"But other Spirits govern'd by the Will / Shoot thro' their Tracks, and distant Muscles fill. / This Sov'raign by his arbitrary Nod / Restrains, or sends his Ministers abroad."
— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for S. Buckley and J. Tonson
Date
1712
Metaphor
"But other Spirits govern'd by the Will / Shoot thro' their Tracks, and distant Muscles fill. / This Sov'raign by his arbitrary Nod / Restrains, or sends his Ministers abroad."
Metaphor in Context
But other Spirits govern'd by the Will
Shoot thro' their Tracks, and distant Muscles fill.
This Sov'raign by his arbitrary Nod
Restrains, or sends his Ministers abroad.
Swift and obedient to his high Command,
They stir a Finger, or they lift a Hand;
They tune our Voices, or they move our Eyes;
By these we walk, or from the Ground arise:
By these we turn, by these the Body bend;
Contract a Limb at Pleasure, or extend.
And tho' these Spirits, which obsequious go,
Know not the Paths, thro' which they ready flow,
Nor can our Mind instruct them in their Way,
Of all their Roads as ignorant, as they;
Yet seldom erring they attain their End,
And reach that single Part, which we intend.
Unguided they a just Distinction make,
This Muscle swell, and leave the other slack.
And when their Force this Limb or that inflects,
Our Will the Measure of that Force directs,
The Spirits which distend them, as we please
Exert their Pow'r, or from their Duty cease.
(VI, ll. 648-669, pp. 304-5)
Shoot thro' their Tracks, and distant Muscles fill.
This Sov'raign by his arbitrary Nod
Restrains, or sends his Ministers abroad.
Swift and obedient to his high Command,
They stir a Finger, or they lift a Hand;
They tune our Voices, or they move our Eyes;
By these we walk, or from the Ground arise:
By these we turn, by these the Body bend;
Contract a Limb at Pleasure, or extend.
And tho' these Spirits, which obsequious go,
Know not the Paths, thro' which they ready flow,
Nor can our Mind instruct them in their Way,
Of all their Roads as ignorant, as they;
Yet seldom erring they attain their End,
And reach that single Part, which we intend.
Unguided they a just Distinction make,
This Muscle swell, and leave the other slack.
And when their Force this Limb or that inflects,
Our Will the Measure of that Force directs,
The Spirits which distend them, as we please
Exert their Pow'r, or from their Duty cease.
(VI, ll. 648-669, pp. 304-5)
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 8 entries in ESTC (1712, 1715, 1718, 1736, 1797).
Text from Sir Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem. Demonstrating the Existence and Providence of a God, 2nd ed. (London: S. Buckley and J. Tonson, 1712). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Other Online Editions: first edition (also published in 1712) is available <Link to ECCO>. See also 3rd edition (1715) <Link to Google Books>.
Text from Sir Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem. Demonstrating the Existence and Providence of a God, 2nd ed. (London: S. Buckley and J. Tonson, 1712). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Other Online Editions: first edition (also published in 1712) is available <Link to ECCO>. See also 3rd edition (1715) <Link to Google Books>.
Theme
Animal Spirits
Date of Entry
05/18/2005
