work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
5586,"",Reading,2005-07-25 00:00:00 UTC,"The human brain is a bodily substance; and sensible and permanent impressions made upon it must so far resemble those made [end page 10] on sand by the foot, or on wax by the seal, as to have certain shape, length, breadth, and deepness. Now such an impression can only be made by that, which had solidity, magnitude, and figure. If then we remember thoughts, feelings, sounds, as well as things visible and tangible, which will hardly be denied; those sounds, thoughts, and feelings, must have a body, and, consequently, shape, size, and weight. What then is the size or weight of a sound? Is it an inch long, or half an inch? Does it weigh an ounce, or a grain? Does the roar of a cannon bear any resemblance to the ball, or to the powder, in shape, in weight, or in magnitude? What figure has the pain of the toothach, and our remembrance of that pain? Is it triangular, or circular, or of a square form? The bare mention of these consequences may prove the absurdity of the theories that lead to them.
(II.i, pp. 10-11)",2012-01-28,14914,"•I've included twice: Footprint and Wax
•See also previous entry. Beattie prepares to deny metaphors of impression here. Rhetorical questions used to make case. USE IN ENTRY. INTEREST.","""The human brain is a bodily substance; and sensible and permanent impressions made upon it must so far resemble those made on sand by the foot, or on wax by the seal, as to have certain shape, length, breadth, and deepness""",Impression,2012-01-28 18:18:16 UTC,Chapter II. Phenomena and Laws of Memory. Section I.
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,""
5882,Glassy Essence,"Searching ""impression"" and ""heart"" in HDIS (Poetry)",2005-05-16 00:00:00 UTC,"Pervious to every beam, transparent Glass
Gives to the eye, all objects as they pass:
So the clear Soul, when justice claims her due,
Or honour calls,--sets all within, to view.
The Diamond's piercing edge must Glass divide,
It's polish'd surface mocks all power beside:
So Spirits, which no base subservience own,
Pay homage to Superior Worth alone.
No drug, nor juice of all the acid tribe,
Can move the Tints, which Glassy Pores imbibe;
So no mean prejudice, no bribes, nor art,
Efface th' Impressions of an Upright Heart.",,15624,"•INTEREST. Occasional subjects are what Swift makes fun of in Tritical Essay. Should look to see how many of these offer meditation and metaphors. REVISIT and Read entire poem.
• This is a weird metaphor… Washing the mirror? ","""No drug, nor juice of all the acid tribe, / Can move the Tints, which Glassy Pores imbibe; / So no mean prejudice, no bribes, nor art, / Efface th' Impressions of an Upright Heart.""",Impression,2013-11-01 21:23:04 UTC,Verses on Occasional Subjects
6816,"",Reading; found again searching ECCO-TCP,2011-03-23 03:58:49 UTC,"I HOPE the reader will not think I have trespassed on his patience in introducing myself to him with some account of the manners and customs of my country. They had been implanted in me with great care, and made an impression on my mind, which time could not erase, and which all the adversity and variety of fortune I have since experienced, served only to rivet and record; for, whether the love of one's country be real or imaginary, or a lesson of reason, or an instinct of nature, I still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though that pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow.
(I.ii, pp. 45-6)",,18249,"","""They [African customs] had been implanted in me with great care, and made an impression on my mind, which time could not erase, and which all the adversity and variety of fortune I have since experienced served only to rivet and record; for, whether the love of one's country be real or imaginary, or a lesson of reason, or an instinct of nature, I still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though that pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow.""",Impressions,2013-08-18 20:40:07 UTC,Chapter 2
7080,"",Reading,2011-09-02 19:05:38 UTC,"Who, from his far-divided shore,
The half-expiring Captive bore?
Those, whom the traffic of their race
Has robb'd of every human grace;
Whose harden'd souls no more retain
Impressions Nature stamp'd in vain;
All that distinguishes their kind,
For ever blotted from their mind;
As streams, that once the landscape gave
Reflected on the trembling wave,
Their substance change, when lock'd in frost,
And rest, in dead contraction lost;--
Who view unmov'd, the look, that tells
The pang that in the bosom dwells;
Heed not the nerves that terror shakes,
The heart convulsive anguish breaks;
The shriek that would their crimes upbraid,
But deem despair a part of trade.--
Such only, for detested gain,
The barb'rous commerce would maintain.
The gen'rous sailor, he, who dares
All forms of danger, while he bears
The BRITISH Flag o'er untrack'd seas,
And spreads it on the polar breeze;
He, who in Glory's high career,
Finds agony, and death are dear;
To whose protecting arm we owe
Each blessing that the happy know;
Whatever charms the soften'd heart,
Each cultur'd grace, each finer art,
E'en thine, most lovely of the train!
Sweet Poetry! thy heav'n-taught strain--
His breast, where nobler passions burn,
In honest poverty, would spurn
That wealth, Oppression can bestow,
And scorn to wound a fetter'd foe.
True courage in the unconquer'd soul
Yields to Compassion's mild controul;
As, the resisting frame of steel
The magnet's secret force can feel.
(pp. 13-6, ll. 209-247)",,19125,"","There are those ""whom the traffic of their race / Has robb'd of every human grace; / Whose harden'd souls no more retain / Impressions Nature stamp'd in vain; / All that distinguishes their kind, / For ever blotted from their mind; / As streams, that once the landscape gave / Reflected on the trembling wave, / Their substance change, when lock'd in frost, / And rest, in dead contraction lost.""",Impressions,2011-09-02 19:07:30 UTC,""
5642,"",Reading in Google Books ,2012-01-31 19:02:22 UTC,"Aristotle taught, that all the objects of our thought enter at first by the senses; and, since the sense cannot receive external material objects themselves, it receives their species; that is, their images or forms, without the matter; as wax receives the form of the seal without any of the matter of it. These images or forms, impressed upon the senses, are called sensible species and are the objects only of the sensitive part of the mind: But, by various internal powers, they are retained, refined, and spiritualized, so as to become objects of memory and imagination, and, at last, of pure intellection. When they are objects of memory and of imagination, they get the name of phantasms. When, by farther refinement, and being stripped of their particularities, they become objects of science; they are called intelligible species: So that every immediate object, whether of sense, of memory, of imagination, or of reasoning, must be some phantasm or species in the mind itself.
(I.i.10, 25)
",,19567,CROSS-REFERENCE. See Reid in Essays (on touch).,"""Aristotle taught, that all the objects of our thought enter at first by the senses; and, since the sense cannot receive external material objects themselves, it receives their species; that is, their images or forms, without the matter; as wax receives the form of the seal without any of the matter of it.""",Impressions,2012-01-31 19:02:22 UTC,"Book I, Chapter i"
7835,"",ECCO-TCP,2014-03-12 03:25:39 UTC,"The matins concluded, Ambrosio retired to his cell. The pleasures which he had just tasted for the first time were still impressed upon his mind: his brain was bewildered, and presented a confused chaos of remorse, voluptuousness, inquietude, and fear: he looked back with regret to that peace of soul, that security of virtue, which till then had been his portion: he had indulged in excesses whose very idea, but four-and-twenty hours before, he had recoiled at with horror: he shuddered at reflecting that a trifling indiscretion on his part, or on Ma+tilda's, would overturn that fabric of repu+tation which it had cost him thirty years to erect, and render him the abhorrence of the people of whom he was then the idol. Conscience painted to him in glaring colours his perjury, and weakness; apprehension magnified to him the honors of punishment, and he already fancied himself in the prisons of the Inquisition. To these tormenting ideas succeeded Matilda's beauty, and those delicious lessons, which once learnt can never be forgotten. A single glance thrown upon these reconciled him with himself: he considered the pleasures of the former night to have been purchased at an easy price by the sacrifice of innocence and honour. Their very remembrance filled his soul with ecstacy: he cursed his foolish vanity, which had induced him to waste in obscurity the bloom of life, ignorant of the blessings of love and woman: he determined, at all events, to continue his commerce with Matilda, and called every argument to his aid which might confirm his resolution: he asked himself, provided his irregularity was unknown, in what would his fault consist, and what consequences he had to apprehend?
(II, pp. 186-7)",,23566,"","""The pleasures which he had just tasted for the first time were still impressed upon his mind: his brain was bewildered, and presented a confused chaos of remorse, voluptuousness, inquietude, and fear.""",Impressions,2014-03-12 03:25:39 UTC,""
7835,"",ECCO-TCP,2014-03-12 04:04:29 UTC,"Though rescued from the Inquisition, Ambrosio as yet was insensible of the blessings of liberty. The damning contract weighed heavy upon his mind; and the scenes in which he had been a principal actor, had left behind them such impressions as rendered his heart the seat of anarchy and confusion. The objects now before his eyes, and which the full moon sailing through clouds permitted him to examine, were ill calculated to inspire that calm, of which he stood so much in need. The disorder of his imagination was increased by the wildness of the surrounding scenery; by the gloomy caverns and steep rocks, rising above each other, and dividing the passing clouds; solitary clusters of trees scattered here and there, among whose thick-twined branches the wind of night sighed hoarsely and mournfully; the shrill cry of mountain eagles, who had built their nests among these lonely deserts; the stunning roar of torrents, as swelled by late rains they rushed violently down tremendous precipices; and the dark waters of a silent sluggish stream, which faintly reflected the moon-beams, and bathed the rock's base on which Ambrosio stood. The abbot cast round him a look of terror. His internal conductor was still by his side, and eyed him with a look of mingled malice, exultation, and contempt.
(III, pp. 307-9)",,23607,"","""The damning contract weighed heavy upon his mind; and the scenes in which he had been a principal actor, had left behind them such impressions as rendered his heart the seat of anarchy and confusion.""",Empire and Impressions,2014-03-12 04:04:29 UTC,""
7934,"",REading,2014-06-19 16:49:23 UTC,"One individual must never prefer himself so much even to any other individual, as to hurt or injure that other, in order to benefit himself, though the benefit to the one should be much greater than the hurt or injury to the other. The poor man must neither defraud nor steal from the rich, though the acquisition might be much more beneficial to the one than the loss could be hurtful to the other. The man within immediately calls to him, in this case too, that he is no better than his neighbour, and that by this unjust preference he renders himself the proper object of the contempt and indignation of mankind; as well as of the punishment which that contempt and indignation must naturally dispose them to inflict, for having thus violated one of those sacred rules, upon the tolerable observation of which depend the whole security and peace of human society. There is no commonly honest man who does not more dread the inward disgrace of such an action, the indelible stain which it would for ever stamp upon his own mind, than the greatest external calamity which, without any fault of his own, could possibly befal him; and who does not inwardly feel the truth of that great stoical maxim, that for one man to deprive another unjustly of any thing, or unjustly to promote his own advantage by the loss or disadvantage of another, is more contrary to nature, than death, than poverty, than pain, than all the misfortunes which can affect him, either in his body, or in his external circumstances.
(text from from econlib.org, III.i.48; cf. p. 138 in Liberty Fund ed.)",,24005,"","""There is no commonly honest man who does not more dread the inward disgrace of such an action, the indelible stain which it would for ever stamp upon his own mind, than the greatest external calamity which, without any fault of his own, could possibly befal him; and who does not inwardly feel the truth of that great stoical maxim, that for one man to deprive another unjustly of any thing, or unjustly to promote his own advantage by the loss or disadvantage of another, is more contrary to nature, than death, than poverty, than pain, than all the misfortunes which can affect him, either in his body, or in his external circumstances.""",Impressions,2014-06-19 16:49:23 UTC,""