soon to pass away,
Soon will the swelling gales assert their sway,
And drive the vessel from the sheltered port,--
O guide it Heaven!--of winds and waves the sport.
Nor yet ""to raise the genius"" is our aim,
With Shakespear's high-wrought scenes and words of flame.
A little story, drawn from fairy lore,
A nursery tale, this evening we explore:
""To mend the heart,"" indeed, we mean to try,
And show what poison lurks in flattery.
'Tis true our hero was a prince--what then!
Believe me, Flattery stoops to common men.
A little dose, made up with skill and care,
A grain or two of incense, all can bear:
'Tis life's first rule,--by complaisance we live;
All flatter all, and to receive we give.
Myself, for instance, am sent here tonight
With soothing speech your favour to invite;
And when our piece is done, perhaps e'en you,
My gentle auditors, may flatter too,
And make us boast our talents and our skill,
When all the merit is in your good will.
But there's a theme which asks a verse this day,
Where Flattery has no power her tints to lay;
This hallowed day, in Hymen's golden bands
Which joined consenting hearts and willing hands.
How many years ago should any ask,
Look round,--to count them is an easy task;
Each tiptoe girl, and each aspiring boy,
Date, as they pass, the years of love and joy.
O happy state! where blessings number years,
And smiles are only quenched in more delicious tears.
Here, should my willing lips the theme pursue,
And draw the lovely scene in colours due,
Paint the well-ordered home, the sacred seat
Where social joys and active virtues meet;
These wield in love, and those in love obey
The peaceful sceptre of domestic sway;
Where sparkling Fancy weaves her airy dream,
And Science sheds around her steady beam,--
Each answering heart the faithful sketch would own,
And glow with feelings raised by truth alone.",2011-05-27 14:27:39 UTC,"""This hallowed day, in Hymen's golden bands / Which joined consenting hearts and willing hands.""",2005-05-27 00:00:00 UTC,I've included the entire Prologue,"",2011-06-26,Fetters,"•C-H categorizes in Poetry. REVISIT issues of genre.
•Bands belong under Fetters?",Searching HDIS (Poetry),16558,6255
"IBRAHIM
Yes, she has a thousand charms, and my heart is already in her chains.--How dared Mustapha deceive me? He talked of deformity--her form is symmetry itself, and her hair which he decried, is fit for the bow-strings of the god of love.
(III.i)
",2011-07-28 19:36:02 UTC,"""Yes, she has a thousand charms, and my heart is already in her chains.""",2011-07-28 19:36:02 UTC,"Act III, scene i","",,Fetters,"","Searching ""heart"" and ""chain"" in HDIS (Drama)",19043,7043
"IBRAHIM
O thou enchantress!
[Starting back]
Thou wife of Orloff! thou hast my soul in chains--drag it not to perdition!
(V.v)",2011-07-30 20:52:30 UTC,"""Thou wife of Orloff! thou hast my soul in chains--drag it not to perdition!""",2011-07-30 20:52:30 UTC,"Act V, scene v","",,Fetters,"","Searching ""soul"" and ""chain"" in HDIS (Drama)",19074,7043
"IBRAHIM
Christian, thou know'st me not! Whilst left to myself, I could command myself! My ardent passions I could hold in chains, and suppress that love which honor could not sanction--But thou shalt know when thus oppos'd, I own no law but will--drag him away.
(V.v)",2011-08-01 19:45:06 UTC,"""My ardent passions I could hold in chains, and suppress that love which honor could not sanction.""",2011-08-01 19:45:06 UTC,"Act V, scene v","",,Fetters,"","Searching ""passion"" and ""chain"" in HDIS (Drama)",19080,7043
"HONORIA
Ambition!--not that emulative zeal
Which wings the tow'ring souls of godlike men!
But bold, oppressive, self-created pow'r,
That, trampling o'er the barrier of the laws,
And scattering wide the tender shoots of pity,
Strikes at the root of reason, and confines
Nature itself in bondage! Oh! 'tis vile!
But, thank the Gods! no spells can curb the mind,
While splendour's proudest claim is less than virtue!",2012-01-09 18:24:54 UTC,"""Ambition!--not that emulative zeal
Which wings the tow'ring souls of godlike men! / But bold, oppressive, self-created pow'r, / That, trampling o'er the barrier of the laws, / And scattering wide the tender shoots of pity, / Strikes at the root of reason, and confines / Nature itself in bondage!""",2012-01-09 18:24:54 UTC,"","",,Fetters,"","Searching ""bond"" and ""reason"" in HDIS (Poetry)",19421,6050
"GONDIBERT.
Perdition!
Fly me, thou Monster! lest thy womanhood
I should forget, and scatter thee in atoms
To the tempestuous winds!—
[Exit Editha, with an air of menace.
[Musing.]
Be firm, my soul! nor let unworthy weakness
Destroy the vengeful purpose thou hast fram'd.
Banish'd--robb'd of my country, and my name;
Yet they have left a mind defies their vengeance—
Which, though these limbs were lock'd in bolts of steel,
And darkness wrapt these precious founts of light,
Would rise superior to their bounded power,
And scorn alike their fetters, and their laws.
He for whom I'm exil'd, for exil'd Gondibert
Shall weep with his heart's blood; and ev'ry vein
Pour tribute to my mighty sorrows. Edward!
This night, in which thy pulse beats high to transport,
Thy senses giddy with approaching bliss--
--This night beholds thee in Death's icy bands;
Thy shroud shall fold thee, not Albina's arms!
(pp. 76-7)",2014-03-12 04:46:04 UTC,"""Banish'd--robb'd of my country, and my name; / Yet they have left a mind defies their vengeance-- / Which, though these limbs were lock'd in bolts of steel, / And darkness wrapt these precious founts of light, / Would rise superior to their bounded power, / And scorn alike their fetters, and their laws.""",2014-03-12 04:46:04 UTC,"","",,Fetters,"",ECCO-TCP,23622,7836