In composition " Where chance presides, all objects wildly join'd, / Crowd on the reader, and distract his mind; / From theme to theme unwilling is he tost, / And in the dark variety is lost"
— Pitt, Christopher (1699-1748)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by Sam. Palmer, For A. Bettesworth
Date
1725
Metaphor
In composition " Where chance presides, all objects wildly join'd, / Crowd on the reader, and distract his mind; / From theme to theme unwilling is he tost, / And in the dark variety is lost"
Metaphor in Context
To one just scope with fixt design go on;
Let sov'reign reason dictate from her throne,
By what determin'd methods to advance,
But never trust to arbitrary chance.
Where chance presides, all objects wildly join'd,
Crowd on the reader, and distract his mind;
From theme to theme unwilling is he tost,
And in the dark variety is lost.
You see some bards, who bold excursions make
In long digressions from the beaten track;
And paint a wild unnecessary throng,
Of things and objects foreign to the song.
For new descriptions from the road depart,
Devoid of order, discipline and art.
So, many an anxious toil and danger past,
Some wretch returns from banishment at last;
With fond delay to range the shady wood,
Now here, now there he wanders from the road;
From field to field, from stream to stream he roves,
And courts the cooling shelter of the groves.
For why should Homer deck the gorgeous car,
When our rais'd souls are eager for the war?
Or dwell on ev'ry wheel, when loud alarms,
And Mars in thunder calls the hosts to arms;
When with his heroes we some dastard find,
Of a vile aspect, and malignant mind;
His awkward figure is not worth our care;
His monstrous length of head, or want of hair.
Tho' the wretch goes with mountain shoulders by,
Short of a foot, or blinking in an eye.
Such trivial objects call us off too long
From the main drift, and tenor of the song.
Drances appears a juster character,
In council bold, but cautious in the war;
Factious and loud the list'ning throng he draws,
And swells with wealth, and popular applause;
But what in our's would never find a place
The bold Greek language may admit with grace.
Let sov'reign reason dictate from her throne,
By what determin'd methods to advance,
But never trust to arbitrary chance.
Where chance presides, all objects wildly join'd,
Crowd on the reader, and distract his mind;
From theme to theme unwilling is he tost,
And in the dark variety is lost.
You see some bards, who bold excursions make
In long digressions from the beaten track;
And paint a wild unnecessary throng,
Of things and objects foreign to the song.
For new descriptions from the road depart,
Devoid of order, discipline and art.
So, many an anxious toil and danger past,
Some wretch returns from banishment at last;
With fond delay to range the shady wood,
Now here, now there he wanders from the road;
From field to field, from stream to stream he roves,
And courts the cooling shelter of the groves.
For why should Homer deck the gorgeous car,
When our rais'd souls are eager for the war?
Or dwell on ev'ry wheel, when loud alarms,
And Mars in thunder calls the hosts to arms;
When with his heroes we some dastard find,
Of a vile aspect, and malignant mind;
His awkward figure is not worth our care;
His monstrous length of head, or want of hair.
Tho' the wretch goes with mountain shoulders by,
Short of a foot, or blinking in an eye.
Such trivial objects call us off too long
From the main drift, and tenor of the song.
Drances appears a juster character,
In council bold, but cautious in the war;
Factious and loud the list'ning throng he draws,
And swells with wealth, and popular applause;
But what in our's would never find a place
The bold Greek language may admit with grace.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "throne" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 5 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1725, 1726, 1742, 1743, 1750).
Text from Vida's Art of poetry, Translated Into English Verse, by the Reverend Mr. Christoph. Pitt, A. M. Late Fellow of New-College in Oxford, Rector of Pimpern in Dorsetshire, and Chaplain to the Right Honourable Philip, Earl Stanhope, &c. (London : printed by Sam. Palmer, for A. Bettesworth, at the Red Lion in Pater-Noster-Row, 1725). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Vida's Art of poetry, Translated Into English Verse, by the Reverend Mr. Christoph. Pitt, A. M. Late Fellow of New-College in Oxford, Rector of Pimpern in Dorsetshire, and Chaplain to the Right Honourable Philip, Earl Stanhope, &c. (London : printed by Sam. Palmer, for A. Bettesworth, at the Red Lion in Pater-Noster-Row, 1725). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
07/27/2004
