work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
5663,"","Searching ""impression"" and ""thought"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-05-20 00:00:00 UTC,"Lo! in the regions whence Favonius blows
A hardy race Hesperia's vales disclose:
With sinews firm the rugged offspring rise
And brave the force of less auspicious skies,
For freezing winds had erst Campania known,
And yellow Tiber worn an icy zone.
The sons of Rome ne'er felt the soft control
Of milky kindness stealing o'er the soul,
Nor did their nerves to pleasure's touch awake
Of gentler thoughts the mild impression take;
The rigid texture of their rougher frame
The dangerous glories of the field inflame;
To wage with sure success the bloody fight
Their favorite care, and war their sole delight.
Victors, or vanquish'd, by the example taught
They found new paths to conquest as they fought.
Triumphant Carthage vaunts her powers in vain
And claims the exclusive empire of the main,
Rome to the sea her ductile Genius turns,
And from her foe the means of Victory learns;
Repairs with wiser toil the ruin'd fleet,
And gains superior art from each defeat,
Her naval care with perseverance plies,
Till, by the course of long experience wise,
The watery war her perfect gallies dare,
And Libya's ancient splendor melts to air.
In vain to check these unremitting foes
Their studied Tactics Grecia's sons oppose,
Whose force compelling countless hosts to yield,
With Persia's bleeding Myriads strew'd the field:
The Legions active, disciplin'd, and fierce,
With varied shock the close-wedg'd Phalanx pierce,
And Freedom's noblest sons are doom'd by fate
The servile subjects of a foreign state.",,15137, ,"""The sons of Rome ne'er felt the soft control / Of milky kindness stealing o'er the soul, / Nor did their nerves to pleasure's touch awake / Of gentler thoughts the mild impression take;""",Impression,2009-09-14 19:42:51 UTC,""
5746,"",Reading,2003-07-28 00:00:00 UTC,"C------e, whom providence hath placed
In the rich realms of polished taste,
Where judgment penetrates to find
The treasures of the unwrought mind,
Where conversation's ardent spirit
Refines from dross the ore of merit,
Where emulation aids the flame
And stamps the sterling bust of fame:
Can you, accustomed to behold
The purest intellectual gold,
Where genius sheds its living rays,
Bright as the sunny diamonds blaze,
Like idle virtuouso deign
To pick up pebbles from the plain?
Pleased if the worthless flints pretend
Fantastic characters to blend;
These in your cabinet insert,
And real excellence desert?
(ll. 1-18, p. 382 in Lonsdale; cf. p. 115-6 in 1791 ed.)",,15305,"•The poet asks Mrs C----e to suppose her a pebble.
•Rich verses. I've included four times: Treasure, Dross and Ore, Sterling, Stamp — now 5 times","""In the rich realms of polished taste, / Where judgment penetrates to find / The treasures of the unwrought mind, / Where conversation's ardent spirit / Refines from dross the ore of merit, / Where emulation aids the flame / And stamps the sterling bust of fame.""",Impressions and Metal,2014-02-22 04:59:37 UTC,""
5787,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""line"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-05-11 00:00:00 UTC,"For, vainly think not, tho' the classic school
Of eloquence hath charm'd thy tranced hours,
That, there, the just--the appropriate model claims
Thine imitative labours. Unconstrain'd,
From equity's intrinsic source, (to all
Perspicuous), and the heart's decisions stamp'd
By Nature's seal, and man's primæval laws,
The immortal champions of the forum drew
Their more persuasive numbers. Short their code,
And simple; wedded to no toil austere;
Nor asking many a lustrum, to devote
The midnight lamp to musing. To combine
The quick varieties of thought; to snatch
From elocution all the heightening grace
Of diction; and amuse the million's eye
By each external impulse; this their boast,
This was their aim. No deep immuring pile
(The science of innumerous tomes) opprest
The mental strength elastic; nor perplex'd
By facts from mazy records, the free flow
Of speech, that never hesitating ran
Thro' easy vein. And while (the rare result
Of letter'd art) the precious volume gave
Its treasures to the few--perhaps no more
Accessible, and barr'd from vulgar gaze;
They bade retentive memory on their mind
Impress each image, in distinctive lines
That mock'd erasure. Hence the pleader, bold
In vigorous thought, and trusting to those powers
Which knew no ready refuge in the means
Of foreign aid, unlock'd with nature's key
The secret springs that agitate the soul!",2011-11-24,15441,"","""They bade retentive memory on their mind / Impress each image, in distinctive lines / That mock'd erasure.""","",2011-11-24 19:50:06 UTC,""
5787,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""impression"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-05-16 00:00:00 UTC,"Far other notions of pathetic speech
The speakers of the Roman senate form'd;
Who ne'er essay'd to steal into the heart,
By painting to the feelings. 'Twas not theirs
To touch by imagery, but to move
By sympathetic strokes--to ope the effect
Of each impression on their own warm mind;
Not shew the mental portraiture itself,
By gradual art, thro' fancy's calmer light.
Pure passion dwells not on description's hues;
But ever lives, (and trembles, as it lives),
In indistinctest energies--a look,
A tone, a gesture! Hence, the speaker's soul
Enkindled, spreads its own contagious warmth.
'Tis thus the uncultur'd know the affection's force,
Bias'd by nature to admire! to shake
With agony, with rapture! circumscrib'd
By narrow bounds; nor shap'd to scrutinize
The ideas, whose obscure effect they feel.",,15442,"","The Roman senators moved the mind by sympathetic strokes and oped ""the effect of each impression on their own warm mind""",Impression,2009-09-14 19:43:40 UTC,""
5951,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""impression"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-05-15 00:00:00 UTC,"""Last year's events I've scann'd--they shew me
""Some prosp'rous scenes, and others gloomy;
""Together ta'en--they on my mind
""No good impression leave behind.
""Now, you must know, my friends, I like
""That same Philosopher antique,
""(Though be assured, not half so well,
""As those in France that bear the bell)
""Who, with his royal master chattering,
""Requested to dispense with flattering
""His Majesty, would condescend,
""Because he meant to be his friend.--
""And thus, for ev'ry Royal Sir,
""(Elector, viz. of Westminster;
""For other Royalty, you know,
""I've turn'd my back on long ago,)
""Trust me, the high consideration
""I feel precludes all consolation:
""I, your true friend, see nought but evils,
""Enough to give you the Blue Devils.
""You've toasted Nelson in a brimmer:--
""Yet fortune, to my ken, looks grimmer
""By half, Sirs, than she did before he
""Enhanc'd Great Britain's naval glory.
""'Twas, I'll admit, a feat to crack on--
""Yet this White Day 's to me a Black One;
""And since some weep for joy, I'll borrow
""Of Joy a tear or two for Sorrow.
""Te Deum sing who will to cheer ye;
""I choose to chaunt my Miserere;
""And, for the Souls, lament and groan,
""Of those who told us they had none!
""Judge, you who quaff Shaksperian wine,
""How dreadful to be drench'd with brine!
""Ah! what induc'd our gallant fleet,
""With nauseous draught saline to treat
""(Not attic salt like Sheridan's)
""Th' advent'rous citizens of France!
""Heav'ns!--were the Great Republic's founders
""Compell'd to fraternize with flounders!--
""And serve the world's Regenerators
""For sandwiches to alligators!
""Of thrice-renown'd, tri-colour'd flags
""Shall Cophtis make their pudding bags,
""Or sulph'rous explosion toss over,
""To crocodiles, a French philosopher!!--
""Had I a heart of oak or flint,
""'Twould break, or else the devil 's in't,
""To recapitulate--Hei Mihi!--
""Such tragi-conquest with a dry eye!!!",,15780,"","Events ""'Together ta'en--they on my mind / 'No good impression leave behind.""",Impression,2009-09-14 19:44:37 UTC,""