"[N]o alloy / Of Flesh" can destroy the "sprightly Beauties" of the soul "Nor Death nor Fate can snatch the lasting Joy. / Through ev'ry Limb the active Spirit flows;
Diffusing Life and Vigour as it goes, / But is it self unmixt, and free from Dross"— Oldisworth, William (1680-1734)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Bernard Lintott
Date
1710 [1719, 1729]
Metaphor
"[N]o alloy / Of Flesh" can destroy the "sprightly Beauties" of the soul "Nor Death nor Fate can snatch the lasting Joy. / Through ev'ry Limb the active Spirit flows;
Diffusing Life and Vigour as it goes, / But is it self unmixt, and free from Dross"
Diffusing Life and Vigour as it goes, / But is it self unmixt, and free from Dross"
Metaphor in Context
Reflection is the last and greatest Bliss:
When turning backwards with inverted Eyes,
The Soul it self and all its Charms, surveys,
The deep Impressions of Coelestial Grace
And Image of the Godhead: no alloy
Of Flesh, its sprightly Beauties can destroy;
Nor Death nor Fate can snatch the lasting Joy.
Through ev'ry Limb the active Spirit flows;
Diffusing Life and Vigour as it goes,
But is it self unmixt, and free from Dross;
Reflected on its glitt'ring Form it views
All Nature's Works, with eager Steps persues
The Species as they fly, and subtly draws
From single Objects universal Laws:
Thus whilst great Jove the whirling Engine guides,
And o'er the Times and rolling Year presides:
Still, as he turns the rapid Wheels of Chance,
Himself immortal and unchang'd remains,
And when the empty Scene of Nature cloys,
Sinks in the Godhead, and himself enjoys.
When turning backwards with inverted Eyes,
The Soul it self and all its Charms, surveys,
The deep Impressions of Coelestial Grace
And Image of the Godhead: no alloy
Of Flesh, its sprightly Beauties can destroy;
Nor Death nor Fate can snatch the lasting Joy.
Through ev'ry Limb the active Spirit flows;
Diffusing Life and Vigour as it goes,
But is it self unmixt, and free from Dross;
Reflected on its glitt'ring Form it views
All Nature's Works, with eager Steps persues
The Species as they fly, and subtly draws
From single Objects universal Laws:
Thus whilst great Jove the whirling Engine guides,
And o'er the Times and rolling Year presides:
Still, as he turns the rapid Wheels of Chance,
Himself immortal and unchang'd remains,
And when the empty Scene of Nature cloys,
Sinks in the Godhead, and himself enjoys.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Translated from the French of Claude Quillet. First published in Leiden (1655), followed by Latin version (London, 1708). Subsequent editions attribute translation to Oldisworth. Second edition, 1719; 3rd ed., 1729. Six entries in ESTC.
See Callipædia: or, The Art of Getting Pretty Children. In Four Books. Translated from the Original Latin of Claudius Quilletus. By Several Hands (London: Printed for Bernard Lintott, 1710). <Link to ESTC><Link to 1710 edition in ECCO>
See Callipædia: or, The Art of Getting Pretty Children. In Four Books. Translated from the Original Latin of Claudius Quilletus. By Several Hands (London: Printed for Bernard Lintott, 1710). <Link to ESTC><Link to 1710 edition in ECCO>
Date of Entry
05/17/2005
