"You say, the Spirits in the Optick Nerve, / Mov'd by the intercepted Image, serve / To bear th' Impression to the Brain, and give / The Stroke, by which the Object we perceive."
— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for S. Buckley and J. Tonson
Date
1712
Metaphor
"You say, the Spirits in the Optick Nerve, / Mov'd by the intercepted Image, serve / To bear th' Impression to the Brain, and give / The Stroke, by which the Object we perceive."
Metaphor in Context
Since all Perception in the Brain is made,
(Tho' where and how was never yet display'd)
And since so great a distance lies between
The Eye-ball, and the Seat of Sense within,
While in the Eye th'arrested Object stays,
Tell what th' Idea to the Brain conveys?
You say, the Spirits in the Optick Nerve,
Mov'd by the intercepted Image, serve
To bear th' Impression to the Brain, and give
The Stroke, by which the Object we perceive.
(VII, ll. 134-143, p. 319)
(Tho' where and how was never yet display'd)
And since so great a distance lies between
The Eye-ball, and the Seat of Sense within,
While in the Eye th'arrested Object stays,
Tell what th' Idea to the Brain conveys?
You say, the Spirits in the Optick Nerve,
Mov'd by the intercepted Image, serve
To bear th' Impression to the Brain, and give
The Stroke, by which the Object we perceive.
(VII, ll. 134-143, p. 319)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "brain" and "impression" 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
Sense Perception
Date of Entry
05/18/2005
Date of Review
06/05/2011
