"Passions plebeians are, which faction raise; / Wine, like pour'd oil, excites the raging blaze: / Then giddy anarchy's rude triumphs rise: / Then sov'reign reason from her empire flies."
— Savage, Richard (1697/8-1743)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Walthoe
Date
1729
Metaphor
"Passions plebeians are, which faction raise; / Wine, like pour'd oil, excites the raging blaze: / Then giddy anarchy's rude triumphs rise: / Then sov'reign reason from her empire flies."
Metaphor in Context
O man! thy fabric's like a well-form'd state;
Thy thoughts, first-rank'd, were sure design'd the great!
Passions plebeians are, which faction raise;
Wine, like pour'd oil, excites the raging blaze:
Then giddy anarchy's rude triumphs rise:
Then sov'reign reason from her empire flies:
That ruler once depos'd, wisdom and wit,
To noise and folly, place and pow'r submit;
Like a frail bark thy weaken'd mind is tost,
Unsteer'd, unbalanc'd, till its wealth is lost.
Thy thoughts, first-rank'd, were sure design'd the great!
Passions plebeians are, which faction raise;
Wine, like pour'd oil, excites the raging blaze:
Then giddy anarchy's rude triumphs rise:
Then sov'reign reason from her empire flies:
That ruler once depos'd, wisdom and wit,
To noise and folly, place and pow'r submit;
Like a frail bark thy weaken'd mind is tost,
Unsteer'd, unbalanc'd, till its wealth is lost.
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 8 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1729, 1761, 1775, 1775, 1777, 1779, 1780).
See also The Wanderer: A Poem. In Five Canto's. By Richard Savage, Son of the late Earl Rivers. (London: Printed for J. Walthoe, 1729). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from The Works of Richard Savage ... With an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author, by Samuel Johnson. A New Edition (London: Printed for T. Evans, 1777). <Link to LION>
See also The Wanderer: A Poem. In Five Canto's. By Richard Savage, Son of the late Earl Rivers. (London: Printed for J. Walthoe, 1729). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from The Works of Richard Savage ... With an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author, by Samuel Johnson. A New Edition (London: Printed for T. Evans, 1777). <Link to LION>
Date of Entry
06/22/2004
Date of Review
01/12/2012
