"In Solid Dullness fixt, no Charms, no Art / Of Beauty makes Impression on thy Heart:"
— Gould, Robert (b. 1660?, d. in or before 1709)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for W. Lewis
Date
1709
Metaphor
"In Solid Dullness fixt, no Charms, no Art / Of Beauty makes Impression on thy Heart:"
Metaphor in Context
Our Parent, Jack, the first Created Man,
(If Mysteries Divine we ought to Scan,)
While yet in Perfect Innocence He stood,
Cou'd not, perhaps, boast so Entire a Good
As is on Thee, (Heav'ns Greater Care,) bestow'd.
His State of Sweetness soon was dash'd with Gall;
Thou Stand'st, and art not liable to Fall:
In Solid Dullness fixt, no Charms, no Art
Of Beauty makes Impression on thy Heart:
The Faithless Sex cou'd ne'er thy Fancy move,
For ever Proof against the Shafts of Love:
Who at their Feet e'er saw Thee Prostrate ly,
And sigh, and Grieve, and Weep, and Bleed and dy?
As some, who, like the Heathen World of Yore,
First make the Diety, and then adore;
A Light Demeanour and a Painted Face,
No Wit, no Vertue, with much Silks and Lace,
Pass with such Fops for a Resistless Grace;
But reach not Thee;--so Strongly You retain
Your Native Ply, were Eve to live again,
And Labour to Seduce Thee, 'twere in vain.
Ah! had old Adam been as dull, as Good,
Eden had not been lost, and Man had stood.
(If Mysteries Divine we ought to Scan,)
While yet in Perfect Innocence He stood,
Cou'd not, perhaps, boast so Entire a Good
As is on Thee, (Heav'ns Greater Care,) bestow'd.
His State of Sweetness soon was dash'd with Gall;
Thou Stand'st, and art not liable to Fall:
In Solid Dullness fixt, no Charms, no Art
Of Beauty makes Impression on thy Heart:
The Faithless Sex cou'd ne'er thy Fancy move,
For ever Proof against the Shafts of Love:
Who at their Feet e'er saw Thee Prostrate ly,
And sigh, and Grieve, and Weep, and Bleed and dy?
As some, who, like the Heathen World of Yore,
First make the Diety, and then adore;
A Light Demeanour and a Painted Face,
No Wit, no Vertue, with much Silks and Lace,
Pass with such Fops for a Resistless Grace;
But reach not Thee;--so Strongly You retain
Your Native Ply, were Eve to live again,
And Labour to Seduce Thee, 'twere in vain.
Ah! had old Adam been as dull, as Good,
Eden had not been lost, and Man had stood.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "impression" and "heart" HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
The Works of Mr. Robert Gould: In Two Volumes. Consisting of those Poems and Satyrs Which were formerly Printed, and Corrected since by the Author; As also of the many more which He Design'd for the Press. Publish'd from his Own Original Copies (London: W. Lewis, 1709). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
05/16/2005
