Evans, Abel (1679-1737)

Præ-existence. A Poem, In Imitation of Milton.

London

Printed for John Clark

1714

"Reason is now no more; that narrow Lamp / (Which with its sickly Fires wou'd shoot its Beams / To Distances unknown, and stretch its Rays / Ascance my Paths, in deepest darkness veil'd) / Is sunk into its Socket"

But that last Act shall in one Moment close
Of doubt and darkness; Pain shall crack the Strings
Of Life decay'd; no less the Soul convuls'd
Trembles in anxious Cares, and shuddering stands,
Afraid to leap into the opening Gulph
Of future Fate, till all the Banks of Clay
Fall from beneath his Feet; in vain he grasps
The shatter'd Reeds that cheat his easie Wish:
Reason is now no more; that narrow Lamp
(Which with its sickly Fires wou'd shoot its Beams
To Distances unknown, and stretch its Rays
Ascance my Paths, in deepest darkness veil'd)
Is sunk into its Socket; inly there
It burns a dismal Light; th' expiring Flame
Is choak'd in Fumes, and parts in various Doubt.
(p. 22-3, ll. 347-61)

Light::Lamp

Searching "reason" and "lamp" in HDIS (Poetry)

3 entries in ESTC (1714, 1740, 1800).

Præ-Existence. A Poem, In Imitation of Milton. (London: Printed for John Clark, at the Bible and Crown in the Old Change, near St. Paul’s, 1714). <Link to ESTC>

01/20/2006