work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
4151,"",HDIS (Poetry),2003-10-28 00:00:00 UTC,"Between Verse 25 and 26 were these lines:
Many are spoil'd by that pedantic throng,
Who with great pains teach youth to reason wrong.
Tutors, like Virtuoso's, oft inclin'd
By strange transfusion to improve the mind,
Draw off the sense we have, to pour in new;
Which yet with all their skill, they ne'er could do.",2011-10-20,10678,These lines originally appeared between verses 25 and 26.,"""Tutors, like Virtuoso's, oft inclin'd / By strange transfusion to improve the mind, / Draw off the sense we have, to pour in new; / Which yet with all their skill, they ne'er could do.""","",2011-10-20 14:39:38 UTC,Note to line 25
4151,"",HDIS,2003-11-03 00:00:00 UTC,"But if in noble minds some dregs remain,
Not yet purg'd off, of spleen and sour disdain;
Discharge that rage on more provoking crimes,
Nor fear a dearth in these flagitious times.
No pardon vile Obscenity should find,
Tho' wit and art conspire to move your mind;
But Dulness with obscenity must prove
As shameful sure as Impotence in love.
In the fat age of pleasure, wealth, and ease,
Sprung the rank weed, and thriv'd with large increase;
When Love was all an easy Monarch's care;
Seldom at council, never in a war:
Jilts rul'd the state, and statesmen Farces writ;
Nay wits had pensions, and young Lords had wit:
The Fair sate panting at a Courtier's play,
And not a Mask went unimprov'd away:
The modest fan was lifted up no more,
And Virgins smil'd at what they blush'd before.
The following licence of a Foreign reign
Did all the dregs of bold Socinus drain;
Then unbelieving Priests reform'd the nation,
And taught more pleasant methods of salvation;
Where heav'ns free subjects might their rights dispute,
Lest God himself should seem too Absolute:
Pulpits their sacred satire learn'd to spare,
And Vice admir'd to find a flatt'rer there!
Encourag'd thus, Wit's Titans brav'd the skies,
And the Press groan'd with licens'd blasphemies.
These monsters, Critics! with your darts engage,
Here point your thunder, and exhaust your rage!
Yet shun their fault, who, scandalously nice,
Will needs mistake an author into vice;
All seems infected that th'infected spy,
As all looks yellow to the jaundic'd eye.
(II, ll. 526-59)",,10685,"","""But if in noble minds some dregs remain, / Not yet purg'd off, of spleen and sour disdain; / Discharge that rage on more provoking crimes, / Nor fear a dearth in these flagitious times.""","",2009-09-14 19:35:11 UTC,Part II
4151,"","Reading. Found again in Joseph Warton's An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope (London: Printed for M. Cooper, 1756), 116. Also in James Beattie's Dissertations Moral and Critical (London: Strahan, 1783), 6. See also Ralph Cohen's ""Pope's Meanings and the Strategies of Interrelation,"" English Literature in the Age of Disguise, ed. Maximillian E. Novak, (Berkeley: U. of California Press, 1977), 111-12.",2005-07-22 00:00:00 UTC,"But you who seek to give and merit fame,
And justly bear a Critic's noble name,
Be sure yourself and your own reach to know,
How far your genius, taste, and learning go;
Launch not beyond your depth, but be discreet,
And mark that point where sense and dulness meet.
Nature to all things fix'd the limits fit,
And wisely curb'd proud man's pretending wit.
As on the land while here the Ocean gains,
In other parts it leaves wide sandy plains;
Thus in the soul while memory prevails,
The solid pow'r of understanding fails;
Where beams of warm imagination play,
The memory's soft figures melt away.
One science only will one genius fit;
So vast is art, so narrow human wit:
Not only bounded to peculiar arts,
But oft' in those confin'd to single parts.
Like Kings we lose the conquests gain'd before,
By vain ambition still to make them more;
Each might his sev'ral province well command,
Would all but stoop to what they understand.
(I, ll. 52-67)",2011-10-20,10710,"•I've included twice: Optics and Liquid
•Cross-reference: appears in Johnson's Dictionary (1755), and in Beattie's Dissertations Moral and Critical (1783).
• Reviewed 2009-01-28.
• Found again in Cohen, Ralph L. ""Pope's Meanings and the Strategies of Interrelation."" English Literature in the Age of Disguise, ed. Maximillian E. Novak, Berkeley: U. of California Press, 1977), 111-12.
• Expanded the entry to take in the whole epic simile (had been focused on beams of imagination before).
• Warton calls the best metaphor on the warmth of fancy
","""As on the land while here the Ocean gains, / In other parts it leaves wide sandy plains; / Thus in the soul while memory prevails, / The solid pow'r of understanding fails; / Where beams of warm imagination play, / The memory's soft figures melt away.""",Optics and Writing,2017-03-09 18:39:20 UTC,Part I
4209,"",HDIS,2003-10-26 00:00:00 UTC,"Thus toil'd the Chiefs in diff'rent Parts engag'd,
In ev'ry Quarter fierce Tydides rag'd,
Amid the Greek , amid the Trojan Train,
Rapt thro' the Ranks he thunders o'er the Plain,
Now here, now there, he darts from Place to Place,
Pours on the Rear, or lightens in their Face.
Thus from high Hills the Torrents swift and strong
Deluge whole Fields, and sweep the Trees along,
Thro' ruin'd Moles the rushing Wave resounds,
O'erwhelms the Bridge, and bursts the lofty Bounds;
The yellow Harvests of the ripen'd Year,
And flatted Vineyards, one sad Waste appear;
While Jove descends in sluicy Sheets of Rain,
And all the Labours of Mankind are vain.
Verse 116. Thus Torrents swift and strong .]
This whole Passage (says Eustathius ) is extremely beautiful. It describes the Hero carry'd by an Enthusiastick Valor into the midst of his Enemies, and so mingled with their Ranks as if himself were a Trojan. And the Simile wonderfully illustrates this Fury proceeding from an uncommon Infusion of Courage from Heaven, in resembling it not to a constant River, but a Torrent rising from an extraordinary Burst of Rain. This Simile is one of those that draws along with it some foreign Circumstances: We must not often expect from Homer those minute Resemblances in every Branch of a Comparison, which are the Pride of modern Similes. If that which one may call the main Action of it, or the principal Point of Likeness, be preserved; he affects, as to the rest, rather to present the Mind with a great Image, than to fix it down to an exact one. He is sure to make a fine Picture in the whole, without drudging on the under Parts; like those free Painters who (one would think) had only made here and there a few very significant Strokes, that give Form and Spirit to all the Piece. For the present Comparison, Virgil in the second Æneid has inserted an Imitation of it, which I cannot think equal to this, tho' Scaliger prefers Virgil 's to all our Author's Similitudes from Rivers put together.
Non sic aggeribus ruptis cum spumeus amnis
Exiit, oppositasque evicit gurgite moles ,
Fertur in arva furens cumulo, camposque per omnes
Cum stabulis armenta trahit ------
Not with so fierce a Rage, the foaming Flood
Roars, when he finds his rapid Course withstood;
Bears down the Dams with unresisted Sway,
And sweeps the Cattel and the Cotts away.
Dryden.
",,10918,•I've included both verses and note on the verses.
•INTEREST. See also interesting remark about ancient and modern simile practices.
•I'm putting this in 'Liquid' but a case could be made that it belongs in 'Weather',"""And the Simile wonderfully illustrates this Fury proceeding from an uncommon Infusion of Courage from Heaven, in resembling it not to a constant River, but a Torrent rising from an extraordinary Burst of Rain. This Simile is one of those that draws along with it some foreign Circumstances.""","",2009-09-14 19:35:23 UTC,""
4209,"",HDIS,2003-10-26 00:00:00 UTC,"He said: and seizing Thrasimedes' Shield,
(His valiant Offspring) hasten'd to the Field;
(That Day, the Son his Father's Buckler bore)
Then snatch'd a Lance, and issu'd from the Door.
Soon as the Prospect open'd to his View,
His wounded Eyes the Scene of Sorrow knew;
Dire Disarray! the Tumult of the Fight,
The Wall in Ruins, and the Greeks in Flight.
As when old Ocean's silent Surface sleeps,
The Waves just heaving on the purple Deeps;
While yet th'expected Tempest hangs on high,
Weighs down the Cloud, and blackens in the Sky,
The Mass of Waters will no Wind obey;
Jove sends one Gust, and bids them roll away.
While wav'ring Counsels thus his Mind engage,
Fluctuates, in doubtful Thought, the Pylian Sage;
To join the Host, or to the Gen'ral haste,
Debating long, he fixes on the last:
Yet, as he moves, the Fight his Bosom warms;
The Field rings dreadful with the Clang of Arms;
The gleaming Faulchions flash, the Javelins fly;
Blows echo Blows, and all, or kill, or die.
Verse 21. As when old Ocean's silent Surface sleeps. ]
There are no where more finish'd Pictures of Nature, than those which Homer draws in several of his Comparisons. The Beauty however of some of these will be lost to many, who cannot perceive the Resemblance, having never had Opportunity to observe the things themselves. The Life of this Description will be most sensible to those who have been at Sea in a Calm: In this Condition the Water is not entirely motionless, but swells gently in smooth Waves, which fluctuate backwards and forwards in a kind of balancing Motion: This State continues till a rising Wind gives a Determination to the Waves, and rolls 'em one certain way. There is scarce any thing in the whole Compass of Nature that can more exactly represent the State of an irresolute Mind, wavering between two different Designs, sometimes inclining to the one, sometimes to the other, and then moving to the Point to which its Resolution is at last determin'd. Every Circumstance of this Comparison is both beautiful and just; and it is the more to be admir'd, because it is very difficult to find sensible Images proper to represent the Motions of the Mind; wherefore we but rarely meet with such Comparisons even in the best Poets. There is one of great Beauty in Virgil , upon a Subject very like this, where he compares his Hero's Mind, agitated with a great Variety and quick Succession of Thoughts, to a dancing Light reflected from a Vessel of Water in Motion.
Cuncta videns, magno curarum fluctuat æstu ,
Atque animum, nunc huc, celerem, nunc dividit illuc ,
In partesq; rapit varias, perque omnia versat.
Sicut aquæ tremulum labris ubi lumen ahenis
Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine lunæ ,
Omnia pervolitat latè loca; jamque sub auras
Erigitur, summique ferit laquearia tecti.
Æn. l. 8. V. 19.
",,10925,•I've included verses and notes on the verses
•INTEREST. Pope admits that it is hard to come up with images for the mind's motion.
•Cross-reference:
,"""As when old Ocean's silent Surface sleeps, / The Waves just heaving on the purple Deeps; / While yet th'expected Tempest hangs on high, / Weighs down the Cloud, and blackens in the Sky, / The Mass of Waters will no Wind obey; / Jove sends one Gust, and bids them roll away. / While wav'ring Counsels thus his Mind engage, / Fluctuates, in doubtful Thought, the Pylian Sage""","",2009-09-14 19:35:23 UTC,""
4209,"",HDIS,2003-10-26 00:00:00 UTC,"He said: and seizing Thrasimedes' Shield,
(His valiant Offspring) hasten'd to the Field;
(That Day, the Son his Father's Buckler bore)
Then snatch'd a Lance, and issu'd from the Door.
Soon as the Prospect open'd to his View,
His wounded Eyes the Scene of Sorrow knew;
Dire Disarray! the Tumult of the Fight,
The Wall in Ruins, and the Greeks in Flight.
As when old Ocean's silent Surface sleeps,
The Waves just heaving on the purple Deeps;
While yet th'expected Tempest hangs on high,
Weighs down the Cloud, and blackens in the Sky,
The Mass of Waters will no Wind obey;
Jove sends one Gust, and bids them roll away.
While wav'ring Counsels thus his Mind engage,
Fluctuates, in doubtful Thought, the Pylian Sage;
To join the Host, or to the Gen'ral haste,
Debating long, he fixes on the last:
Yet, as he moves, the Fight his Bosom warms;
The Field rings dreadful with the Clang of Arms;
The gleaming Faulchions flash, the Javelins fly;
Blows echo Blows, and all, or kill, or die.
Verse 21. As when old Ocean's silent Surface sleeps. ]
There are no where more finish'd Pictures of Nature, than those which Homer draws in several of his Comparisons. The Beauty however of some of these will be lost to many, who cannot perceive the Resemblance, having never had Opportunity to observe the things themselves. The Life of this Description will be most sensible to those who have been at Sea in a Calm: In this Condition the Water is not entirely motionless, but swells gently in smooth Waves, which fluctuate backwards and forwards in a kind of balancing Motion: This State continues till a rising Wind gives a Determination to the Waves, and rolls 'em one certain way. There is scarce any thing in the whole Compass of Nature that can more exactly represent the State of an irresolute Mind, wavering between two different Designs, sometimes inclining to the one, sometimes to the other, and then moving to the Point to which its Resolution is at last determin'd. Every Circumstance of this Comparison is both beautiful and just; and it is the more to be admir'd, because it is very difficult to find sensible Images proper to represent the Motions of the Mind; wherefore we but rarely meet with such Comparisons even in the best Poets. There is one of great Beauty in Virgil , upon a Subject very like this, where he compares his Hero's Mind, agitated with a great Variety and quick Succession of Thoughts, to a dancing Light reflected from a Vessel of Water in Motion.
Cuncta videns, magno curarum fluctuat æstu ,
Atque animum, nunc huc, celerem, nunc dividit illuc ,
In partesq; rapit varias, perque omnia versat.
Sicut aquæ tremulum labris ubi lumen ahenis
Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine lunæ ,
Omnia pervolitat latè loca; jamque sub auras
Erigitur, summique ferit laquearia tecti.
Æn. l. 8. V. 19.
",,10926,•I've included verses and notes on the verses
•INTEREST. Pope admits that it is hard to come up with images for the mind's motion.
,"""There is scarce any thing in the whole Compass of Nature [referring to the calmed sea] that can more exactly represent the State of an irresolute Mind, wavering between two different Designs, sometimes inclining to the one, sometimes to the other, and then moving to the Point to which its Resolution is at last determin'd""","",2009-09-14 19:35:23 UTC,""
4209,"",HDIS,2003-10-26 00:00:00 UTC,"He said: and seizing Thrasimedes' Shield,
(His valiant Offspring) hasten'd to the Field;
(That Day, the Son his Father's Buckler bore)
Then snatch'd a Lance, and issu'd from the Door.
Soon as the Prospect open'd to his View,
His wounded Eyes the Scene of Sorrow knew;
Dire Disarray! the Tumult of the Fight,
The Wall in Ruins, and the Greeks in Flight.
As when old Ocean's silent Surface sleeps,
The Waves just heaving on the purple Deeps;
While yet th'expected Tempest hangs on high,
Weighs down the Cloud, and blackens in the Sky,
The Mass of Waters will no Wind obey;
Jove sends one Gust, and bids them roll away.
While wav'ring Counsels thus his Mind engage,
Fluctuates, in doubtful Thought, the Pylian Sage;
To join the Host, or to the Gen'ral haste,
Debating long, he fixes on the last:
Yet, as he moves, the Fight his Bosom warms;
The Field rings dreadful with the Clang of Arms;
The gleaming Faulchions flash, the Javelins fly;
Blows echo Blows, and all, or kill, or die.
Verse 21. As when old Ocean's silent Surface sleeps. ]
There are no where more finish'd Pictures of Nature, than those which Homer draws in several of his Comparisons. The Beauty however of some of these will be lost to many, who cannot perceive the Resemblance, having never had Opportunity to observe the things themselves. The Life of this Description will be most sensible to those who have been at Sea in a Calm: In this Condition the Water is not entirely motionless, but swells gently in smooth Waves, which fluctuate backwards and forwards in a kind of balancing Motion: This State continues till a rising Wind gives a Determination to the Waves, and rolls 'em one certain way. There is scarce any thing in the whole Compass of Nature that can more exactly represent the State of an irresolute Mind, wavering between two different Designs, sometimes inclining to the one, sometimes to the other, and then moving to the Point to which its Resolution is at last determin'd. Every Circumstance of this Comparison is both beautiful and just; and it is the more to be admir'd, because it is very difficult to find sensible Images proper to represent the Motions of the Mind; wherefore we but rarely meet with such Comparisons even in the best Poets. There is one of great Beauty in Virgil, upon a Subject very like this, where he compares his Hero's Mind, agitated with a great Variety and quick Succession of Thoughts, to a dancing Light reflected from a Vessel of Water in Motion.
Cuncta videns, magno curarum fluctuat æstu ,
Atque animum, nunc huc, celerem, nunc dividit illuc ,
In partesq; rapit varias, perque omnia versat.
Sicut aquæ tremulum labris ubi lumen ahenis
Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine lunæ ,
Omnia pervolitat latè loca; jamque sub auras
Erigitur, summique ferit laquearia tecti.
Æn. l. 8. V. 19.
",2003-12-30,10927,"•I've included this entry twice: Once in 'Liquid' and once in 'Optics'.
•I've included verses and notes on the verses
•INTEREST. Pope admits that it is hard to come up with images for the mind's motion.
•I should also include the passage from Virgil in the database... And I have. The first translation of the passage I've found is by Cowper. See his ""Translation from Virgil: Aeneid, Book VIII. Line 18"" (12/30/2003)","""There is one of great Beauty in Virgil, upon a Subject very like this, where he compares his Hero's Mind, agitated with a great Variety and quick Succession of Thoughts, to a dancing Light reflected from a Vessel of Water in Motion.""","",2009-09-14 19:35:24 UTC,""
4209,"",HDIS,2003-10-26 00:00:00 UTC,"A Flood of Tears, at this, the Goddess shed:
Ah then, I see thee dying, see thee dead!
When Hector falls, thou dy'st.--Let Hector die,
And let me fall! ( Achilles made reply)
Far lyes Patroclus from his native plain!
He fell, and falling wish'd my Aid in vain.
Ah then, since from this miserable Day
I cast all hope of my Return away,
Since unreveng'd, a hundred Ghosts demand
The Fate of Hector from Achilles' hand;
Since here, for brutal Courage far renown'd,
I live an idle Burden to the Ground,
(Others in Council fam'd for nobler Skill,
More useful to preserve, than I to kill)
Let me--But oh! ye gracious Pow'rs above!
Wrath and Revenge from Men and Gods remove:
Far, far too dear to ev'ry mortal Breast,
Sweet to the Soul, as Hony to the Taste;
Gath'ring like Vapours of a noxious kind
From fiery Blood, and dark'ning all the Mind.
Me Agamemnon urg'd to deadly Hate;
'Tis past--I quell it; I resign to Fate.
Yes--I will meet the Murd'rer of my Friend,
Or (if the Gods ordain it) meet my End.
The Stroke of Fate the bravest cannot shun:
The great Alcides ,Jove 's unequal'd Son,
To Juno 's Hate at length resign'd his Breath,
And sunk the Victim of all-conqu'ring Death.
So shall Achilles fall! stretch'd pale and dead,
No more the Grecian Hope, or Trojan Dread!
Let me, this instant, rush into the Fields,
And reap what Glory Life's short Harvest yields.
Shall I not force some widow'd Dame to tear
With frantic Hands, her long dishevell'd Hair?
Shall I not force her Breast to heave with Sighs,
And the soft Tears to trickle from her Eyes?
Yes, I shall give the Fair those mournful Charms--
In vain you hold me--Hence! my Arms, my Arms
Soon shall the sanguine Torrent spread so wide,
That all shall know, Achilles swells the Tide.
",2004-07-12,10932,"","""Far, far too dear to ev'ry mortal Breast, / Sweet to the Soul, as Hony to the Taste; / Gath'ring like Vapours of a noxious kind / From fiery Blood, and dark'ning all the Mind.""","",2009-09-14 19:35:24 UTC,""
4501,"",Reading,2003-12-02 00:00:00 UTC,"P. What? arm'd for Virtue when I point the Pen,
Brand the bold Front of shameless, guilty Men,
Dash the proud Gamester in his gilded Car,
Bare the mean Heart that lurks beneath a Star;
Can there be wanting to defend Her Cause,
Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Laws?
Could pension'd Boileau lash in honest Strain
Flatt'rers and Bigots ev'n in Louis' Reign?
Could Laureate Dryden Pimp and Fry'r engage,
Yet neither Charles nor James be in a Rage:
And I not strip the Gilding off a Knave,
Un-plac'd, un-pension'd, no Man's Heir, or Slave?
I will, or perish in the gen'rous Cause.
Hear this, and tremble! you, who 'scape the Laws.
Yes, while I live, no rich or noble knave
Shall walk the World, in credit, to his grave.
To VIRTUE ONLY and HER FRIENDS, A FRIEND
The World beside may murmur, or commend.
Know, all the distant Din that World can keep
Rolls o'er my Grotto, and but sooths my Sleep.
There, my Retreat the best Companions grace,
Chiefs, out of War, and Statesman, out of Place.
There St. John mingles with my friendly Bowl,
The Feast of Reason and the Flow of Soul:
And He, whose Lightning pierc'd th' Iberian Lines,
Now, forms my Quincunx, and now ranks my Vines,
Or tames the Genius of the stubborn Plain,
Almost as quickly, as he conquer'd Spain.
(ll. 105-32, pp. 617-8)
(ll. 268-83)",,11829,"•(I reencountered the lines in a Sambrook footnote but had looked up the pertinent couplet two years ago. I forget why exactly--I came across a quotation somewhere.)
•Cross-reference: Thomson's 1737 Right Honourable Lord Talbot, ll. 254-5: ""I too remember well that mental Bowl, / Which round his Table flow'd.""","""There St. John mingles with my friendly Bowl, / The Feast of Reason and the Flow of Soul.""","",2013-06-10 18:36:58 UTC,""
4501,"",Reading,2014-10-05 16:09:56 UTC,"P.
Each Mortal has his Pleasure: None deny
Sc--le his Bottle, D--ty his Ham-Pye;
Ridotta sips and dances, till she see
The doubling Lustres dance as well as she;
-- loves the Senate, Hockley-Hole his Brother,
Like in all else, as one Egg to another.
I love to pour out all myself, as plain
As downright Shippen, or as old Montagne.
In them, as certain to be lov'd as seen,
The Soul stood forth, nor kept a Thought within;
In me what Spots (for Spots I have) appear,
Will prove at least the Medium must be clear.
In this impartial Glass, my Muse intends
Fair to expose myself, my Foes, my Friends;
Publish the present Age, but where my Text
Is Vice too high, reserve it for the next:
My Foes shall wish my Life a longer date,
And ev'ry Friend the less lament my Fate.
My Head and Heart thus flowing thro' my Quill,
Verse-man or Prose-man, term me which you will,
Papist or Protestant, or both between,
Like good Erasmus in an honest Mean,
In Moderation placing all my Glory,
While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory.
Satire's my Weapon, but I'm too discreet
To run a Muck, and tilt at all I meet;
I only wear it in a Land of Hectors,
Thieves, Supercargoes, Sharpers, and Directors.
Save but our Army! and let Jove incrust
Swords, Pikes, and Guns, with everlasting Rust!
Peace is my dear Delight--not Fleury's more:
But touch me, and no Minister so sore.
Who-e'er offends, at some unlucky Time
Slides into Verse, and hitches in a Rhyme,
Sacred to Ridicule! his whole Life long,
And the sad Burthen of some merry Song.
Slander or Poyson, dread from Delia's Rage,
Hard Words or Hanging, if your J--ge be--
From furious Sappho yet a sadder Fate,
P--x'd by her Love, or libell'd by her Hate:
Its proper Pow'r to hurt, each Creature feels,
Bulls aim their horns, and Asses lift their heels,
'Tis a Bear's Talent not to kick, but hug,
And no man wonders he's not stung by Pug:
So drink with W--t--rs, or with Ch--t--rs eat,
They'll never poison you, they'll only cheat.
Then learned Sir! (to cut the Matter short)
What-e'er my Fate, or well or ill at Court,
Whether old Age, with faint, but chearful Ray,
Attends to gild the Evening of my Day,
Or Death's black Wing already be display'd
To wrap me in the Universal Shade;
Whether the darken'd Room to muse invite,
Or whiten'd Wall provoke the Skew'r to write,
In Durance, Exile, Bedlam, or the Mint,
Like Lee or B--ll, I will Rhyme and Print.
(pp. 10-15)",,24460,"","""I love to pour out all myself, as plain / As downright Shippen, or as old Montagne. / In them, as certain to be lov'd as seen, / The Soul stood forth, nor kept a Thought within; / In me what Spots (for Spots I have) appear, / Will prove at least the Medium must be clear.""","",2014-10-05 16:10:13 UTC,""