"Search all the close recesses of the mind, / And leave no vice, no ruling passion there, / Nothing to raise a blush, or cause a fear; / Their memories with solid notions fill, / And let their reason dictate to their will."
— Chudleigh [née Lee], Mary, Lady Chudleigh (bap. 1656, d. 1710)
Work Title
Date
1701
Metaphor
"Search all the close recesses of the mind, / And leave no vice, no ruling passion there, / Nothing to raise a blush, or cause a fear; / Their memories with solid notions fill, / And let their reason dictate to their will."
Metaphor in Context
O that my sex would all such toys despise,
And only study to be good and wise;
Inspect themselves, and every blemish find,
Search all the close recesses of the mind,
And leave no vice, no ruling passion there,
Nothing to raise a blush, or cause a fear;
Their memories with solid notions fill,
And let their reason dictate to their will;
Instead of novels, histories peruse,
And for their guides the wiser ancients choose;
Through all the labyrinths of learning go,
And grow more humble, as they more do know.
(ll. 38-49, p. 2-3)
And only study to be good and wise;
Inspect themselves, and every blemish find,
Search all the close recesses of the mind,
And leave no vice, no ruling passion there,
Nothing to raise a blush, or cause a fear;
Their memories with solid notions fill,
And let their reason dictate to their will;
Instead of novels, histories peruse,
And for their guides the wiser ancients choose;
Through all the labyrinths of learning go,
And grow more humble, as they more do know.
(ll. 38-49, p. 2-3)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Lonsdale, R. Ed. Eighteenth Century Women Poets. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Date of Entry
09/14/2009
Date of Review
03/04/2009
