Justice, the "Queen of Virtues" may poize the mind in "equal balance" so that "All different Graces soon will enter, / Like Lines concurrent to their Center"
— Prior, Matthew (1664-1721)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Jacob Tonson
Date
1720
Metaphor
Justice, the "Queen of Virtues" may poize the mind in "equal balance" so that "All different Graces soon will enter, / Like Lines concurrent to their Center"
Metaphor in Context
Sir, Either is a good Assistant:
Said One who sat a little distant:
Truth decks our Speeches and our Books;
And Modesty adorns our Looks:
But farther Progress We must take,
Not only born to Look and Speak:
The Man must Act. The Stagyrite
Says thus, and says extremely right:
Strict Justice is the Sov'raign Guide,
That o'er our Action shou'd preside:
This Queen of Virtues is confest,
To regulate and bind the rest.
Thrice Happy, if You once can find
Her equal Balance poize your Mind:
All different Graces soon will enter,
Like Lines concurrent to their Center.
(ll. 17-32, pp. 523-4)
Said One who sat a little distant:
Truth decks our Speeches and our Books;
And Modesty adorns our Looks:
But farther Progress We must take,
Not only born to Look and Speak:
The Man must Act. The Stagyrite
Says thus, and says extremely right:
Strict Justice is the Sov'raign Guide,
That o'er our Action shou'd preside:
This Queen of Virtues is confest,
To regulate and bind the rest.
Thrice Happy, if You once can find
Her equal Balance poize your Mind:
All different Graces soon will enter,
Like Lines concurrent to their Center.
(ll. 17-32, pp. 523-4)
Categories
Provenance
HDIS
Citation
Prior, Matthew, The Literary Works of Matthew Prior. Ed. H. Bunker Wright and Monroe K. Spears. 2 vols. Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Date of Entry
01/05/2004
