"Gold has no Lustre to the Souls of Man, / Gold is but tempting to our worldly Eye"
— Pattison, William (1706-1727)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for H. Curll
Date
1728
Metaphor
"Gold has no Lustre to the Souls of Man, / Gold is but tempting to our worldly Eye"
Metaphor in Context
Oft have we when in Solitude retir'd
A faint imaginary Heav'n describ'd,
By Words proportion'd to our grosser Senses;
And what we fancy'd most delightful here,
Of such Materials we compos'd our Heaven.
'Heav'n's made of Gold, a golden vaulted Roof
'O'erhangs the Pavement of a Silver Floor,
'And Diamonds dart their sparkling Waters round,
'To light the Courts of Heav'n!--and thus we strove,
By sensible Resemblances to see
That unimagin'd State thou now enjoy'st.
Now heav'nly Bard thou know'st,--ay--well thou know'st
That Gold and Silver give but faint Ideas
Of that ineffable transcendent State,
Where all Ideas are abstract from Sense.
Gold has no Lustre to the Souls of Man,
Gold is but tempting to our worldly Eye:
But in the blessed Mansions of Above,
There is some other Thing, I cannot think of,
Whose faint Resemblance we describe by Gold,
Silver and Diamonds; yet are none of these,
Nor nothing like them. But by this we know
That it is great and truly valuable.
A faint imaginary Heav'n describ'd,
By Words proportion'd to our grosser Senses;
And what we fancy'd most delightful here,
Of such Materials we compos'd our Heaven.
'Heav'n's made of Gold, a golden vaulted Roof
'O'erhangs the Pavement of a Silver Floor,
'And Diamonds dart their sparkling Waters round,
'To light the Courts of Heav'n!--and thus we strove,
By sensible Resemblances to see
That unimagin'd State thou now enjoy'st.
Now heav'nly Bard thou know'st,--ay--well thou know'st
That Gold and Silver give but faint Ideas
Of that ineffable transcendent State,
Where all Ideas are abstract from Sense.
Gold has no Lustre to the Souls of Man,
Gold is but tempting to our worldly Eye:
But in the blessed Mansions of Above,
There is some other Thing, I cannot think of,
Whose faint Resemblance we describe by Gold,
Silver and Diamonds; yet are none of these,
Nor nothing like them. But by this we know
That it is great and truly valuable.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "idea" and "gold" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1727).
The Poetical Works of Mr. William Pattison, Late of Sidney College Cambridge. (London: Printed in the year MDCCXXVIII [i.e. 1727] For H. Curll in the Strand). <Link to ESTC>
The Poetical Works of Mr. William Pattison, Late of Sidney College Cambridge. (London: Printed in the year MDCCXXVIII [i.e. 1727] For H. Curll in the Strand). <Link to ESTC>
Theme
Abstract Ideas; Mind's Eye
Date of Entry
06/01/2005
