"God of the Grape, I'll wisely use / Thy heav'nly Gifts, nor will disclose / Thy sacred Rites; do thou asswage / My burning Soul, and curb thy Rage: / Lest to new hateful Crimes I run: / Lest Vanity seize Reason's Throne, / And wretched I to open Day / The Secrets of the Night betray, / And my Heart transparent grow, / Clear as the Glass, that makes it so."
— Oldisworth, William (1680-1734)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Bernard Lintott
Date
1712, 1719
Metaphor
"God of the Grape, I'll wisely use / Thy heav'nly Gifts, nor will disclose / Thy sacred Rites; do thou asswage / My burning Soul, and curb thy Rage: / Lest to new hateful Crimes I run: / Lest Vanity seize Reason's Throne, / And wretched I to open Day / The Secrets of the Night betray, / And my Heart transparent grow, / Clear as the Glass, that makes it so."
Metaphor in Context
On Tibur's Shore new Vineyards plant,
For 'tis the only Tree we want;
The Gods ne'er made a nobler Tree!
The Gods love drunken Souls like me.
They have a thousand Plagues in store
For sober Sots, whom Cares devour.
At Sight of Bacchus, Sorrows fly,
Spleen vanishes, and Vapours die.
Who in his Cups e'er made Complaint
Of pinching Penury and Want?
Or durst recite in rueful Strain
The Toils he bore the last Campaign?
When sparkling Bowls our Hours improve:
Then all our Talk is Wine and Love.
But still the Centaurs bloody War
Bids us of Strife and Blows take Care;
We know what Bacchus did in Thrace,
Nor will too far indulge the Glass.
Let Reason still keep in its Light,
And still distinguish Wrong from Right.
God of the Grape, I'll wisely use
Thy heav'nly Gifts, nor will disclose
Thy sacred Rites; do thou asswage
My burning Soul, and curb thy Rage:
Lest to new hateful Crimes I run:
Lest Vanity seize Reason's Throne,
And wretched I to open Day
The Secrets of the Night betray,
And my Heart transparent grow,
Clear as the Glass, that makes it so.
For 'tis the only Tree we want;
The Gods ne'er made a nobler Tree!
The Gods love drunken Souls like me.
They have a thousand Plagues in store
For sober Sots, whom Cares devour.
At Sight of Bacchus, Sorrows fly,
Spleen vanishes, and Vapours die.
Who in his Cups e'er made Complaint
Of pinching Penury and Want?
Or durst recite in rueful Strain
The Toils he bore the last Campaign?
When sparkling Bowls our Hours improve:
Then all our Talk is Wine and Love.
But still the Centaurs bloody War
Bids us of Strife and Blows take Care;
We know what Bacchus did in Thrace,
Nor will too far indulge the Glass.
Let Reason still keep in its Light,
And still distinguish Wrong from Right.
God of the Grape, I'll wisely use
Thy heav'nly Gifts, nor will disclose
Thy sacred Rites; do thou asswage
My burning Soul, and curb thy Rage:
Lest to new hateful Crimes I run:
Lest Vanity seize Reason's Throne,
And wretched I to open Day
The Secrets of the Night betray,
And my Heart transparent grow,
Clear as the Glass, that makes it so.
Provenance
Searching "throne" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 3 entries in ESTC (1712, 1719, 1737).
Text from The Odes, Epodes, and Carmen Seculare of Horace in English Verse. To Which Is Prefix'd the Life of Horace: Written by Suetonius. Translated from Dr. Bentley’s Latin Edition, by Mr. William Oldisworth. 2nd ed. (London: Printed for B. Lintot, between the Temple Gates in Fleet-Street, 1719). <Link to ESTC>
Found also in The Odes of Horace in Latin and English; With a Translation of Dr. Bentley's Notes. To Which Are Added, Notes Upon Notes; Done in the Bentleian Stile and Manner. Part IV. To Be Continued. (London: Printed for Bernard Lintott, at the Cross-Keys, between the two Temple-Gates in Fleet-Street, 1712). <Link to ECCO>
Text from The Odes, Epodes, and Carmen Seculare of Horace in English Verse. To Which Is Prefix'd the Life of Horace: Written by Suetonius. Translated from Dr. Bentley’s Latin Edition, by Mr. William Oldisworth. 2nd ed. (London: Printed for B. Lintot, between the Temple Gates in Fleet-Street, 1719). <Link to ESTC>
Found also in The Odes of Horace in Latin and English; With a Translation of Dr. Bentley's Notes. To Which Are Added, Notes Upon Notes; Done in the Bentleian Stile and Manner. Part IV. To Be Continued. (London: Printed for Bernard Lintott, at the Cross-Keys, between the two Temple-Gates in Fleet-Street, 1712). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
07/27/2004
