work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
5998,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""iron"" in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in Google Books.",2005-06-07 00:00:00 UTC,"Would power sustain th' advantage it has gain'd?
Be it with liberal modesty sustain'd:
To reach the end of all man's wealth and care,
The means how easy--to enjoy and share.
The polish'd links that form the social chain,
For ages still to ages may remain,
Nor snapt by rage, nor undermin'd by art,
If well the rivets join in every part;
But if those links that would the peasant bind,
Gall his chaf'd body, and corrode his mind,
The poor man's iron, and the rich man's gold,
Say, who the future changes may unfold?
(pp. 34-35)",2011-06-26,15951,"•INTEREST. Great lines. Pratt uses the ""Chain of Being"" to undermine hierarchy here: iron links and gold.
•I've included twice: Corrosion and Fetters.
•Cross-reference: lines also appear in C-H under the title ""The Poor; Or Bread. A Poem"". Appears to be a second edition of this same poem.","""The polish'd links that form the social chain, / For ages still to ages may remain / Nor snapt by rage, nor undermin'd by art, / If well the rivets join in every part; / But if those links that would the peasant bind, / Gall his chaf'd body, and corrode his mind, / The poor man's iron, and the rich man's gold / Say, who the future changes may unfold?""",Fetters and Metal,2014-07-15 00:22:59 UTC,""
6015,"","Searching in HDIS (Poetry); See also Blake Archive, Copy C and Copy D",2011-07-14 15:49:29 UTC,"Urizen lay in darkness & solitude, in chains of the mind lock'd up
Los siezd his Hammer & Tongs; he labourd at his resolute Anvil
Among indefinite Druid rocks & snows of doubt & reasoning.
(Bentley b, Erdman 3, Keynes b)",,18858,"","""Urizen lay in darkness & solitude, in chains of the mind lock'd up.""",Fetters,2011-07-14 15:49:29 UTC,""
6365,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2011-07-14 16:04:09 UTC,"The Eternal Mind bounded began to roll eddies of wrath ceaseless
Round & round & the sulphureous foam surgeing thick
Settled a Lake bright & shining clear. White as the snow
Forgetfulness dumbness necessity in chains of the mind lockd up
In fetters of ice shrinking. disorganizd rent from Eternity
Los beat on his fetters & heated his furnaces
And pourd iron sodor & sodor of brass
",,18859,"","""Forgetfulness dumbness necessity in chains of the mind lockd up / In fetters of ice shrinking.""",Fetters,2011-07-14 16:09:48 UTC,""
6994,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""chain"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2011-07-14 17:20:27 UTC,"As Chance produces Even and Odd,
Imprimis,--I believe--No God;
From Chance arises Good and Evil,
And therefore,--I believe--No Devil;
Of Gospel Truths let Bigots prate,
But I believe--No future State;
So leave to Sixes and to Sevens,
Angels and Fiends, and Hells and Heavens.
I laugh at Churches built for Pray'r,
Let Reason rear her Temple there;
Reason, blest Goddess! who disdains
Religion's Curbs, and mental Chains;
Reason which sets the Mind at Ease,
To think and act as Mortals Please;
Nor fears to forfeit future Bliss,
In Worlds to come, for Joys in this;
Nor teaches future Pains to fear,
For Life's full Swing of Pleasure here;
Pleasure uncheck'd, and unrestrain'd,
No Matter whence or how obtain'd,
By Worth or Merit, Fraud or Force,
All Things in Life must have their Course;
Tygers, as well as Lambs, must live,
Serpents and Doves alike receive
From Nature's Storehouse, Life's Support,
Though One's destroy'd for 'Tother's Sport.
So I, whom Pleasures ne'er can cloy,
Will ne'er rescind one earthly Joy,
While I can 'scape the griping Paw
Of that old Pinch vice, Earthly Law;
Keep clear of Newgate's fatal Drop,
And short of Transportation stop;
The Whipping Post and Pill'ry shun,
And Bailiff's Writ and Suit of Dun.
Ne'er will I, baulk'd of One Delight,
Restrain One luscious Appetite;
Nor heed the Means, to reach the End,
Nor Neighbour spare, nor spare a Friend.
If I his Property can gain,
Be mine the Pleasure, his the Pain;
Or from his Bed seduce his Wife,
His Mis'ry can but last for Life;
The pangs he feels will be so short,
That, Damn all Pity,--""That's your Sort.""
All's over, when we're lifeless Logs,
And He and I must die like Dogs.
Then who on Earth would Vigils keep,
Since Death is one eternal Sleep?
Or who would weep, or fast, or pray?
Since Good and Bad, when call'd away,
Are all but kneaded Clods of Clay!
Then, when with Passions fierce I burn,
All future Fears and Hopes I spurn,
But States and Realms I'd overturn,
Nor for the Fall of Millions mourn!
Pleasure be mine at Life's high Flood,
I'd wade through Seas of human Blood;
And mine be Wealth, and Pomp and Pow'r,
I'll laugh in Life's expiring Hour;
To the last Gasp relentless revel,
Nor dread the Name of God or Devil;
But boldly bid the World, Farewell,
Nor fear nor care for Heav'n or Hell!
",,18866,"","""Reason, blest Goddess! who disdains / Religion's Curbs, and mental Chains.""",Fetters,2011-07-14 17:20:27 UTC,""
5961,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""chain"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2011-07-15 04:14:33 UTC,"Disease, dread fiend! whatever name thou bear,
I most abhor thee as the child of Care;
Nor fix'd of feature, nor of station sure,
Thy power as noxious as thy shape obscure;
While thy cold vapours, with a baleful gloom,
Blight intellectual fruits howe'er they bloom:
Yet e'en o'er thee, in thy despotic hours,
When thou hast chain'd the mind's excursive powers,
Though to thy gloomy keep by pain betray'd,
That mind can triumph by celestial aid:
From thee, dull monitor! e'en then can learn
A mental lesson of most high concern--
To know the suffering spirit's sure resource,
And hail the hallow'd fount of human force.",,18880,"","""Yet e'en o'er thee, in thy despotic hours, / When thou hast chain'd the mind's excursive powers, / Though to thy gloomy keep by pain betray'd, / That mind can triumph by celestial aid.""",Fetters,2011-07-15 04:14:33 UTC,""
5961,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""chain"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2011-07-15 04:17:17 UTC,"Ever, Lysippus! be thy name rever'd,
By moral dignity of mind endear'd!
Glory, well-pleas'd, thy double worth beheld,
The matchless artist by the man excell'd;
Thy upright spirit, firm in manly sense,
Scorning to favour impious Pride's pretence,
Reprov'd thy friend Apelles, that he strove
To lavish lightning on a fancied Jove;
And to thy statue, rationally grand,
Gave the just weapon of a hero's hand.
Thy taste ador'd, with Virtue's temperate flame,
Truth, as the fountain both of art and fame;
Yet no ill-founded rule, no servile fear,
Chain'd thy free mind in Fancy's fav'rite sphere.
Thy dauntless thought, proportion for its guide,
From life's trite field each brave excursion tried:
Thy changeful genius, patient and acute,
Toil'd on colossal forms, or play'd with the minute;
And Nature own'd each work, with fond surprize,
True to her soul, though faithless to her size.
The hallow'd bulk of thy Tarentine Jove
Check'd the proud spoilers of each sacred grove;
Roman rapacity, in plunder's hour,
Paus'd, and rever'd the mighty sculptor's power.",,18881,"","""Thy taste ador'd, with Virtue's temperate flame, / Truth, as the fountain both of art and fame; / Yet no ill-founded rule, no servile fear, / Chain'd thy free mind in Fancy's fav'rite sphere.""",Fetters,2011-07-15 04:17:17 UTC,""
7023,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""chains"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2011-07-20 16:58:28 UTC,"O paint our dungeons, where, with putrid breath,
The wretch, desponding, pants, and sighs for death:
Paint the poor felon, doom'd, ah! doom'd to die,
Wan the pale cheek, and horror-struck the eye;
With languid limbs that droop to earth in pain,
Press'd, loaded, lab'ring with a clanking chain;
While, on the stillness of the midnight air,
Sad moans the voice of Mis'ry and Despair:
Paint all the horrors of the midnight shade,
Theft's iron crow, and Murder's reeking blade.
Paint the poor objects that we hourly meet,
The wrecks of beauty crowding every street;
Daughters of Innocence, ere Demon Art
Won on the weakness of too soft a heart;
And doom'd to infamy the tender kiss,
Due to pure love alone and wedded bliss.
Paint courts, whose sorceries, too seducing bind,
In chains, in shameful slavish chains, the mind;
Courts, where unblushing Flatt'ry finds the way,
And casts a cloud o'er Truth's eternal ray.
And quote the sage*, who courts had serv'd and known:--
'O Crassus, let me fly, and live alone:
Though much I love thee, let our commerce end,
Nor from his solitude recall thy friend.
Thanks to the gods, my servile hours are o'er,
And, oh, let Mem'ry mention courts no more!'
*A philosopher named Alexander, the friend of Crassus.",,18938,"","""Paint courts, whose sorceries, too seducing bind, / In chains, in shameful slavish chains, the mind; / Courts, where unblushing Flatt'ry finds the way, / And casts a cloud o'er Truth's eternal ray.""",Fetters,2011-07-20 17:00:58 UTC,""
7146,"","Searching ""bond"" and ""soul"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2012-01-08 19:01:46 UTC,"My soul her bondage ill endures;
I pant for liberty like yours;
I long for that immense profound,
That knows no bottom, and no bound;
Lost in infinity, to prove
The incomprehensible of Love.",,19399,"","""My soul her bondage ill endures; / I pant for liberty like yours.""",Fetters,2012-01-08 22:21:59 UTC,""
6058,Comparing the Zemblan savage and the enslaved African. The savage mind is unthreatened and unfettered. ,Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2012-01-09 18:33:41 UTC,"Superstition! more destructive still
Than plague or famine, tyranny or war!
Thou palsying mischief, thou benumbing foe
To all the proudest energies of man!
Whence springs thy subtle desolating charm,
From pompous pageantry and bigot pride,
From mitred canopies, and shrines of gold,
And bones of mould'ring monks? Can freezing nights,
In cells where cold inanity presides,
Cloath'd in religion's meek and sainted guise,
Or long-drawn pageantry of empty show,
Conceal the trembling soul, from that dread pow'r
Which marks th' All-seeing! On Italia's shores,
On every plain, on ev'ry mountain top,
The voice of nature speaks, in mighty sounds,
To bid thee tremble! Then, O! nature, say--
Shall rich Italia's bow'rs, her citron shades,
Her vales prolific, mountains golden clad,
And rivers fring'd with nectar-teeming groves,
Re-echo with the mighty song of praise
To empyrean space, while shackled still
The man of colour dies? Shall torrid suns
Shoot downward their hot beams on mis'ry's race,
And call forth luxuries to pamper pride,
Steep'd in the Ethiop's tears, the Ethiop's blood!
Shall the caprice of nature, the deep tint
Of sultry climes, the feature varying,
Or the uncultur'd mind, endure the scourge
Of sordid tyranny, or heap the stores
Of his fair fellow man, whose ruddy cheek
Knows not the tear of pity; whose white breast
Conceals a heart, than adamant more hard,
More cruel than the tiger's! Bend thy gaze
O! happy offspring of a temper'd clime,
On whom the partial hand of nature set
The stamp of bloomy tints, proportions fine,
Unmixing with the goodly outside shew
The mind appropriate; bend thy pitying gaze
To Zembla's frozen sphere; where in his hut,
Roof'd by the rocky steep, the savage smiles,
In conscious freedom smiles, and mocks the storm
That howls along the sky. Th' unshackled limb,
Cloth'd in the shaggy hide of uncouth bear,
Or the fleet mountain elk, bounds o'er the cliff
The free-born tenant of the desert wild.
The glow of liberty, thro' ev'ry vein
Bids sensate streams revolve; the dusky path
Of midnight solitudes no terror brings,
Because he fears no lord. The prowling wolf,
Whose eye-balls redden 'midst the world of gloom,
Yells fierce defiance, form'd by nature's law
To share the desert's freedom. O'er the sky
The despot darkness reigns, in sullen pride,
Half the devoted year. His ebon wing
O'ershadows the blank space: his chilling breath
Benumbs the breast of nature; on his brow,
Myriads of stars with lucid lustre gem
His boundless diadem! The savage cheek
Smiles at the potent spoiler; braves his frown;
And while the partial gloom is most opake,
Still vaunts the mind unfetter'd! If for these
Indulgent nature breaks the bonds of woe,
Gilding the deepest solitudes of night
With the pure flame of liberty sublime;
If for the untaught sons of gelid climes,
Health cheers the darkest hour with vig'rous age,
Shall the poor African, the passive slave,
Born in the bland effulgence of broad day,
Cherish'd by torrid splendours, while around
The plains prolific teem with honey'd stores
Of Afric's burning soil; shall such a wretch
Sink prematurely to a grave obscure,
No tear to grace his ashes? Or suspire,
To wear submission's long and goading chain,
To drink the tear, that down his swarthy cheek
Flows fast, to moisten his toil-fever'd lip,
Parch'd by the noontide blaze? Shall he endure
The frequent lash, the agonizing scourge,
The day of labour, and the night of pain;
Expose his naked limbs to burning gales;
Faint in the sun, and wither in the storm;
Traverse hot sands, imbibe the morbid breeze,
Wing'd with contagion, while his blister'd feet,
Scorch'd by the vertical and raging beam,
Pour the swift life-stream? Shall his frenzied eyes,
Oh! worst of mortal miseries! behold
The darling of his soul, his sable love,
Selected from the trembling, timid throng
By the wan tyrant, whose licentious touch
Seals the dark fiat of the slave's despair!
Humanity! from thee the suppliant claims
The meed of retribution! Thy pure flame
Would light the sense opake, and warm the spring
Of boundless ecstacy; while nature's laws
So violated, plead, immortal-tongu'd,
For her dark-fated children; lead them forth
From bondage infamous! Bid reason own
The dignities of man, whate'er his clime,
Estate, or colour. And, O! sacred truth!
Tell the proud lords of traffic, that the breast
Thrice ebon-tinted, bears a crimson tide,
As pure, as clear as Europe's sons can boast.
Then, liberty, extend thy thund'ring voice
To Afric's scorching climes, o'er seas that bound
To bear the blissful tidings, while all earth
Shall hail humanity! the child of heav'n!",,19423,"","""The savage cheek / Smiles at the potent spoiler; braves his frown; / And while the partial gloom is most opake, / Still vaunts the mind unfetter'd!""",Fetters,2012-01-09 18:33:41 UTC,""
6058,Comparing the Zemblan savage and the enslaved African. The savage mind is unthreatened and unfettered. ,Searching in HDIS (Poetry),2012-01-09 18:33:42 UTC,"Superstition! more destructive still
Than plague or famine, tyranny or war!
Thou palsying mischief, thou benumbing foe
To all the proudest energies of man!
Whence springs thy subtle desolating charm,
From pompous pageantry and bigot pride,
From mitred canopies, and shrines of gold,
And bones of mould'ring monks? Can freezing nights,
In cells where cold inanity presides,
Cloath'd in religion's meek and sainted guise,
Or long-drawn pageantry of empty show,
Conceal the trembling soul, from that dread pow'r
Which marks th' All-seeing! On Italia's shores,
On every plain, on ev'ry mountain top,
The voice of nature speaks, in mighty sounds,
To bid thee tremble! Then, O! nature, say--
Shall rich Italia's bow'rs, her citron shades,
Her vales prolific, mountains golden clad,
And rivers fring'd with nectar-teeming groves,
Re-echo with the mighty song of praise
To empyrean space, while shackled still
The man of colour dies? Shall torrid suns
Shoot downward their hot beams on mis'ry's race,
And call forth luxuries to pamper pride,
Steep'd in the Ethiop's tears, the Ethiop's blood!
Shall the caprice of nature, the deep tint
Of sultry climes, the feature varying,
Or the uncultur'd mind, endure the scourge
Of sordid tyranny, or heap the stores
Of his fair fellow man, whose ruddy cheek
Knows not the tear of pity; whose white breast
Conceals a heart, than adamant more hard,
More cruel than the tiger's! Bend thy gaze
O! happy offspring of a temper'd clime,
On whom the partial hand of nature set
The stamp of bloomy tints, proportions fine,
Unmixing with the goodly outside shew
The mind appropriate; bend thy pitying gaze
To Zembla's frozen sphere; where in his hut,
Roof'd by the rocky steep, the savage smiles,
In conscious freedom smiles, and mocks the storm
That howls along the sky. Th' unshackled limb,
Cloth'd in the shaggy hide of uncouth bear,
Or the fleet mountain elk, bounds o'er the cliff
The free-born tenant of the desert wild.
The glow of liberty, thro' ev'ry vein
Bids sensate streams revolve; the dusky path
Of midnight solitudes no terror brings,
Because he fears no lord. The prowling wolf,
Whose eye-balls redden 'midst the world of gloom,
Yells fierce defiance, form'd by nature's law
To share the desert's freedom. O'er the sky
The despot darkness reigns, in sullen pride,
Half the devoted year. His ebon wing
O'ershadows the blank space: his chilling breath
Benumbs the breast of nature; on his brow,
Myriads of stars with lucid lustre gem
His boundless diadem! The savage cheek
Smiles at the potent spoiler; braves his frown;
And while the partial gloom is most opake,
Still vaunts the mind unfetter'd! If for these
Indulgent nature breaks the bonds of woe,
Gilding the deepest solitudes of night
With the pure flame of liberty sublime;
If for the untaught sons of gelid climes,
Health cheers the darkest hour with vig'rous age,
Shall the poor African, the passive slave,
Born in the bland effulgence of broad day,
Cherish'd by torrid splendours, while around
The plains prolific teem with honey'd stores
Of Afric's burning soil; shall such a wretch
Sink prematurely to a grave obscure,
No tear to grace his ashes? Or suspire,
To wear submission's long and goading chain,
To drink the tear, that down his swarthy cheek
Flows fast, to moisten his toil-fever'd lip,
Parch'd by the noontide blaze? Shall he endure
The frequent lash, the agonizing scourge,
The day of labour, and the night of pain;
Expose his naked limbs to burning gales;
Faint in the sun, and wither in the storm;
Traverse hot sands, imbibe the morbid breeze,
Wing'd with contagion, while his blister'd feet,
Scorch'd by the vertical and raging beam,
Pour the swift life-stream? Shall his frenzied eyes,
Oh! worst of mortal miseries! behold
The darling of his soul, his sable love,
Selected from the trembling, timid throng
By the wan tyrant, whose licentious touch
Seals the dark fiat of the slave's despair!
Humanity! from thee the suppliant claims
The meed of retribution! Thy pure flame
Would light the sense opake, and warm the spring
Of boundless ecstacy; while nature's laws
So violated, plead, immortal-tongu'd,
For her dark-fated children; lead them forth
From bondage infamous! Bid reason own
The dignities of man, whate'er his clime,
Estate, or colour. And, O! sacred truth!
Tell the proud lords of traffic, that the breast
Thrice ebon-tinted, bears a crimson tide,
As pure, as clear as Europe's sons can boast.
Then, liberty, extend thy thund'ring voice
To Afric's scorching climes, o'er seas that bound
To bear the blissful tidings, while all earth
Shall hail humanity! the child of heav'n!",,19424,"",""The savage cheek / Smiles at the potent spoiler; braves his frown; / And while the partial gloom is most opake, / Still vaunts the mind unfetter'd!""",Fetters,2012-01-09 18:34:25 UTC,""