"Now that within Nocturnal Shell / Pale Visionary Glimm'rings dwell, / By Demonstration I'll evince, / And Testimony of the Sense."
— Smith, John (fl. 1713)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
H. Clements
Date
1713
Metaphor
"Now that within Nocturnal Shell / Pale Visionary Glimm'rings dwell, / By Demonstration I'll evince, / And Testimony of the Sense."
Metaphor in Context
And now, tho' wond'rous strange, I'll shew,
Lobsters by Fire are nourish'd too:
But if you say 'tis a wrong Notion,
Because no Flames are in the Ocean,
To your Objection thus I answer,
Lobster's o' Kin to Sign call'd Cancer;
And as He's of Celestial Line,
So, like his Birth, his Food's Divine:
For as the Moon her Orb does swell,
So that increases in the Shell:
Tis thus like Spiritual Jugglers seen,
All dark without, the Light's within;
But tho' they boast of Inward Light,
We all well know how they Come by't;
Since frantick Fits discover soon,
That they're enlighten'd by the Moon.
Now that within Nocturnal Shell
Pale Visionary Glimm'rings dwell,
By Demonstration I'll evince,
And Testimony of the Sense;
For when the Heav'ns (black Night returning)
For Day departed put on Mourning,
From tainted Limbs to wond'ring Eyes
Thousands of heatless Sparks arise:
Not half so scalding as the Brand
That burn'd bold Mutius in the Hand:
These Sparks are Reliques, and no more
Than Beams imprison'd there before,
In Durance kept, and close Custody,
Till interwoven in the Body.
Kind Vestals thus that ply in Street,
Which City-G'ographers call Fleet,
With inward Flames in secret glow,
Preserv'd sub Lunæ Concavo.
Lobsters by Fire are nourish'd too:
But if you say 'tis a wrong Notion,
Because no Flames are in the Ocean,
To your Objection thus I answer,
Lobster's o' Kin to Sign call'd Cancer;
And as He's of Celestial Line,
So, like his Birth, his Food's Divine:
For as the Moon her Orb does swell,
So that increases in the Shell:
Tis thus like Spiritual Jugglers seen,
All dark without, the Light's within;
But tho' they boast of Inward Light,
We all well know how they Come by't;
Since frantick Fits discover soon,
That they're enlighten'd by the Moon.
Now that within Nocturnal Shell
Pale Visionary Glimm'rings dwell,
By Demonstration I'll evince,
And Testimony of the Sense;
For when the Heav'ns (black Night returning)
For Day departed put on Mourning,
From tainted Limbs to wond'ring Eyes
Thousands of heatless Sparks arise:
Not half so scalding as the Brand
That burn'd bold Mutius in the Hand:
These Sparks are Reliques, and no more
Than Beams imprison'd there before,
In Durance kept, and close Custody,
Till interwoven in the Body.
Kind Vestals thus that ply in Street,
Which City-G'ographers call Fleet,
With inward Flames in secret glow,
Preserv'd sub Lunæ Concavo.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "testimony" and "sense" in HDIS Poetry
Citation
Only 1 entry in ECCO and ESTC (1713).
Poems Upon Several Occasions. By Mr. Smith. (London: Printed for H. Clements, at the Half-Moon in St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1713). <Link to ESTC>
Poems Upon Several Occasions. By Mr. Smith. (London: Printed for H. Clements, at the Half-Moon in St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1713). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
09/01/2004
Date of Review
02/05/2010
