"Bear unmov'd the wrongs of base mankind, / The last, and hardest, conquest of the mind"
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Bernard Lintot
Date
1717
Metaphor
"Bear unmov'd the wrongs of base mankind, / The last, and hardest, conquest of the mind"
Metaphor in Context
O still the same Ulysses! she rejoin'd,
In useful craft successfully refin'd;
Artful in speech, in action, and in mind!
Suffic'd it not, that thy long labours past
Secure thou seest thy native shore at last?
But this to me? who, like thy self excell
In arts of counsel, and dissembling well:
To me, whose wit exceeds the pow'rs divine,
No less, than mortals are surpass'd by thine:
Know'st thou not me, who made thy life my care,
Thro' ten years wandring, and thro' ten years war;
Who taught thee arts, Alcinous to persuade,
To raise his wonder, and engage his aid?
And now appear, thy treasures to protect,
Conceal thy person, thy designs direct,
And tell what more thou must from fate expect;
Domestic woes, far heavier to be born,
The pride of fools, and slaves insulting scorn.
But thou be silent, nor reveal thy state,
Yield to the force of unresisted fate,
And bear unmov'd the wrongs of base mankind,
The last and hardest conquest of the mind.
In useful craft successfully refin'd;
Artful in speech, in action, and in mind!
Suffic'd it not, that thy long labours past
Secure thou seest thy native shore at last?
But this to me? who, like thy self excell
In arts of counsel, and dissembling well:
To me, whose wit exceeds the pow'rs divine,
No less, than mortals are surpass'd by thine:
Know'st thou not me, who made thy life my care,
Thro' ten years wandring, and thro' ten years war;
Who taught thee arts, Alcinous to persuade,
To raise his wonder, and engage his aid?
And now appear, thy treasures to protect,
Conceal thy person, thy designs direct,
And tell what more thou must from fate expect;
Domestic woes, far heavier to be born,
The pride of fools, and slaves insulting scorn.
But thou be silent, nor reveal thy state,
Yield to the force of unresisted fate,
And bear unmov'd the wrongs of base mankind,
The last and hardest conquest of the mind.
Provenance
Searching "conque" and "mind" in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
02/06/2005
