"Sensation first, the groundwork of the whole, / Deals ray by ray each image to the soul."
— Harte, Walter (1708/9-1774)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
1735
Metaphor
"Sensation first, the groundwork of the whole, / Deals ray by ray each image to the soul."
Metaphor in Context
Yet in this infant state, by stealth, by chance,
Th'increasing mind still feels a slow advance,
Thro' the dark Void ev'n gleams of Truth can shoot,
And love of Liberty upheave at root.
No more the tender seeds unquicken'd lie,
But stretch their form and wait for wings to fly:
Sensation first, the groundwork of the whole,
Deals ray by ray each image to the soul:
Perception true to ev'ry nerve receives
The various impulse, now exults, now grieves;
Thought works and ends, and dares afresh begin,
So whirpools pour out Streams, and suck them in;
That Thought romantic Memory detains
In unknown cells and in aereal chains;
Imagination thence her flow'rs translates,
And Fancy emulous of God, creates:
Experience slowly moving next appears,
Wise but by habit, judging but from years;
Till Knowledge comes, a wise and gen'rous heir,
And opes the Reservoir averse to spare:
And, Reason rises, the Newtonian Sun,
Moves all, guides all, and all sustains in one.
Th'increasing mind still feels a slow advance,
Thro' the dark Void ev'n gleams of Truth can shoot,
And love of Liberty upheave at root.
No more the tender seeds unquicken'd lie,
But stretch their form and wait for wings to fly:
Sensation first, the groundwork of the whole,
Deals ray by ray each image to the soul:
Perception true to ev'ry nerve receives
The various impulse, now exults, now grieves;
Thought works and ends, and dares afresh begin,
So whirpools pour out Streams, and suck them in;
That Thought romantic Memory detains
In unknown cells and in aereal chains;
Imagination thence her flow'rs translates,
And Fancy emulous of God, creates:
Experience slowly moving next appears,
Wise but by habit, judging but from years;
Till Knowledge comes, a wise and gen'rous heir,
And opes the Reservoir averse to spare:
And, Reason rises, the Newtonian Sun,
Moves all, guides all, and all sustains in one.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
5 entries in ESTC (1735, 1736).
Text from Walter Harte, An Essay on Reason, 3rd ed., corr. (London: Printed for J. Wright for Lawton Gilliver, 1736). <Link to LION>
See also An Essay on Reason (London: Printed by J. Wright for Lawton Gilliver at Homer’s Head against St. Dunstan’s Church in Fleetstreet, 1735). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Walter Harte, An Essay on Reason, 3rd ed., corr. (London: Printed for J. Wright for Lawton Gilliver, 1736). <Link to LION>
See also An Essay on Reason (London: Printed by J. Wright for Lawton Gilliver at Homer’s Head against St. Dunstan’s Church in Fleetstreet, 1735). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
08/28/2005
Date of Review
05/26/2011
