"Momus himself cou'd not have more descry'd, / Had he his Window to the Mind apply'd, / (So clear the Images appear) than we / In this true Philosophick Mirror see."
— Glanvil, John (1664-1735)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Bernard Lintot, J. Osborn and T. Longman, and W. Bell
Date
1725
Metaphor
"Momus himself cou'd not have more descry'd, / Had he his Window to the Mind apply'd, / (So clear the Images appear) than we / In this true Philosophick Mirror see."
Metaphor in Context
In Pieces took here we are shewn the whole
Clock-work and Mechanism of the Soul;
May see the Movements, Labyrinths, and Strings,
Its Wires, and Wheels, and Balances, and Springs;
How 'tis wound up to its full Height, and then
What checks, and stops, and settles it again.
Momus himself cou'd not have more descry'd,
Had he his Window to the Mind apply'd,
(So clear the Images appear) than we
In this true Philosophick Mirror see.
Here the light Prints I find, and Rudiments
Of Passion, here the small fine Lines of Sense;
On downy Wings how the soft Cupids move
To hatch the pregnant Images of Love;
How Anger fierce urges and goads the Mind,
To Counsel deaf, and to Discretion blind.
Here in its close Recess is Grief descry'd,
Joy here's reveal'd, nor Fear its self can hide.
Clock-work and Mechanism of the Soul;
May see the Movements, Labyrinths, and Strings,
Its Wires, and Wheels, and Balances, and Springs;
How 'tis wound up to its full Height, and then
What checks, and stops, and settles it again.
Momus himself cou'd not have more descry'd,
Had he his Window to the Mind apply'd,
(So clear the Images appear) than we
In this true Philosophick Mirror see.
Here the light Prints I find, and Rudiments
Of Passion, here the small fine Lines of Sense;
On downy Wings how the soft Cupids move
To hatch the pregnant Images of Love;
How Anger fierce urges and goads the Mind,
To Counsel deaf, and to Discretion blind.
Here in its close Recess is Grief descry'd,
Joy here's reveal'd, nor Fear its self can hide.
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "window" HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
John Glanvil, Dr. Bathurst's Verses on Mr. Hobbs's Book of Human Nature. [from Poems: Consisting of Originals and Translations (London: Lintot, Osborn, Longman, and Bell, 1725).
Theme
Momus Glass
Date of Entry
09/08/2005
