work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
5617,"",Searching HDIS,2004-10-14 00:00:00 UTC,"On seeing Miss YOUNGE in the Character of Lady Flippant Savage.
The two scenic Muses had long kept a distance,
And scorn'd of each other to borrow assistance;
Thalia was pert, and Melpomene proud,
And though of admirers they both had a croud;
Not two rival beauties on earth could be seen
More tortur'd with jealousy, envy and spleen:
Till Jove, to whom all the celestials submit,
In matters of Weight, or in matters of Wit,
Interpos'd his command, saying, henceforth agree,
United in friendship as Sisters should be;
And grant, as a pledge that your union's sincere,
Your mutual pow'rs to some favourite fair;
If one can be found amongst mortals below
Deserving the attributes you can bestow.
The Sisters obey'd; but unfix'd was their choice,
Till Minerva appearing with soul-moving voice:
While in scales of suspense both their fancies were hung,
Appeal'd to their senses, and pointed to Younge.
To Younge, where the smile-stealing comic we find,
With the soft, the sublime, and the graceful combin'd.
To Younge who can each diff'rent passion impart,
Who pleases the judgement, but conquers the heart,
And guided by Nature, is followed by Art.",,15049,•I've included the whole poem. ,"In the ""scales of suspense"" two fancies may be hung
","",2009-09-14 19:42:38 UTC,Front Matter
5695,"","Searching ""seal"" and ""heart"" in HDIS (Drama)",2005-04-24 00:00:00 UTC,"SOPH.
(Dashing the Pen away.)
I won't, I will not write any more of his plaguy conveyances and law-gibberish!--Was ever poor girl so used as I am by this wicked old Attorney! Cruel Mama! --to make such a wretch her executor, and condemn me to the guardianship of one, who will never suffer me to be united to the man I esteem, whilst it's his interest to keep my fortune in his hands.--Here--won't even hire a clerk, but claps a pen in my hand, and ties me like a seal to his ugly parchment, while my heart can receive no impression, but the idea of my beloved Aircourt--
""Young Harry's the lad for me.""
(Sings and walks about.)",,15183,"","""[A guardian] claps a pen in my hand, and ties me like a seal to his ugly parchment, while my heart can receive no impression, but the idea of my beloved Aircourt""",Impression,2009-09-14 19:42:58 UTC,""
5785,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""blank"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-03-07 00:00:00 UTC,"All polished circles for amusement look,
Those deal out scandal, these prefer a book,
And mixing with the grave, the young and gay,
Lay by the sampler for a moral play.
Can this, knows any here? the science hurt
Of pudding manufacture, or of shirt?
Must every social virtue be effac'd,
To plant a needle, and to shine in paste?
And yet what husband blushes to give raps
At lectures upon handkerchiefs and caps?
Zounds! cries Sir Nob! and on his chair he shuffles,
Your head's an auction-room of gauze and ruffles,
And that loquacious clack, which never tires,
Is fit for nothing but to call in buyers.
Such are the contradictions that we meet
In man, so wise! so knowing and discreet!
If female minds are uninform'd and blank,
Whom, lordly sirs! are female tongues to thank?
And if they thunder nonsense in your ears,
Why for such paltry talents choose your dears?
If you no higher excellence can brook,
Go wed at once your sempstress or your cook:
No matter of what coarse, what groveling brood,
In thought how barren and in speech how rude,
You get a nurse, and have your tables grac'd,
Indulge your pride, and show the world your taste!
And when to pinch your destiny begins,
She'll darn your stockings, or she'll rub your shins:--
Cursing your blindness, then you'll feel at least,
Wherein the Angel differs from the beast.",,15435,•Barren has two connotations: pregnancy and agriculture: REVISIT.,"A wife chosen from ""the coarse, what groveling brood"" will be in thought ""barren and in speech how rude""","",2009-09-14 19:43:38 UTC,""
5791,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2005-05-27 00:00:00 UTC,"The merchant venturous in his search of gain,
Who ploughs the winter of the boist'rous main,
From various climes collects a various store,
And lands the treasure on his native shore.
Our merchant yet imports no golden prize,
What wretches covet, and what you despise!
A different store his richer freight imparts--
The gem of virtue, and the gold of hearts;
The social sense, the feelings of mankind,
And the large treasure of a godlike mind!",,15447,"","""A different store his richer freight imparts-- / The gem of virtue, and the gold of hearts; / The social sense, the feelings of mankind, / And the large treasure of a godlike mind!""",Coinage and Metal,2013-06-11 18:52:38 UTC,""
5799,"","Searching ""reason"" and ""balance"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2006-12-11 00:00:00 UTC,"Thus in the glebe the deadly night-shade grows,
Flaunts in the sun, and mingles with the rose;
The specious bane the prowling urchin spies;
Touch! touch it not!--he gorges it and dies!
Even so the Aretins of modern rhymes,
With pens immers'd in gall pourtray the times;
But with licentious images inflame,
And spread contagion as they spread the shame;
Quick to the brain the noxious vapours rise,
The good depress'd, a caput mortuum lies.
Howe'er on classic grounds they take defence;
Howe'er adroit their nostrums they dispense;
Impartially let loss and gain be tried,
And soon the balance Reason will decide.",,15467,"","""Howe'er on classic grounds they take defence; / Howe'er adroit their nostrums they dispense; / Impartially let loss and gain be tried, / And soon the balance Reason will decide.""","",2009-09-14 19:43:43 UTC,""
5809,"",Searching in HDIS,2004-10-13 00:00:00 UTC,"MUSH.
Madam, as the sublime bard politely sings, the nod of beauty sways both gods and men, and I obey. Gentlemen, the title will at once let you into the whole of what you are to expect in this little production. ""An extempore on the famous Mrs. O'Diggerty's dancing at court.""--Now attend-- ""When beauteous Diggerty leads up the dance
""In fair Britannia's court,
""Then ev'ry heart is in a prance,
""And longs for Cupid's sport.
""Beaux ogle, and pant and gaze,
""Belles envy and sneer, yet praise,
""As Venus herself were there;
""And prudes agree, it must be she,
""It must be she--or Diggerty,
""It must be she--or Diggerty,
""Or Diggerty, the fair.""
[Bows very low to Mrs. Diggerty.
That's all, gentlemen, that's all--only a jeu d'esprit, as I told you; a slight effort of a muse, bound in the silken chains of beauty and delight.",,15481,"",Every heart may be in a prance,"",2009-09-14 19:43:45 UTC,Act I
5744,"",Reading,2013-04-22 03:54:11 UTC,"In France you are now in the crisis of a revolution, and in the transit from one form of government to another—you cannot see that character of men exactly in the same situation in which we see it in this country. With us it is militant; with you it is triumphant; and you know how it can act when its power is commensurate to its will. I would not be supposed to confine those observations to any description of men, or to comprehend all men of any description within them--No! far from it. I am as incapable of that injustice, as I am of keeping terms with those who profess principles of extremes; and who under the name of religion teach little else than wild and dangerous politics. The worst of these politics of revolution is this; they temper and harden the breast, in order to prepare it for the desperate strokes which are sometimes used in extreme occasions. But as these occasions may never arrive, the mind receives a gratuitous taint; and the moral sentiments suffer not a little, when no political purpose is served by their depravation. This sort of people are so taken up with their theories about the rights of man, that they have totally forgot his nature. Without opening one new avenue to the understanding, they have succeeded in stopping up those that lead to the heart. They have perverted in themselves, and in those that attend to them, all the well-placed sympathies of the human breast.
(pp. 95-6, p. 56 in Pocock ed.)",,20112,"","""The worst of these politics of revolution is this; they temper and harden the breast, in order to prepare it for the desperate strokes which are sometimes used in extreme occasions.""",Metal,2013-04-22 03:54:11 UTC,""
5744,"",Reading,2013-04-22 03:56:26 UTC,"In France you are now in the crisis of a revolution, and in the transit from one form of government to another—you cannot see that character of men exactly in the same situation in which we see it in this country. With us it is militant; with you it is triumphant; and you know how it can act when its power is commensurate to its will. I would not be supposed to confine those observations to any description of men, or to comprehend all men of any description within them--No! far from it. I am as incapable of that injustice, as I am of keeping terms with those who profess principles of extremes; and who under the name of religion teach little else than wild and dangerous politics. The worst of these politics of revolution is this; they temper and harden the breast, in order to prepare it for the desperate strokes which are sometimes used in extreme occasions. But as these occasions may never arrive, the mind receives a gratuitous taint; and the moral sentiments suffer not a little, when no political purpose is served by their depravation. This sort of people are so taken up with their theories about the rights of man, that they have totally forgot his nature. Without opening one new avenue to the understanding, they have succeeded in stopping up those that lead to the heart. They have perverted
in themselves, and in those that attend to them, all the well-placed sympathies of the human breast.
(pp. 95-6, p. 56 in Pocock ed.)",,20113,"","""But as these occasions may never arrive, the mind receives a gratuitous taint; and the moral sentiments suffer not a little, when no political purpose is served by their depravation.""","",2013-04-22 03:56:26 UTC,""
7388,"",Reading,2013-05-07 20:57:23 UTC,"In my opinion, their insolence appears more odious even than their crimes. The horrors of the 5th and 6th of October were less detestable than the festival of the 14th of July. There are situations (God forbid I should think that of the 5th and 6th of October one of them) in which the best men may be confounded with the worst, and in the darkness and confusion, in the press and medley of such extremities, it may not be so easy to discriminate the one from the other. The necessities created, even by ill designs, have their excuse. They may be forgotten by others, when the guilty themselves do not choose to cherish their recollection, and by ruminating their offences, nourish themselves through the example of their past, to the perpetration of future crimes. It is in the relaxation of security, it is in the expansion of prosperity, it is in the hour of dilatation of the heart, and of its softening into festivity and pleasure, that the real character of men is discerned. If there is any good in them, it appears then or never. Even wolves and tigers, when gorged with their prey, are safe and gentle. It is at such times that noble minds give all the reins to their good nature. They indulge their genius even to intemperance, in kindness to the afflicted, in generosity to the conquered; forbearing insults, forgiving injuries, overpaying benefits. Full of dignity themselves, they respect dignity in all, but they feel it sacred in the unhappy. But it is then, and basking in the sunshine of unmerited fortune, that low, sordid, ungenerous, and reptile souls swell with their hoarded poisons; it is then that they display their odious splendor, and shine out in full lustre of their native villainy and baseness. It is in that season that no man of sense or honour can be mistaken for one of them. It was in such a season, for them of political ease and security, though their people were but just emerged from actual famine, and were ready to be plunged into the gulf of penury and beggary, that your philosophic lords chose, with an ostentatious pomp and luxury, to feast an incredible number of idle and thoughtless people, collected, with art and pains, from all quarters of the world. They constructed a vast amphitheatre in which they raised a species of pillory. On this pillory they set their lawful king and queen, with an insulting figure over their heads. There they exposed these objects of pity and respect to all good minds to the derision of an unthinking and unprincipled multitude, degenerated even from the versatile tenderness which marks the irregular and capricious feelings of the populace. That their cruel insult might have nothing wanting to complete it, they chose the anniversary of that day in which they exposed the life of their prince to the most imminent dangers, and the vilest indignities, just following the instant when the assassins, whom they had hired without owning, first openly took up arms against their king, corrupted his guards, surprised his castle, butchered some of the poor invalids of his garrison, murdered his governor, and, like wild beasts, tore to pieces the chief magistrate of his capital city, on account of his fidelity to his service.
(pp. 26-9)",,20160,"","""But it is then, and basking in the sunshine of unmerited fortune, that low, sordid, ungenerous, and reptile souls swell with their hoarded poisons; it is then that they display their odious splendour, and shine out in full lustre of their native villainy and baseness.""",Animals,2013-05-07 20:57:37 UTC,""
7388,"",Reading,2013-05-07 20:58:42 UTC,"The National Assembly proceeds on maxims the very reverse of these. The Assembly commends to its youth a study of the bold experimenters in morality. Everybody knows that there is a great dispute amongst their leaders, which of them is the best resemblance of Rousseau. In truth, they all resemble him. His blood they transfuse into their minds and into their manners. Him they study; him they meditate; him they turn over in all the time they can spare from the laborious mischief of the day, or the debauches of the night. Rousseau is their canon of holy writ; in his life he is their canon of Polycletus; he is their standard figure of perfection. To this man and this writer, as a pattern to authors and to Frenchmen, the foundries of Paris are now running for statues, with the kettles of their poor and the bells of their churches. If an author had written like a great genius on geometry, though his practical and speculative morals were vicious in the extreme, it might appear, that in voting the statue, they honoured only the geometrician. But Rousseau is a moralist, or he is nothing. It is impossible, therefore, putting the circumstances together, to mistake their design in choosing the author with whom they have begun to recommend a course of studies.
(pp. 31-2)",,20161,"","""His blood they transfuse into their minds and into their manners.""","",2013-05-07 20:58:42 UTC,""