"There St. John mingles with my friendly Bowl, / The Feast of Reason and the Flow of Soul."
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by L. G.
Date
1733
Metaphor
"There St. John mingles with my friendly Bowl, / The Feast of Reason and the Flow of Soul."
Metaphor in Context
P. What? arm'd for Virtue when I point the Pen,
Brand the bold Front of shameless, guilty Men,
Dash the proud Gamester in his gilded Car,
Bare the mean Heart that lurks beneath a Star;
Can there be wanting to defend Her Cause,
Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Laws?
Could pension'd Boileau lash in honest Strain
Flatt'rers and Bigots ev'n in Louis' Reign?
Could Laureate Dryden Pimp and Fry'r engage,
Yet neither Charles nor James be in a Rage:
And I not strip the Gilding off a Knave,
Un-plac'd, un-pension'd, no Man's Heir, or Slave?
I will, or perish in the gen'rous Cause.
Hear this, and tremble! you, who 'scape the Laws.
Yes, while I live, no rich or noble knave
Shall walk the World, in credit, to his grave.
To VIRTUE ONLY and HER FRIENDS, A FRIEND
The World beside may murmur, or commend.
Know, all the distant Din that World can keep
Rolls o'er my Grotto, and but sooths my Sleep.
There, my Retreat the best Companions grace,
Chiefs, out of War, and Statesman, out of Place.
There St. John mingles with my friendly Bowl,
The Feast of Reason and the Flow of Soul:
And He, whose Lightning pierc'd th' Iberian Lines,
Now, forms my Quincunx, and now ranks my Vines,
Or tames the Genius of the stubborn Plain,
Almost as quickly, as he conquer'd Spain.
(ll. 105-32, pp. 617-8)
(ll. 268-83)
Brand the bold Front of shameless, guilty Men,
Dash the proud Gamester in his gilded Car,
Bare the mean Heart that lurks beneath a Star;
Can there be wanting to defend Her Cause,
Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Laws?
Could pension'd Boileau lash in honest Strain
Flatt'rers and Bigots ev'n in Louis' Reign?
Could Laureate Dryden Pimp and Fry'r engage,
Yet neither Charles nor James be in a Rage:
And I not strip the Gilding off a Knave,
Un-plac'd, un-pension'd, no Man's Heir, or Slave?
I will, or perish in the gen'rous Cause.
Hear this, and tremble! you, who 'scape the Laws.
Yes, while I live, no rich or noble knave
Shall walk the World, in credit, to his grave.
To VIRTUE ONLY and HER FRIENDS, A FRIEND
The World beside may murmur, or commend.
Know, all the distant Din that World can keep
Rolls o'er my Grotto, and but sooths my Sleep.
There, my Retreat the best Companions grace,
Chiefs, out of War, and Statesman, out of Place.
There St. John mingles with my friendly Bowl,
The Feast of Reason and the Flow of Soul:
And He, whose Lightning pierc'd th' Iberian Lines,
Now, forms my Quincunx, and now ranks my Vines,
Or tames the Genius of the stubborn Plain,
Almost as quickly, as he conquer'd Spain.
(ll. 105-32, pp. 617-8)
(ll. 268-83)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
See Alexander Pope, The First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated: In a Dialogue between Alexander Pope of Twickenham in Com. Midd. Esq; On the One Part, and his Learned Council on the Other (London: Printed by L. G. [Lawton Gilliver] and sold by A. Dodd; E. Nutt; and by the booksellers of London and Westminster, 1733). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Reading The Poems of Alexander Pope, A One-Volume Edition of the Twickenham Text with Selected Annotations, ed. John Butt (New Haven: Yale UP, 1963).
Reading The Poems of Alexander Pope, A One-Volume Edition of the Twickenham Text with Selected Annotations, ed. John Butt (New Haven: Yale UP, 1963).
Date of Entry
12/02/2003
