"Then hear my words, and grave them in thy mind!"
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744), Broome, W. and Fenton, E.
Place of Publication
London
Date
1725-6
Metaphor
"Then hear my words, and grave them in thy mind!"
Metaphor in Context
To whom with thought mature the King replies:
The tongue speaks wisely, when the soul is wise;
Such was thy father! in imperial state,
Great without vice, that oft attends the great:
Nor from the sire art thou the son declin'd;
Then hear my words, and grave them in thy mind!
Of all that breathes or groveling creeps on earth,
Most vain is Man! calamitous by birth.
To-day with pow'r elate, in strength he blooms;
The haughty creature on that pow'r presumes:
Anon from heav'n a sad reverse he feels;
Untaught to bear, 'gainst heav'n the wretch rebels.
For man is changeful as his bliss or woe,
Too high when prosp'rous, when distrest too low.
There was a day, when with the scornful Great
I swell'd in pomp, and arrogance of state;
Proud of the pow'r that to high birth belongs;
And us'd that pow'r to justify my wrongs.
Then let not man be proud: but firm of mind ,
Bear the best humbly, and the worst resign'd;
Be dumb when heav'n afflicts! unlike yon train
Of haughty spoilers, insolently vain;
Who make their Queen and all her wealth a prey:
But Vengeance and Ulysses wing their way.
O may'st thou, favour'd by some guardian pow'r,
Far, far be distant in that deathful hour?
For sure I am, if stern Ulysses breathe,
These lawless riots end in blood and death.
(Bk. 18)
The tongue speaks wisely, when the soul is wise;
Such was thy father! in imperial state,
Great without vice, that oft attends the great:
Nor from the sire art thou the son declin'd;
Then hear my words, and grave them in thy mind!
Of all that breathes or groveling creeps on earth,
Most vain is Man! calamitous by birth.
To-day with pow'r elate, in strength he blooms;
The haughty creature on that pow'r presumes:
Anon from heav'n a sad reverse he feels;
Untaught to bear, 'gainst heav'n the wretch rebels.
For man is changeful as his bliss or woe,
Too high when prosp'rous, when distrest too low.
There was a day, when with the scornful Great
I swell'd in pomp, and arrogance of state;
Proud of the pow'r that to high birth belongs;
And us'd that pow'r to justify my wrongs.
Then let not man be proud: but firm of mind ,
Bear the best humbly, and the worst resign'd;
Be dumb when heav'n afflicts! unlike yon train
Of haughty spoilers, insolently vain;
Who make their Queen and all her wealth a prey:
But Vengeance and Ulysses wing their way.
O may'st thou, favour'd by some guardian pow'r,
Far, far be distant in that deathful hour?
For sure I am, if stern Ulysses breathe,
These lawless riots end in blood and death.
(Bk. 18)
Categories
Provenance
HDIS
Citation
Over 30 entries in ESTC (1725, 1726, 1745, 1752, 1753, 1758, 1760, 1761, 1763, 1766, 1767, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1773, 1778, 1790, 1792, 1795, 1796).
The Odyssey of Homer. Translated from the Greek, 5 vols. (London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, 1725-26).
The Odyssey of Homer. Translated from the Greek, 5 vols. (London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, 1725-26).
Date of Entry
10/28/2003
