"The Soul is darker than the deepest Cave, / Hard as the Rock, and colder than the Grave"
— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by W. Wilkins for Jonas Browne ... and J. Walthoe [etc.]
Date
1718
Metaphor
"The Soul is darker than the deepest Cave, / Hard as the Rock, and colder than the Grave"
Metaphor in Context
The Mind, e'er Guilt had Man undone,
With Heav'nly Lustre, like blest Seraphs, shone.
Of Fault unconscious and unstain'd
In unpolluted Flames of Love,
And pure Desires it upwards strove,
And full of Peace and Joy the happy Creature reign'd.
Since Sin these Regions did invade,
What Desolation has the Tyrant made?
While Man a willing Slave to Guilt becomes,
The World a Scene of murder'd Souls appears,
Interr'd in living Sepulchres,
And moved from Place to Place in walking Tombs.
Sad State of Things, the Human Being's Dead,
And the Brute Beast lives in his Shape and Stead.
Black Guilt involves the World in horrid Night,
And clouds our Intellectual Sight.
The Soul is darker than the deepest Cave,
Hard as the Rock, and colder than the Grave;
Which Hell wants Terrors to affright,
And Heav'n sufficient Pleasures to invite.
Thou, to fulfil the high Decree,
Enroll'd in Heav'n from past Eternity,
Did'st undertake the Chosen to inspire,
With new enliv'ning Light, and pure Immortal Fire.
With Heav'nly Lustre, like blest Seraphs, shone.
Of Fault unconscious and unstain'd
In unpolluted Flames of Love,
And pure Desires it upwards strove,
And full of Peace and Joy the happy Creature reign'd.
Since Sin these Regions did invade,
What Desolation has the Tyrant made?
While Man a willing Slave to Guilt becomes,
The World a Scene of murder'd Souls appears,
Interr'd in living Sepulchres,
And moved from Place to Place in walking Tombs.
Sad State of Things, the Human Being's Dead,
And the Brute Beast lives in his Shape and Stead.
Black Guilt involves the World in horrid Night,
And clouds our Intellectual Sight.
The Soul is darker than the deepest Cave,
Hard as the Rock, and colder than the Grave;
Which Hell wants Terrors to affright,
And Heav'n sufficient Pleasures to invite.
Thou, to fulfil the high Decree,
Enroll'd in Heav'n from past Eternity,
Did'st undertake the Chosen to inspire,
With new enliv'ning Light, and pure Immortal Fire.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "soul" and "cave" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Richard Blackmore, A Collection of Poems on Various Subjects. By Sir Richard Blackmore, Kt. M. D. Fellow of the Royal-College of Physicians. (London: Printed by W. Wilkins, for Jonas Browne and J. Walthoe, 1718). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
01/18/2006
