"Thoughts dash on Thoughts, as Waves on Waves increase, / And Storms, of his own raising, wreck his Peace."
— Mitchell, Joseph (c. 1684-1738)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Harmen Noorthouck [etc.]
Date
1732
Metaphor
"Thoughts dash on Thoughts, as Waves on Waves increase, / And Storms, of his own raising, wreck his Peace."
Metaphor in Context
How curs'd the Man, who still is musing found?
His Mill-Horse Soul forms one eternal Round?
When wiser Beasts lie lost, in needful Rest,
He, Madman! wakes, to war on his own Breast.
Thoughts dash on Thoughts, as Waves on Waves increase,
And Storms, of his own raising, wreck his Peace.
Now, like swift Coursers, in the rapid Race,
His Spirits strain for Speed--now, with slow Pace,
The sinking Soul, tir'd out, scarce limps along,
Sullen, and sick, with such Extreams of Wrong.
What art thou, Life, if Care corrodes thy Span?
A gnawing Worm! a Bosom-Hell to Man!
His Mill-Horse Soul forms one eternal Round?
When wiser Beasts lie lost, in needful Rest,
He, Madman! wakes, to war on his own Breast.
Thoughts dash on Thoughts, as Waves on Waves increase,
And Storms, of his own raising, wreck his Peace.
Now, like swift Coursers, in the rapid Race,
His Spirits strain for Speed--now, with slow Pace,
The sinking Soul, tir'd out, scarce limps along,
Sullen, and sick, with such Extreams of Wrong.
What art thou, Life, if Care corrodes thy Span?
A gnawing Worm! a Bosom-Hell to Man!
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Joseph Mitchell, Poems on Several Occasions, 2 vols. (London: Harmen Noorthouck, 1732). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
12/12/2006
