"And tho' their Reason gave 'em dubious Light, / They trim'd the Lamp, and kept the Goal in sight"
— Gould, Robert (b. 1660?, d. in or before 1709)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for W. Lewis [etc.]
Date
1709
Metaphor
"And tho' their Reason gave 'em dubious Light, / They trim'd the Lamp, and kept the Goal in sight"
Metaphor in Context
In Ancient Times the Tables of the Great
Were the best Schools of Vertue; for the Meat,
'Twas the most slender part of all the Treat:
Moral Discourses with their Meals were joyn'd;
They fed the Body, but did feast the Mind.
Wit with their Wine they equally did prize;
But then no loose or trifling Talk did rise,
For He that will be Merry must be Wise.
They never met, but, different from the Throng,
Something was greatly Said, or greatly Sung,
And Learning gave the Ply to ev'ry Tongue.
Nothing was there advanc'd but things of Weight,
Or of the Present, or the Future State,
Love, Prescience, Will, Necessity and Fate.
And tho' their Reason gave 'em dubious Light,
They trim'd the Lamp, and kept the Goal in sight;
Adorning still Instruction with Delight
Were the best Schools of Vertue; for the Meat,
'Twas the most slender part of all the Treat:
Moral Discourses with their Meals were joyn'd;
They fed the Body, but did feast the Mind.
Wit with their Wine they equally did prize;
But then no loose or trifling Talk did rise,
For He that will be Merry must be Wise.
They never met, but, different from the Throng,
Something was greatly Said, or greatly Sung,
And Learning gave the Ply to ev'ry Tongue.
Nothing was there advanc'd but things of Weight,
Or of the Present, or the Future State,
Love, Prescience, Will, Necessity and Fate.
And tho' their Reason gave 'em dubious Light,
They trim'd the Lamp, and kept the Goal in sight;
Adorning still Instruction with Delight
Categories
Provenance
Searching "reason" and "lamp" in 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
01/20/2006
