"Each Line's a Transcript of his Mind!"
— Mitchell, Joseph (c. 1684-1738)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Harmen Noorthouck [etc.]
Date
1732
Metaphor
"Each Line's a Transcript of his Mind!"
Metaphor in Context
Our cold and gloomy Realm in Ignorance lay,
'Till, like the Kindler of the Day,
Buchanan shone the Shades away.
Rough were the antient Tracks, 'till He
Mark'd a fair Path to Immortality.
With cautious Secrecy, thro' mystick Veils
Of Allegories dark, and uncouth Tales,
(Which, for the Laiety to doubt, was Sin!)
Poetic Light had long been dimly shown,
And, in dull Hands, was almost Useless grown,
Till He, Defender of the Faith! came in.
The Knots, that they so artfully had ty'd,
And drawn so close, with superstitious Charms,
Disdaining to untie, he dar'd divide
With Alexander's Force, and Reason's Arms.
Empty Tradition, and the Cant of Schools,
Vanish'd before his conquering Rules.
The startled Oracles, at once, grew mute,
And own'd him Prophet absolute.
Hot thro' his Works his Genius glows!
There's Inspiration in his very Prose!
Nothing, unpolish'd, has he left behind!
Each Line's a Transcript of his Mind!
His Eloquence, ungloomy, loves to smile,
And strikes in such an apt and easy Style,
That the charm'd Reader yields his captive Heart,
By Force to Reason, and by Choice to Art.
Hence foreign Pens, impartial in his Praise,
Have own'd that Rome was conquer'd by his Lays.
Scotia, in Him, the Roman Bounds became
In Wit, as well as War!
He prov'd the Clime has Warmth to nourish Fame,
Tho', from the World and Sun divided far!
'Till, like the Kindler of the Day,
Buchanan shone the Shades away.
Rough were the antient Tracks, 'till He
Mark'd a fair Path to Immortality.
With cautious Secrecy, thro' mystick Veils
Of Allegories dark, and uncouth Tales,
(Which, for the Laiety to doubt, was Sin!)
Poetic Light had long been dimly shown,
And, in dull Hands, was almost Useless grown,
Till He, Defender of the Faith! came in.
The Knots, that they so artfully had ty'd,
And drawn so close, with superstitious Charms,
Disdaining to untie, he dar'd divide
With Alexander's Force, and Reason's Arms.
Empty Tradition, and the Cant of Schools,
Vanish'd before his conquering Rules.
The startled Oracles, at once, grew mute,
And own'd him Prophet absolute.
Hot thro' his Works his Genius glows!
There's Inspiration in his very Prose!
Nothing, unpolish'd, has he left behind!
Each Line's a Transcript of his Mind!
His Eloquence, ungloomy, loves to smile,
And strikes in such an apt and easy Style,
That the charm'd Reader yields his captive Heart,
By Force to Reason, and by Choice to Art.
Hence foreign Pens, impartial in his Praise,
Have own'd that Rome was conquer'd by his Lays.
Scotia, in Him, the Roman Bounds became
In Wit, as well as War!
He prov'd the Clime has Warmth to nourish Fame,
Tho', from the World and Sun divided far!
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "line" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Joseph Mitchell, Poems on Several Occasions, 2 vols. (London: Harmen Noorthouck, 1732). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
05/11/2005
