"I learn to smooth and harmonize my Mind, / Teach ev'ry Thought within its bounds to roll, / And keep the equal Measure of the Soul."
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for R. Dodsley
Date
1737
Metaphor
"I learn to smooth and harmonize my Mind, / Teach ev'ry Thought within its bounds to roll, / And keep the equal Measure of the Soul."
Metaphor in Context
Well, on the whole, then Prose must be my fate:
Wisdom (curse on it) will come soon or late.
There is a time when Poets will grow dull:
I'll e'en leave Verses to the Boys at school:
To Rules of Poetry no more confin'd,
I learn to smooth and harmonize my Mind,
Teach ev'ry Thought within its bounds to roll,
And keep the equal Measure of the Soul.
Soon as I enter at my Country door,
My Mind resumes the thread it dropt before;
Thoughts, which at Hyde-Park-Corner I forgot,
Meet and rejoin me, in my pensive Grott.
There all alone, and Compliments apart,
I ask these sober questions of my Heart.
(ll.198-211)
Wisdom (curse on it) will come soon or late.
There is a time when Poets will grow dull:
I'll e'en leave Verses to the Boys at school:
To Rules of Poetry no more confin'd,
I learn to smooth and harmonize my Mind,
Teach ev'ry Thought within its bounds to roll,
And keep the equal Measure of the Soul.
Soon as I enter at my Country door,
My Mind resumes the thread it dropt before;
Thoughts, which at Hyde-Park-Corner I forgot,
Meet and rejoin me, in my pensive Grott.
There all alone, and Compliments apart,
I ask these sober questions of my Heart.
(ll.198-211)
Categories
Provenance
HDIS
Citation
At least 39 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1735, 1737, 1738, 1740, 1743, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, 1756, 1757, 1760, 1762, 1764, 1766, 1769, 1770, 1773, 1776, 1777, 1779, 1789, 1790, 1795). [Printed in The Works of the English Poets.]
See The Second Epistle of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated by Mr. Pope. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley, at Tully's Head, in Pall-Mall, 1737). <Link to ECCO> <Link to LION>
See The Second Epistle of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated by Mr. Pope. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley, at Tully's Head, in Pall-Mall, 1737). <Link to ECCO> <Link to LION>
Date of Entry
10/28/2003
