"When gentle Reason rules thy Breast; / The Sun upon the calmest Sea / Appears not half so bright as Thee."
— Prior, Matthew (1664-1721)
Author
Date
1704
Metaphor
"When gentle Reason rules thy Breast; / The Sun upon the calmest Sea / Appears not half so bright as Thee."
Metaphor in Context
Once more at least look back, said I;
Thy self in That large Glass descry:
When Thou art in good Humour drest;
When gentle Reason rules thy Breast;
The Sun upon the calmest Sea
Appears not half so bright as Thee:
'Tis then, that with Delight I rove
Upon the boundless Depth of Love:
I bless my Chain: I hand my Oar;
Nor think on all I left on Shoar.
But when vain Doubt, and groundless Fear
Do that Dear Foolish Bosom tear;
When that big Lip, and wat'ry Eye
Tell Me, the rising Storm is nigh:
'Tis then, Thou art yon' angry Main,
Deform'd by Winds, and dash'd by Rain;
And the poor Sailor, that must try
It's Fury, labours less than I.
(ll. 21-38, pp. 198-9)
Thy self in That large Glass descry:
When Thou art in good Humour drest;
When gentle Reason rules thy Breast;
The Sun upon the calmest Sea
Appears not half so bright as Thee:
'Tis then, that with Delight I rove
Upon the boundless Depth of Love:
I bless my Chain: I hand my Oar;
Nor think on all I left on Shoar.
But when vain Doubt, and groundless Fear
Do that Dear Foolish Bosom tear;
When that big Lip, and wat'ry Eye
Tell Me, the rising Storm is nigh:
'Tis then, Thou art yon' angry Main,
Deform'd by Winds, and dash'd by Rain;
And the poor Sailor, that must try
It's Fury, labours less than I.
(ll. 21-38, pp. 198-9)
Provenance
Searching "rule" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Over 30 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1704, 1708, 1713, 1715, 1716, 1719, 1721, 1727, 1728, 1733, 1741, 1745, 1746, 1751, 1754, 1763, 1768, 1776, 1779, 1780, 1790, 1796, 1798, 1800). [Published in Tonson's miscellany; collected in The Medley (1715), The Poetical Preceptor and other anthologies, included in The Works of the English Poets]
See Poetical Miscellanies: The Fifth Part. Containing a Collection of Original Poems, With Several New Translations. By the Most Eminent Hands. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, within Grays-Inn Gate, next Grays-Inn Lane, 1704). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Literary Works of Matthew Prior, eds. H. Bunker Wright and Monroe K. Spears. 2 vols. 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971).
See Poetical Miscellanies: The Fifth Part. Containing a Collection of Original Poems, With Several New Translations. By the Most Eminent Hands. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, within Grays-Inn Gate, next Grays-Inn Lane, 1704). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Literary Works of Matthew Prior, eds. H. Bunker Wright and Monroe K. Spears. 2 vols. 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971).
Date of Entry
06/22/2004
Date of Review
01/12/2012
