"Snatch'd by these wonders to that world where thought / Unfetter'd ranges, Fancy's magic hand / Led me anew o'er all the solemn scene, / Still in the mind's pure eye more solemn dress'd."
— Thomson, James (1700-1748)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Andrew Millar
Date
1735-6
Metaphor
"Snatch'd by these wonders to that world where thought / Unfetter'd ranges, Fancy's magic hand / Led me anew o'er all the solemn scene, / Still in the mind's pure eye more solemn dress'd."
Metaphor in Context
Snatch'd by these wonders to that world where thought
Unfetter'd ranges, Fancy's magic hand
Led me anew o'er all the solemn scene,
Still in the mind's pure eye more solemn dress'd:
When straight, methought, the fair majestic Power
Of Liberty appear'd. Not, as of old,
Extended in her hand the cap, and rod,
Whose slave-enlarging touch gave double life:
But her bright temples bound with British oak,
And naval honours nodded on her brow.
Sublime of port: loose o'er her shoulder flow'd
Her sea-green robe, with constellations gay.
An island-goddess now; and her high care
The Queen of Isles, the mistress of the main.
My heart beat filial transport at the sight;
And, as she moved to speak, the awaken'd Muse
Listen'd intense. Awhile she look'd around,
With mournful eye the well known ruins mark'd,
And then, her sighs repressing, thus began:
(Part I, ll. 21-39, pp. 43)
Unfetter'd ranges, Fancy's magic hand
Led me anew o'er all the solemn scene,
Still in the mind's pure eye more solemn dress'd:
When straight, methought, the fair majestic Power
Of Liberty appear'd. Not, as of old,
Extended in her hand the cap, and rod,
Whose slave-enlarging touch gave double life:
But her bright temples bound with British oak,
And naval honours nodded on her brow.
Sublime of port: loose o'er her shoulder flow'd
Her sea-green robe, with constellations gay.
An island-goddess now; and her high care
The Queen of Isles, the mistress of the main.
My heart beat filial transport at the sight;
And, as she moved to speak, the awaken'd Muse
Listen'd intense. Awhile she look'd around,
With mournful eye the well known ruins mark'd,
And then, her sighs repressing, thus began:
(Part I, ll. 21-39, pp. 43)
Categories
Provenance
HDIS (Poetry); found again searching "mind" and "eye"
Citation
At least 40 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1735, 1736, 1738, 1762, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1771, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1784, 1787, 1788, 1790). [Published in The Works of the English Poets.]
Published in parts; complicated publication history. See Part 1: Antient and Modern Italy Compared: Being the First Part of Liberty, a Poem. By Mr. Thomson. (London: Printed for A. Millar, over-against St. Clement’s Church in the Strand, 1735). Part 2: Greece: Being the Second Part of Liberty, a Poem. By Mr. Thomson (London: Printed for A. Millar, 1735). Part 3: Rome: Being the Third Part of Liberty, a Poem. By Mr. Thomson (London: Printed for A. Millar, 1735). Part 4: Britain: Being the Fourth Part of Liberty, a Poem. By Mr. Thomson. (London: Printed for A. Millar, 1736). Part 5: The Prospect: Being the Fifth Part of Liberty. A Poem. By Mr. Thomson. (London: printed for A. Millar, 1736).
Text from The Poetical Works of James Thomson (London: William Pickering, 1830). <Link to LION>
Reading Liberty, The Castle of Indolence, and other Poems, ed. James Sambrook (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986).
Published in parts; complicated publication history. See Part 1: Antient and Modern Italy Compared: Being the First Part of Liberty, a Poem. By Mr. Thomson. (London: Printed for A. Millar, over-against St. Clement’s Church in the Strand, 1735). Part 2: Greece: Being the Second Part of Liberty, a Poem. By Mr. Thomson (London: Printed for A. Millar, 1735). Part 3: Rome: Being the Third Part of Liberty, a Poem. By Mr. Thomson (London: Printed for A. Millar, 1735). Part 4: Britain: Being the Fourth Part of Liberty, a Poem. By Mr. Thomson. (London: Printed for A. Millar, 1736). Part 5: The Prospect: Being the Fifth Part of Liberty. A Poem. By Mr. Thomson. (London: printed for A. Millar, 1736).
Text from The Poetical Works of James Thomson (London: William Pickering, 1830). <Link to LION>
Reading Liberty, The Castle of Indolence, and other Poems, ed. James Sambrook (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986).
Theme
Mind's Eye
Date of Entry
11/24/2003
Date of Review
04/18/2006
