work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
7960,Flights of Fancy,Reading,2014-07-08 19:18:23 UTC,"Sure there are Poets which did never dream
Upon Parnassus, nor did tast the stream
Of Helicon, we therefore may suppose
Those made not Poets, but the Poets those.
And as Courts make not Kings, but Kings the Court,
So where the Muses & their train resort,
Parnassus stands; if I can be to thee
A Poet, thou Parnassus art to me.
Nor wonder, if (advantag'd in my flight,
By taking wing from thy auspicious height)
Through untrac't ways, and aery paths I fly,
More boundless in my Fancy than my eie:
My eye, which swift as thought contracts the space
That lies between, and first salutes the place
Crown'd with that sacred pile, so vast, so high,
That whether 'tis a part of Earth, or sky,
Uncertain seems, and may be thought a proud
Aspiring mountain, or descending cloud,
Pauls, the late theme of such a Muse whose flight
Has bravely reach't and soar'd above thy height:
Now shalt thou stand though sword, or time, or fire,
Or zeal more fierce than they, thy fall conspire,
Secure, whilst thee the best of Poets sings,
Preserv'd from ruine by the best of Kings.
(ll. 1-24; cf. pp. 1-2 in 1655 ed.)",,24142,"","""Nor wonder, if (advantag'd in my flight, / By taking wing from thy auspicious height) / Through untrac't ways, and aery paths I fly, / More boundless in my Fancy than my eie.""","",2014-07-08 19:24:07 UTC,""
7960,Speed of Thought,Reading,2014-07-08 19:23:36 UTC,"Sure there are Poets which did never dream
Upon Parnassus, nor did tast the stream
Of Helicon, we therefore may suppose
Those made not Poets, but the Poets those.
And as Courts make not Kings, but Kings the Court,
So where the Muses & their train resort,
Parnassus stands; if I can be to thee
A Poet, thou Parnassus art to me.
Nor wonder, if (advantag'd in my flight,
By taking wing from thy auspicious height)
Through untrac't ways, and aery paths I fly,
More boundless in my Fancy than my eie:
My eye, which swift as thought contracts the space
That lies between, and first salutes the place
Crown'd with that sacred pile, so vast, so high,
That whether 'tis a part of Earth, or sky,
Uncertain seems, and may be thought a proud
Aspiring mountain, or descending cloud,
Pauls, the late theme of such a Muse whose flight
Has bravely reach't and soar'd above thy height:
Now shalt thou stand though sword, or time, or fire,
Or zeal more fierce than they, thy fall conspire,
Secure, whilst thee the best of Poets sings,
Preserv'd from ruine by the best of Kings.
(ll. 1-24; cf. pp. 1-2 in 1655 ed.)",,24143,A reversed comparison: swift as thought...,"""My eye, which swift as thought contracts the space / That lies between, and first salutes the place / Crown'd with that sacred pile, so vast, so high, / That whether 'tis a part of Earth, or sky, / Uncertain seems, and may be thought a proud / Aspiring mountain, or descending cloud, / Pauls, the late theme of such a Muse whose flight / Has bravely reach't and soar'd above thy height.""","",2014-07-08 19:23:36 UTC,""
7960,"",Reading,2014-07-08 19:37:46 UTC,"My eye descending from the Hill, surveys
Where Thames amongst the wanton vallies strays.
Thames, the most lov'd of all the Oceans sons,
By his old Sire to his embraces runs,
Hasting to pay his tribute to the Sea,
Like mortal life to meet Eternity.
Though with those streams he no resemblance hold,
Whose foam is Amber, and their Gravel Gold;
His genuine, and less guilty wealth t'explore,
Search not his bottom, but survey his shore;
Ore which he kindly spreads his spacious wing,
And hatches plenty for th'ensuing Spring.
Nor then destroys it with too fond a stay,
Like Mothers which their Infants overlay.
Nor with a sudden and impetuous wave,
Like profuse Kings, resumes the wealth he gave.
No unexpected inundations spoyl
The mowers hopes, nor mock the plowmans toyl:
But God-like his unwearied Bounty flows;
First loves to do, then loves the Good he does.
Nor are his Blessings to his banks confin'd,
But free, and common, as the Sea or Wind;
When he to boast, or to disperse his stores
Full of the tributes of his grateful shores,
Visits the world, and in his flying towers
Brings home to us, and makes both Indies ours;
Finds wealth where 'tis, bestows it where it wants
Cities in deserts, woods in Cities plants.
So that to us no thing, no place is strange,
While his fair bosom is the worlds exchange.
O could I flow like thee, and make thy stream
My great example, as it is my theme!
Though deep, yet clear, though gentle, yet not dull,
Strong without rage, without ore-flowing full.
Heaven her Eridanus no more shall boast,
Whose Fame in thine, like lesser Currents lost,
Thy Nobler streams shall visit Jove's aboads,
To shine amongst the Stars, and bath the Gods.
(ll. 159-196; cf. pp. 9-10 in 1655 ed.)",,24144,"Not an obvious metaphor of mind, but many (including Samuel Johnson) have taken it for one. Can also be understood as a metaphor for the poet's style.","""O could I flow like thee, and make thy stream / My great example, as it is my theme! / Though deep, yet clear, though gentle, yet not dull, / Strong without rage, without ore-flowing full.""",Conclusion,2014-07-08 19:37:46 UTC,""
7988,"",Reading,2014-07-28 18:19:07 UTC,"And first, the way of Meditating, I would recommend, conduces to keep the Soul from Idleness, and Employments worse than Idleness; for while a Man's thoughts are busi'd about the present subjects of his Reflections, our Ghostly Adversary is discourag'd to attempt that Soul, which he sees already taken up, with something that is at least innocent, if not good. If I had not elsewhere display'd the Evil and Danger of Idleness, and represented it as a thing, which, though we should admit not to be in it self a sin, yet may easily prove a greater mischief than a very great one, by at once tempting the Tempter to tempt us, and exposing the empty Soul, like an uninhabited place, to the next Passion or Temptation that takes the opportunity to seize upon it: If (I say) I had not elsewhere discours'd at large against Idleness, I might here represent it as so formidable an Enemy, that it would appear alone a sufficient Motive to welcome our way of Meditation; That it banishes Idleness. He that is vers'd in making Reflections upon what occurs to him; He that (consequently) has the works of Nature, and the actions of Men, and almost every Casualty that falls under his Notice, to set his Thoughts on work, shall scarce want Themes to employ them on: And he that can (as it were) make the World vocal, by furnishing every Creature, and almost every occurrence, with a Tongue to entertain him with, and can make the little Accidents of his Life, and the very Flowers of his Garden, read him Lectures of Ethicks or Divinity; such a one, I say, shall scarce need to fly to the Tavern, or a worse place, to get a Drawer, or a Gamester (perhaps no better qualifi'd) to help him to get rid of his time, such a one will rather pity, than pursue those, who think it their Priviledge to spend their whole Life in Diversions from the main Business of it; and out of an unskilful, and ill govern'd self-love, are come to that pass, that they cannot endure to be with themselves. Such a one will not need to frequent the company of those Gamesters, that are sure to lose that, which all their winnings will never be able to buy, or to redeem, and expose themselves coldly to as many Casualties, as ev'n War could threaten; and voluntarily tempt those Passions, it is the Task of Wisdome to decline, and a Virtue to suppress; losing nothing but their time, without losing their Patience too, and commonly a great part of that Reverence and Submission they owe to him, of whom the Scripture tells us,* that ev'n of Lots themselves, the whole disposal is his. Nor will he need, for want of knowing what to do when he is alone, to make it his almost daily Employment, to make impertinent Visits, to unsanctify'd Companies, where sometimes he may lose his good Name, often his Innocence, oftner his Zeal, and always his Time.
(pp. 3-5)",,24332,"","""If I had not elsewhere display'd the Evil and Danger of Idleness, and represented it as a thing, which, though we should admit not to be in it self a sin, yet may easily prove a greater mischief than a very great one, by at once tempting the Tempter to tempt us, and exposing the empty Soul, like an uninhabited place, to the next Passion or Temptation that takes the opportunity to seize upon it.""",Empire,2014-07-28 18:19:07 UTC,""
7988,"",Reading,2014-07-28 18:19:51 UTC,"And, as the Exercise, I would perswade, will help to keep us from Idleness, so will it, to preserve us from harbouring evil Thoughts, which there is no such way to keep out of the Soul, as to keep her taken up with good ones; as Husbandmen, to rid a piece of rank Land of Weeds, do often find it as effectual a Course to sow it with good Seed, as to cut them down, or burn them up. And indeed, the Thoughts of many a Person, are oftentimes so active, and restless, that something or other they must, and will perpetually be doing; and like unruly Souldiers, if you have not a care to employ them well, they will employ themselves ill.
(p. 6)",,24333,"","""And, as the Exercise, I would perswade, will help to keep us from Idleness, so will it, to preserve us from harbouring evil Thoughts, which there is no such way to keep out of the Soul, as to keep her taken up with good ones; as Husbandmen, to rid a piece of rank Land of Weeds, do often find it as effectual a Course to sow it with good Seed, as to cut them down, or burn them up.""","",2014-07-28 18:19:51 UTC,""
7988,"",Reading,2014-07-28 18:20:29 UTC,"And, as the Exercise, I would perswade, will help to keep us from Idleness, so will it, to preserve us from harbouring evil Thoughts, which there is no such way to keep out of the Soul, as to keep her taken up with good ones; as Husbandmen, to rid a piece of rank Land of Weeds, do often find it as effectual a Course to sow it with good Seed, as to cut them down, or burn them up. And indeed, the Thoughts of many a Person, are oftentimes so active, and restless, that something or other they must, and will perpetually be doing; and like unruly Souldiers, if you have not a care to employ them well, they will employ themselves ill.
(p. 6)",,24334,"","""And indeed, the Thoughts of many a Person, are oftentimes so active, and restless, that something or other they must, and will perpetually be doing; and like unruly Souldiers, if you have not a care to employ them well, they will employ themselves ill.""","",2014-07-28 18:20:29 UTC,""
7988,"",Reading,2014-07-28 18:21:12 UTC,"Wherefore, when a Man hath once rendred this way of Thinking, familiar, sometimes the subject of his Meditation will lead him to Thoughts, and excite Affections, full of Serenity, and Joy, like those fair Mornings, where the cloudless Beams, and cherishing warmth of the Sun, inviting the Lark to aspire towards Heaven, make her at once mount, and sing; and when the Mind is rais'd to such a welcome and elevated state, to listen to an ordinary Temptation, a Man must forgo his Pleasure, as well as violate his Duty, and in the difference betwixt the Imployment that busies him, and that whereto he is sollicited to stoop, he will easily discern, that his Innocence will not be the onely thing that he would lose by so disadvantageous a Change; And sometimes too, whether or no the Imployment that busies his Thoughts, happen to be so delightful, it will however appear to be so considerable, that it will seasonably furnish him with that excellent Answer of Nehemiah, to those that would have diverted him from building of the Temple, to come to a Treaty with them, I am doing a great Work, (and such indeed is the serving God, and the improving the Mind, whether we consider its Importance, or its Difficulty) so that I cannot come down; why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you? Which last Expression suits very well with the present case, since, when a pious Soul is once got upon the wing of Contemplation, she must descend and stoop to exchange her converse with Heavenly objects, for one with Earthly vanities, and much more must she debase and degrade her self, if the things she is tempted to, be Lusts, which she will thence clearly discern, to be as Low as the Hell they belong to, and deserve.
(pp. 6-7)",,24335,"","""Which last Expression suits very well with the present case, since, when a pious Soul is once got upon the wing of Contemplation, she must descend and stoop to exchange her converse with Heavenly objects, for one with Earthly vanities, and much more must she debase and degrade her self, if the things she is tempted to, be Lusts, which she will thence clearly discern, to be as Low as the Hell they belong to, and deserve.""","",2014-07-28 18:21:12 UTC,""
7988,"","Reading Joanna Picciotto, Labors of Innocence in Early Modern England. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010), 276.",2014-07-28 18:24:23 UTC,"NOr will the Meleteticks (or way, and kind of Meditation) I would perswade, keep Men alone from such gross and notorious Idleness, that they may be ask'd the Question, propos'd by the Housholder in the Gospel, Why sit ye here all the Day idle? But this way of Thinking, may in part keep Men from the loss of such smaller parcels of Time, as though a meer Morallist would not perhaps censure the neglect of them in others, yet a Devout person would condemn it in himself: For betwixt the more stated Employments, and important Occurrences of humane Life, there usually happen to be interpos'd certain Intervals of Time, which, though they are wont to be neglected, as being singly, or within the Compass of one day inconsiderable, yet in a Man's whole Life, they may amount to no contemptible Portion of it. Now these uncertain Parentheses, (if I may so call them) or Interludes, that happen to come between the more solemn Passages (whether Businesses, or Recreations) of humane Life, are wont to be lost by most Men, for want of a Value for them, and ev'n by good Men, for want of Skill to preserve them: For though they do not properly despise them, yet they neglect, or lose them, for want of knowing how to rescue them, or what to do with them. But as though grains of Sand and Ashes be a part, but of a despicable smallness, and very easie, and liable to be scatter'd, and blown away; yet the skilful Artificer, by a vehement Fire, brings Numbers of these to afford him that noble substance, Glass, by whose help we may both see our selves, and our Blemishes, lively represented, (as in Looking-glasses) and discern Celestial objects, (as with Telescopes) and with the Sun-beams, kindle dispos'd Materials, (as with Burning-glasses) So when these little Fragments, or Parcels of Time, which, if not carefully look'd to, would be dissipated, and lost, come to be manag'd by a skilful Contemplator, and to be improv'd by the Celestial fire of Devotion, they may be so order'd, as to afford us both Looking-glasses, to dress our Souls by, and Perspectives to discover Heavenly wonders, and Incentives to inflame our hearts with Charity and Zeal; And since Gold-smiths and Refiners are wont all the year long carefully to save the very sweepings of their Shops, because they may contain in them some Filings, or Dust of those richer Metals, Gold and Silver; I see not why a Christian may not be as careful, not to lose the Fragments and lesser Intervals of a thing incomparably more precious than any Metal, Time; especially, when the Improvement of them, by our Meleteticks, may not onely redeem so many Portions of our Life, but turn them to pious Uses, and particularly to the great Advantage of Devotion.
(pp. 8-10)",,24336,"","""But as though grains of Sand and Ashes be a part, but of a despicable smallness, and very easie, and liable to be scatter'd, and blown away; yet the skilful Artificer, by a vehement Fire, brings Numbers of these to afford him that noble substance, Glass, by whose help we may both see our selves, and our Blemishes, lively represented, (as in Looking-glasses) and discern Celestial objects, (as with Telescopes) and with the Sun-beams, kindle dispos'd Materials, (as with Burning-glasses) So when these little Fragments, or Parcels of Time, which, if not carefully look'd to, would be dissipated, and lost, come to be manag'd by a skilful Contemplator, and to be improv'd by the Celestial fire of Devotion, they may be so order'd, as to afford us both Looking-glasses, to dress our Souls by, and Perspectives to discover Heavenly wonders, and Incentives to inflame our hearts with Charity and Zeal.""",Mirror,2014-07-28 18:24:23 UTC,""
7988,"",Reading,2014-07-28 18:25:31 UTC,"NOr will the Meleteticks (or way, and kind of Meditation) I would perswade, keep Men alone from such gross and notorious Idleness, that they may be ask'd the Question, propos'd by the Housholder in the Gospel, Why sit ye here all the Day idle? But this way of Thinking, may in part keep Men from the loss of such smaller parcels of Time, as though a meer Morallist would not perhaps censure the neglect of them in others, yet a Devout person would condemn it in himself: For betwixt the more stated Employments, and important Occurrences of humane Life, there usually happen to be interpos'd certain Intervals of Time, which, though they are wont to be neglected, as being singly, or within the Compass of one day inconsiderable, yet in a Man's whole Life, they may amount to no contemptible Portion of it. Now these uncertain Parentheses, (if I may so call them) or Interludes, that happen to come between the more solemn Passages (whether Businesses, or Recreations) of humane Life, are wont to be lost by most Men, for want of a Value for them, and ev'n by good Men, for want of Skill to preserve them: For though they do not properly despise them, yet they neglect, or lose them, for want of knowing how to rescue them, or what to do with them. But as though grains of Sand and Ashes be a part, but of a despicable smallness, and very easie, and liable to be scatter'd, and blown away; yet the skilful Artificer, by a vehement Fire, brings Numbers of these to afford him that noble substance, Glass, by whose help we may both see our selves, and our Blemishes, lively represented, (as in Looking-glasses) and discern Celestial objects, (as with Telescopes) and with the Sun-beams, kindle dispos'd Materials, (as with Burning-glasses) So when these little Fragments, or Parcels of Time, which, if not carefully look'd to, would be dissipated, and lost, come to be manag'd by a skilful Contemplator, and to be improv'd by the Celestial fire of Devotion, they may be so order'd, as to afford us both Looking-glasses, to dress our Souls by, and Perspectives to discover Heavenly wonders, and Incentives to inflame our hearts with Charity and Zeal; And since Gold-smiths and Refiners are wont all the year long carefully to save the very sweepings of their Shops, because they may contain in them some Filings, or Dust of those richer Metals, Gold and Silver; I see not why a Christian may not be as careful, not to lose the Fragments and lesser Intervals of a thing incomparably more precious than any Metal, Time; especially, when the Improvement of them, by our Meleteticks, may not onely redeem so many Portions of our Life, but turn them to pious Uses, and particularly to the great Advantage of Devotion.
(pp. 8-10)",,24337,"","""And since Gold-smiths and Refiners are wont all the year long carefully to save the very sweepings of their Shops, because they may contain in them some Filings, or Dust of those richer Metals, Gold and Silver; I see not why a Christian may not be as careful, not to lose the Fragments and lesser Intervals of a thing incomparably more precious than any Metal, Time.""","",2014-07-28 18:25:31 UTC,""
7988,"",Reading,2014-07-28 18:26:27 UTC,"And indeed, the Affairs and Customs of the World, the Imployments of our particular Callings, the allowable Recreations, that Health, or Weariness requires, and the Multitude of unfore-seen, and scarce evitable Avocations, that are wont to share our Time among them, leave us so little of it, to imploy in the set and solemn Exercises of Devotion, and make those so unfrequent, that our Hearts are in great Danger, of being, by the Business, and Pleasures, and Hurry of the World, if not perverted from Aspiring to, at least too long diverted from Enjoying, Communion with God, and kept too much Strangers to Him, if in the long Intervals of our more solemn Exercises of Devotion, we be not careful to lay hold on the short, and transient Opportunities of Cherishing, and reviving, that Grace in us, and do not by the Rises given us by the Things that occur, take occasion to make frequent, though but short Flights Heaven-wards, in extemporary Reflections, serious Soliloquies, piercing Ejaculations, and other mental, either Exercises, or Expressions of Devotion, by which means, we may make those very objects, and occasions, that would Discourage, or at least Distract, our Minds, elevate and animate them: As Jonathan made those very things, whereby his Enemies, the Philistins, sought to intrap, or destroy him, Incouragements to fight with them, and Omens of his Victory over them. And as scarce any Time is so short, but that things so Agile, and asspiring as the Flames of a Devout Soul, may take a flight to Heaven, (as Nehemiah could find time to dart up a successful Prayer to the Throne of Grace, whilst he stood waiting behind the King of Persia's Chair) so by these extemporary Reflections, as well as by other mental Acts of Piety duely made, a Devout Soul may not onely rescue these precious Fragments of Time, but procure Eternity with them.
(pp. 10-11)",,24338,"","""As Jonathan made those very things, whereby his Enemies, the Philistins, sought to intrap, or destroy him, Incouragements to fight with them, and Omens of his Victory over them. And as scarce any Time is so short, but that things so Agile, and asspiring as the Flames of a Devout Soul, may take a flight to Heaven, (as Nehemiah could find time to dart up a successful Prayer to the Throne of Grace, whilst he stood waiting behind the King of Persia's Chair) so by these extemporary Reflections, as well as by other mental Acts of Piety duely made, a Devout Soul may not onely rescue these precious Fragments of Time, but procure Eternity with them.""","",2014-07-28 18:26:27 UTC,""