id,comments,provenance,dictionary,created_at,reviewed_on,work_id,theme,context,updated_at,metaphor,text
15262,"",Searching in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in ECCO,"",2005-05-31 00:00:00 UTC,,5726,"","",2014-02-26 22:01:47 UTC,"""Our mind's unhelm'd, our attributes decay--""","My recollection portrays all the past,
The bliss was sure too exquisite to last:
When Henry's supplication fill'd my days,
And every echo warbled Gabrielle's praise;
Train'd from my reason's dawn in noble deeds,
I sung of Virtue, and I sought her meeds:
My pliant fancy yielded to embrace
Those laws of honor, which upheld my race:
Oh! hesitate, ye generous nymphs, I pray,
Ere ye condemn the tenor of my lay.
Knew ye the sorcery that freights his tale,
Alas, you'd marvel not that men prevail!
A king, a hero, brilliant, wise and great,
Who seems the favor'd delegate of fate;
When such assail the melting virgin's breast,
Love is all-governing, and fear a jest.
With soft solicitude, with matchless charms,
He came, he woo'd, he won me to his arms!
So regal Jove his tender wishes told,
When the high ruler found Alcmena cold--
He swore his love should with his being last,
But scarce was sworn before that love was past:
Such vows, like poppies, mid the golden grain,
Tho' gay, are worthless, tho' alluring, vain:
When Passion's tides thro' mans' strong art'ries roar,
His heart resists them like a flinty shore;
But our frail frames, like mould'ring banks, give way,
Our mind's unhelm'd, our attributes decay--
His bright, his keen, his fascinating eyes,
Like wond'rous basilisks seduce their prize.
Go not, ye nymphs, you'll perish if you gaze,
For necromancy warms their weakest blaze!
If in the vortex of his arts you're found,
Your agency will die, your sense run round.
There Ruin's baneful circles never cease,
Till central potency ingulphs your peace!
(cf. pp. 24-5 in 1788 printing)"
15310,
,HDIS,"",2004-01-02 00:00:00 UTC,,5748,"","",2009-09-14 19:43:18 UTC,"Gods are ""swift as the traveller's thought""","He ended; nor his spouse white-arm'd refused
Obedience, but from the Idæan heights
Departing, to the Olympian summit soar'd.
Swift as the traveller's thought, who, many a land
Traversed, deliberates on his future course
Uncertain, and his mind sends every way,
So swift updarted Juno to the skies.
Arrived on the Olympian heights, she found
The Gods assembled; they, at once, their seats
At her approach forsaking, with full cups
Her coming hail'd; heedless of all beside,
She took the cup from blooming Themis' hand,
For she first flew to welcome her, and thus
In accents wing'd of her return enquired.
"
15319,I've included twice: Color and Complexion,HDIS,"",2004-01-02 00:00:00 UTC,2009-07-20,5749,"","",2009-09-14 19:43:20 UTC,"""But when the Gods with evils unforeseen / Smite him, he bears them with a grudging mind; / For such as the complexion of his lot / By the appointment of the Sire of all, Such is the colour of the mind of man.""","To whom Ulysses, ever-wise, replied.
To me, Amphinomus, endued thou seem'st
With much discretion, who art also son
Of such a sire, whose fair report I know,
Dulichian Nysus opulent and good.
Fame speaks thee his, and thou appear'st a man
Judicious; hear me, therefore; mark me well.
Earth nourishes, of all that breathe or creep,
No creature weak as man; for while the Gods
Grant him prosperity and health, no fear
Hath he, or thought, that he shall ever mourn;
But when the Gods with evils unforeseen
Smite him, he bears them with a grudging mind;
For such as the complexion of his lot
By the appointment of the Sire of all,
Such is the colour of the mind of man.
I, too, have been familiar in my day
With wealth and ease, but I was then self-will'd,
And many wrong'd, embolden'd by the thought
Of my own father's and my brethren's power.
Let no man, therefore, be unjust, but each
Use modestly what gift soe'er of heaven.
So do not these. These ever bent I see
On deeds injurious, the possessions large
Consuming, and dishonouring the wife
Of one, who will not, as I judge, remain
Long absent from his home, but is, perchance,
Even at the door. Thee, therefore, may the Gods
Steal hence in time; ah, meet not his return
To his own country! for they will not part,
(He and the suitors) without blood, I think,
If once he enter at these gates again! "
15320,
,HDIS,"",2004-01-02 00:00:00 UTC,,5749,"","",2009-09-14 19:43:20 UTC,The mind may be haunted by a thought,"My love! for I imagine not that all
The warrior Greeks shall safe from Troy return,
Since fame reports the Trojans brave in fight,
Skill'd in the spear, mighty to draw the bow,
And nimble vaulters to the backs of steeds
High-mettled, which to speediest issue bring
The dreadful struggle of all-wasting war,--
I know not, therefore, whether Heaven intend
My safe return, or I must perish there.
But manage thou at home. Cherish, as now,
While I am absent, or more dearly still
My parents, and what time our son thou seest
Mature, then wed; wed even whom thou wilt,
And hence to a new home.--Such were his words,
All which shall full accomplishment ere long
Receive. The day is near, when hapless I,
Lost to all comfort by the will of Jove,
Must meet the nuptials that my soul abhors.
But this thought now afflicts me, and my mind
Continual haunts. Such was not heretofore
The suitors custom'd practice; all who chose
To engage in competition for a wife
Well-qualitied and well-endow'd, produced
From their own herds and fatted flocks a feast
For the bride's friends, and splendid presents made,
But never ate as ye, at others' cost. "
15324,"",HDIS,"",2004-01-02 00:00:00 UTC,,5749,"","",2009-09-14 19:43:21 UTC,A thought may occupy and haunt the mind,"Hail venerable guest! and be thy lot
Prosperous at least hereafter, who art held
At present, in the bonds of numerous ills.
Thou, Jupiter, of all the Gods, art most
Severe, and sparest not to inflict distress
Even on creatures from thyself derived.
I had no sooner mark'd thee, than my eyes
Swam, and the sweat gush'd from me at the thought
Of dear Ulysses; for if yet he live
And see the sun, such tatters, I suppose,
He wears, a wanderer among human-kind.
But if already with the dead he dwell
In Pluto's drear abode, oh then, alas
For kind Ulysses! who consign'd to me,
While yet a boy, his Cephalenian herds,
And they have now encreased to such a store
Innumerable of broad-fronted beeves,
As only care like mine could have produced.
These, by command of others, I transport
For their regale, who neither heed his son,
Nor tremble at the anger of the Gods,
But long have wish'd ardently to divide
And share the substance of our absent Lord.
Me therefore this thought occupies, and haunts
My mind not seldom; while the heir survives
It were no small offence to drive his herds
Afar, and migrate to a foreign land;
Yet here to dwell, suffering oppressive wrongs
While I attend another's beeves, appears
Still less supportable; and I had fled,
And I had served some other mighty Chief
Long since, (for patience fails me to endure
My present lot,) but that I cherish still
Some hope of my ill-fated Lord's return,
To rid his palace of these lawless guests.
"
15393,"","Searching ""mind"" and ""balance"" in HDIS (Poetry)","",2006-12-11 00:00:00 UTC,,5749,"","",2009-09-14 19:43:32 UTC,"""and my mother's mind / In doubtful balance hangs, if still with me / An inmate, she shall manage my concerns, / Attentive only to her absent Lord / And her own good report""","hen thus, Telemachus, discrete, replied.
Thy words, Eumæus, pain my very soul.
For what security can I afford
To any in my house? myself am young,
Nor yet of strength sufficient to repel
An offer'd insult; and my mother's mind
In doubtful balance hangs, if still with me
An inmate, she shall manage my concerns,
Attentive only to her absent Lord
And her own good report, or shall espouse
The noblest of her wooers, and the best
Entitled by the splendour of his gifts.
But I will give him, since I find him lodged
A guest beneath thy roof, tunic and cloak,
Sword double-edged, and sandals to his feet,
With convoy to the country of his choice.
Still, if it please thee, keep him here thy guest,
And I will send him raiment, with supplies
Of all sorts, lest he burthen thee and thine.
But where the suitors come, there shall not he
With my consent, nor stand exposed to pride
And petulance like theirs, lest by some sneer
They wound him, and through him, wound also me:
For little is it that the boldest can
Against so many; numbers will prevail."
15590,"","Searching ""stamp"" and mind"" in HDIS (Drama)","",2005-04-11 00:00:00 UTC,,5857,"","Act IV, scene vii",2009-09-14 19:44:03 UTC,"The ""contemplative hour must sometimes exist to a mind of your stamp""","LOUISA
Pardon me madam, if I presume to differ from you--The houses and palaces of the great are but too often the asylums of the most unbounded luxury and extravaganc. --Who would give the poor Louisa credit for launching all at once into the perilous contagion, trembling at the same time at the fatal infection?--Or, who would suppose, that Lady Milford, the envied and distinguished Lady Milford, so highly renowned for affluence, splendour, and for every thing, which can possibly contribute in appearance to the purest felicity, should with all these attainments be in reality destitute of that solid happiness, which falls to the lot but of the ""pure in heart;"" and that her conscience should sometimes prove a scorpion in her breast?--Would your Ladyship, when crossed in any plan or pursuit, be able to bear with the placid air of contentment, which would beam from my countenance?--Or, upon your return from any party, hurt or displeased by any occurrence, how could you witness the attractive mien of humble happiness, ever imprinted on my calm and unruffled brow, proceeding from inward satisfaction's smile?--We are all weak, when unsupported by our own esteem--there are times, when the heart, conscious of having acted amiss, dreads a scrutiny--the anvil of gnawing conscience is never cool--the contemplative hour must sometimes exist to a mind of your stamp-- the serpent reproach may sometimes assail you with all its venemous stings; and your whole bosom may be turned into a scene of perturbation and disquietude-- Under the impulse of these dreadful evils, your mind must be singularly endowed, Madam, to be able to view with indifference your attendant Louisa's face, dressed in artless looks of serenity, unclouded by care, unchecked by disappointment; and boasting the purest bliss of innocence and a heart at peace."
17966,"","Contributed by PC Fleming, searching ""thoughts.""","",2010-07-16 22:06:53 UTC,2012-02-04,6749,Possessive Individualism,"",2012-02-04 21:49:33 UTC,"""Thus our thoughts are our most sacred and dearest property; and to read a bit of paper, as you call it, that does not belong to us, that contains thoughts not addressed to us, is to do an act that has all the deformity of treason, meanness, and infamy; in fine, the most vile and dishonourable act imaginable.""","Thus our thoughts are our most sacred and dearest property; and to read a bit of paper, as you call it, that does not belong to us, that contains thoughts not addressed to us, is to do an act that has all the deformity of treason, meanness, and infamy; in fine, the most vile and dishonourable act imaginable.
(Vol. I, p. 285)"
17978,"","Contributed by PC Fleming, searching ""heart""",Writing,2010-07-17 15:56:17 UTC,,6749,"",Con. XX,2013-06-13 21:19:09 UTC,"""They converse not, they open not their mouths, they are silent, but they engrave their principles on the heart in indelible characters, instead of inconsistently crowding them on the memory.""","Then you must have remarked, that one of the greatest advantages of republican government, is the immediate influence it has over individuals, that it animates the general mass in every part; it gives life and activity, and consequently, makes known to each person his own worth, which, perhaps, in another form of government, he would have been unconscious of; it, at the same time, inspires public spirit, which, by a free profession of the same principles, unites all these different powers, and renders them useful in one common centre for the general good. Public schools, instituted upon good plans, are simpilar to this republican government, and procure their pupils the same advantages. The general mass is composed of children. The institution tends to inform each of his own value, and to increase it, Their union, teaches them to respect the fundamental rights of general society. Merit and talents, or rather the hope that fore-runs and convinces them, assigns to each his place. Justice there decides singly and uniformly, without respect to persons. Example, experience, and necessity are the preceptors who teach, or rather the masters who command. They converse not, they open not their mouths, they are silent, but they engrave their principles on the heart in indelible characters, instead of inconsistently crowding them on the memory. (Vol. II, pages 347-8)"
24054,"",Searching in Google Books,"",2014-06-19 22:03:44 UTC,,7937,"","",2014-06-19 22:03:44 UTC,"""Every thing encourages me on your account, while my own soul, tormented by an unlucky passion, has entirely lost its balance.""","[...] The apartment which he has seen must have been brilliantly lighted, for he said he was dazzled with its splendour. And be assured, that I have certainly guessed, so to speak, what it is he has attempted to describe. Now, my friend, this extravagant luxury characterises the palaces of Persia. He was carried to Persia, and brought back in one night then, said Chebib. My dear landlord, replied Giafar, if your son is decreed to contract a marriage, from which a certain portion of the earth will derive advantage ; when heaven interferes, distance vanishes in a moment. Omar was besieging Aleppo, while Fatme, his wife, was kneeling at the evening prayers at Medina: O my God, cried she, after they were finished, could I now be in the arms of my husband! Scarcely had she formed the wish, when she was instantly carried to him, by the two angels whom she had saluted on the right hand, and on the left, before she began her prayer. Take courage, my dear friend: Heaven has wrought many miracles in my favour; and, as you have been one of its principal instruments with regard to me, though, for the trial of your virtue, obstacles seem allowed to stand in the way of your happiness, be assured that your star will shine with a brighter lustre, when it has emerged from these little clouds. Every thing encourages me on your account, while my own soul, tormented by an unlucky passion, has entirely lost its balance.
(I, p. 517)"