work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
6165,"",HDIS,2003-12-30 00:00:00 UTC,"Thus Italy was moved;--nor did the chief
Æneas in his mind less tumult feel.
On every side his anxious thought he turns,
Restless, unfix'd, not knowing what to choose.
And as a cistern that in brim of brass
Confines the crystal flood, if chance the sun
Smite on it, or the moon's resplendent orb,
The quivering light now flashes on the walls,
Now leaps uncertain to the vaulted roof:
Such were the wavering motions of his mind.
'Twas night--and weary nature sunk to rest;
The birds, the bleating flocks, were heard no more.
At length, on the cold ground, beneath the damp
And dewy vault, fast by the river's brink,
The father of his country sought repose.
When lo! among the spreading poplar boughs,
Forth from his pleasant stream, propitious rose
The god of Tiber: clear transparent gauze
Infolds his loins, his brows with reeds are crown'd;
And these his gracious words to sooth his care:
(ll. 1-20, pp. 83-4)",,16331,"•I've included entries in both 'Liquid' and 'Optics'.
•First printed in Poems, by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq. in Three Volumes. Vol III. Containing his posthumous poetry, and a sketch of his life. By his kinsman, John Johnson, LL.D., 1815.
","The wavering motions of the mind are like ""quivering light"" reflected off a confined ""crystal flood"" in a brass cistern","",2009-09-14 19:46:32 UTC,""
6177,"",HDIS,2004-08-16 00:00:00 UTC,"""At length my fate more calmly I survey'd.
""If to propitiate the obdurate maid
""Were still by heav'n allow'd, my longer stay
""Would only the transporting bliss delay;
""If still relentless she should prove, my soul
""Might gain remission from her stern controul.
""By hope and fear thus torn, with eager haste
""Th' impression on my buckler I effac'd,
""Resolv'd that, till my fate should milder grow,
""Me as its once-fam'd bearer none should know.
""Arm'd at all points, and vaulting on my steed,
""To the Larissan court I urg'd his speed.
""In phrase the most respectful I essay'd
""To move the justice of the royal maid;
""I told my suff'rings, call'd on heav'n above
""To vouch my tender, my eternal love,
""And her permission humbly sought once more
""To claim her pity and her grace implore.
""The scroll I sent; her answer quickly came--
""By Heav'n! my madd'ning soul is in a flame
""When I reflect--Oh! may'st thou never know
""The tort'ring pangs, th' inexplicable woe,
""Which like a torrent overwhelm'd my soul,
""When I unopen'd saw again my scroll,
""Which from her cruel hand this sentence bore--
""'Never, oh prince, these eyes may see thee more.
""'This further proof of my resolve receive,
""'And, if my wish avail, Larissa leave.'--
""Yes too obdurate maid! Thou know'st too well
""The potency of that o'erpow'ring spell,
""Which spite of all that reason can suggest,
""Maintains despotic empire o'er my breast.
""Yes, yes! In all thy cruelty exult,
""Mock at my pangs, my constancy insult,
""To enhance my woes exert thine ev'ry art,
""Probe to its inmost core my tortur'd heart!
""That heart may break--But, while its pulses beat,
""There my immortal love shall hold its seat;
""And when, releas'd from sublunary ties,
""My soul to regions yet unknown shall rise,
""E'en in the trance and agony of death,
""Thy still dear name shall linger on my breath,
""With ev'ry pray'r for sacred mercy blend,
""And with my spirit to high heav'n ascend.--
""Forgive, forgive me, friend! My weakness needs
""The sympathy from friendship which proceeds.
""Methinks, already thy consoling sigh,
""The pitying tear which trembles in thine eye,
""Calm to repose my agitated soul:
""As if some opiate o'er my senses stole,
""The tempest of my heart subsides, again
""Reason asserts her interrupted reign.
""Let me then cherish her reviving beam,
""And quit, while yet I can, my painful theme:
""A few brief words, and those succinctly told,
""The sequel of my fortunes will unfold.
""With burning brain and agonizing breast,
""I paid obedience to the stern behest:
""My soul with wonder, as with passion, fraught,
""The town I quitted, and the forest sought.
""To thee I need not what ensued repeat,
""The story of my suff'rings is complete.""
",,16351,"","""[T]ort'ring pangs"" and inexplicable woe may ""like a torrent"" overwhelm the soul","",2009-09-14 19:46:36 UTC,""
6203,"","Reading Reisner, Thomas A. ""Tablua Rasa: Shelley's Metaphor of Mind."" Ariel IV.2 (197): 90-102. p. 92.",2006-10-03 00:00:00 UTC,"My mind became the book through which I grew
Wise in all human wisdom, and its cave,
Which like a mine I rifled through and through,
To me the keeping of its secrets gave --
One mind, the type of all, the moveless wave
Whose calm reflects all moving things that are,
Necessity, and love, and life, the grave,
And sympathy, fountains of hope and fear;
Justice, and truth, and time, and the world's natural sphere.
(VII, ll. 3100-8)",,16423,"","There is ""One mind, the type of all, the moveless wave / Whose calm reflects all moving things that are""","",2009-09-14 19:46:50 UTC,"Canto VII, Stanza XXXI"
6203,"","Reading Reisner, Thomas A. ""Tablua Rasa: Shelley's Metaphor of Mind."" Ariel IV.2 (197): 90-102. p. 95.",2006-10-03 00:00:00 UTC,"And is this death?--The pyre has disappeared,
The Pestilence, the Tyrant, and the throng;
The flames grow silent--slowly there is heard
The music of a breath-suspending song,
Which, like the kiss of love when life is young,
Steeps the faint eyes in darkness sweet and deep;
With ever-changing notes it floats along,
Till on my passive soul there seemed to creep
A melody, like waves on wrinkled sands that leap.
(XII, 4594-602)",,16424,"•I've included thrice: Melody, Wave, Sand.","""With ever-changing notes it floats along, / Till on my passive soul there seemed to creep / A melody, like waves on wrinkled sands that leap""","",2009-09-14 19:46:50 UTC,"Canto XII, Stanza 17"
6207,"",HDIS,2003-09-17 00:00:00 UTC,"O magic sleep! O comfortable bird,
That broodest o'er the troubled sea of the mind
Till it is hush'd and smooth! O unconfin'd
Restraint! imprisoned liberty! great key
To golden palaces, strange minstrelsy,
Fountains grotesque, new trees, bespangled caves,
Echoing grottos, full of tumbling waves
And moonlight; aye, to all the mazy world
Of silvery enchantment!--who, upfurl'd
Beneath thy drowsy wing a triple hour,
But renovates and lives?--Thus, in the bower,
Endymion was calm'd to life again.
",,16432,"","""O magic sleep! O comfortable bird, / That broodest o'er the troubled sea of the mind ""","",2009-09-14 19:46:51 UTC,""
6207,"",HDIS,2003-09-26 00:00:00 UTC,"O it has ruffled every spirit there,
Saving love's self, who stands superb to share
The general gladness: awfully he stands;
A sovereign quell is in his waving hands;
No sight can bear the lightning of his bow;
His quiver is mysterious, none can know
What themselves think of it; from forth his eyes
There darts strange light of varied hues and dyes:
A scowl is sometimes on his brow, but who
Look full upon it feel anon the blue
Of his fair eyes run liquid through their souls.
",2009-07-20,16440,"•The blue is liquid here not the soul. Not a proper metaphor for my purposes? REVISIT.
• Seems this originally bothered me. Doesn't do so now, six years on.","""A scowl is sometimes on his brow, but who / Look full upon it feel anon the blue / Of his fair eyes run liquid through their souls.""","",2009-09-14 19:46:53 UTC,""
6211,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""mirror"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-10-10 00:00:00 UTC,"The lake unruffled, will reflect
A picture fair of earth and skies;
But how distorted its effect,
When ripples o'er the surface rise.
Such mirror is the human mind,
When calm composure gilds our day;
And such, alas! the change we find,
When ruffling passions mark their sway.",,16451,"","""The lake unruffled [i.e., the mind], will reflect / A picture fair of earth and skies; / But how distorted its effect, / When ripples o'er the surface rise.""","",2010-04-01 15:47:16 UTC,""
6213,Soliloquy; ,Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2006-03-07 00:00:00 UTC,"""Left by that father, who was known to few,
""And to that mother, who has not her due
""Of honest fame,"" said Richard, ""our retreat
""Was a small cottage, for our station meet,
""On Barford Downs: that mother, fond and poor,
""There taught some truths, and bade me seek for more,
""Such as our village-school and books a few
""Supplied; but such I cared not to pursue;
""I sought the town, and to the ocean gave
""My mind and thoughts, as restless as the wave:
""Where crowds assembled, I was sure to run,
""Heard what was said, and mused on what was done;
""Attentive listening in the moving scene,
""And often wondering what the men could mean.
""When ships at sea made signals of their need,
""I watch'd on shore the sailors, and their speed:
""Mix'd in their act, nor rested till I knew
""Why they were call'd, and what they were to do.
",,16475,"","""'I sought the town, and to the ocean gave / 'My mind and thoughts, as restless as the wave""","",2009-09-14 19:46:59 UTC,""
6456,"",Reading in Perkins. Text from HDIS.,2008-05-27 00:00:00 UTC,"Yet must I think less wildly:--I have thought
Too long and darkly, till my brain became,
In its own eddy boiling and o'erwrought,
A whirling gulf of phantasy and flame:
And thus, untaught in youth my heart to tame,
My springs of life were poisoned. 'Tis too late:
Yet am I changed; though still enough the same
In strength to bear what Time can not abate,
And feed on bitter fruits without accusing Fate.
(pp. 864-5, ll. 55-63)",,17153,I've included twice: Boiling and Flame,"""Yet must I think less wildly:--I have thought / Too long and darkly, till my brain became, / In its own eddy boiling and o'erwrought, / A whirling gulf of phantasy and flame.""","",2009-09-14 19:49:14 UTC,Stanza 7
6456,"",Reading in Perkins. Text from HDIS.,2008-05-27 00:00:00 UTC,"To fly from, need not be to hate, mankind:
All are not fit with them to stir and toil,
Nor is it discontent to keep the mind
Deep in its fountain, lest it overboil
In the hot throng, where we become the spoil
Of our infection, till too late and long
We may deplore and struggle with the coil,
In wretched interchange of wrong for wrong
Midst a contentious world, striving where none are strong.
(p. 870, ll. 552-661)",,17163,"","""Nor is it discontent to keep the mind / Deep in its fountain, lest it overboil / In the hot throng, where we become the spoil / Of our infection""","",2009-09-14 19:49:15 UTC,Stanza 69