"[T]umultuous Whims to Faction prone" may justle "Monarch Reason from her Throne"
— Somervile, William (1675-1742)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Bernard Lintot
Date
1727
Metaphor
"[T]umultuous Whims to Faction prone" may justle "Monarch Reason from her Throne"
Metaphor in Context
Bendo strip'd first, from foreign Coasts he brought
A Chaos of Receipts, and Anarchy of Thought;
Where the tumultuous Whims to Faction prone,
Still justled Monarch Reason from her Throne:
More dang'rous than the Porcupine's his Quill,
Inur'd to Slaughter, and secure to Kill.
Let loose, just Heav'n! each virulent Disease,
But save us from such Murderers as these:
Might Bendo live but half a Patriarch's Age,
Th' unpeopled World wou'd sink beneath his Rage;
Nor need t'appease the just Creator's Ire
A second Deluge, or consuming Fire.
He winks one Eye, and knits his Brow severe,
Then from his Hand launches the flying Sphere;
Out of the Green the guiltless Wood he hurl'd,
Swift as his Patients from this nether World:
Then grinn'd malignant, but the jocund Croud
Deride his senseless Rage, and shout aloud.
A Chaos of Receipts, and Anarchy of Thought;
Where the tumultuous Whims to Faction prone,
Still justled Monarch Reason from her Throne:
More dang'rous than the Porcupine's his Quill,
Inur'd to Slaughter, and secure to Kill.
Let loose, just Heav'n! each virulent Disease,
But save us from such Murderers as these:
Might Bendo live but half a Patriarch's Age,
Th' unpeopled World wou'd sink beneath his Rage;
Nor need t'appease the just Creator's Ire
A second Deluge, or consuming Fire.
He winks one Eye, and knits his Brow severe,
Then from his Hand launches the flying Sphere;
Out of the Green the guiltless Wood he hurl'd,
Swift as his Patients from this nether World:
Then grinn'd malignant, but the jocund Croud
Deride his senseless Rage, and shout aloud.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "throne" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry); Found again searching "faction" and "thought" (8/24/2004)
Citation
At least 4 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1727, 1776, 1779, 1780, 1790).
Text from William Somervile, Occasional Poems, Translations, Fables, Tales, &c. (London: Bernard Lintot, 1727). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
Found also in Johnson's Works of the English Poets (1779-1780, 1790) and Somervile's Poetical Works (1766, 1780).
Text from William Somervile, Occasional Poems, Translations, Fables, Tales, &c. (London: Bernard Lintot, 1727). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
Found also in Johnson's Works of the English Poets (1779-1780, 1790) and Somervile's Poetical Works (1766, 1780).
Date of Entry
07/28/2004
