"But now no longer mine, / The Reins of Empire I resign: / Let Men submit to Reason's rules, / And be at least designing fools."
— Thurston, Joseph (1704-1732)
Author
Work Title
Date
1729, 1737
Metaphor
"But now no longer mine, / The Reins of Empire I resign: / Let Men submit to Reason's rules, / And be at least designing fools."
Metaphor in Context
"'Tis well you think your Pow'r is great;
"But mine (Mamma) is Something yet:
"Your right you but by Duty prove,
"But I maintain my sway by Love.
"To me your gilded shrines you owe;
"Your incense from the Fops below:
"To me your oaths, your sighs, and lies;
"'Tis I that point your Chloe's eyes;
"And when I send my feather'd Dart,
"The Coxcomb cries, H'has lost his Heart.
"To me--But now no longer mine,
"The Reins of Empire I resign:
"Let Men submit to Reason's rules,
"And be at least designing fools;
"They all have Plagues enough in store,
"And want not me to bring them more.
"These Darts, the Magizine of Love,
"Those hasty gifts of thoughtless Jove,
"The Silver Bow, the fatal String,
"With ev'ry appertaining Thing,
"I vow to break, destroy, and tear,
"And scatter thro' the fields of Air:
"So help me, Mother Earth, and Styx.
(Cf. pp. 59-60 in 1729 ed.)
"But mine (Mamma) is Something yet:
"Your right you but by Duty prove,
"But I maintain my sway by Love.
"To me your gilded shrines you owe;
"Your incense from the Fops below:
"To me your oaths, your sighs, and lies;
"'Tis I that point your Chloe's eyes;
"And when I send my feather'd Dart,
"The Coxcomb cries, H'has lost his Heart.
"To me--But now no longer mine,
"The Reins of Empire I resign:
"Let Men submit to Reason's rules,
"And be at least designing fools;
"They all have Plagues enough in store,
"And want not me to bring them more.
"These Darts, the Magizine of Love,
"Those hasty gifts of thoughtless Jove,
"The Silver Bow, the fatal String,
"With ev'ry appertaining Thing,
"I vow to break, destroy, and tear,
"And scatter thro' the fields of Air:
"So help me, Mother Earth, and Styx.
(Cf. pp. 59-60 in 1729 ed.)
Provenance
Searching "rule" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1729, 1737).
Text from Poems on Several Occasions: In which are included, The Toilette and The Fall. By Joseph Thurston, 2nd ed. (London: Printed for B. Motte, and C. Bathurst, 1737).
See also Poems on Several Occasions. By Mr. Joseph Thurson. (London: Printed by W.P. for Benj. Motte, at the Middle-Temple Gate, Fleetstreet, 1729). <Link to ECCO>
Text from Poems on Several Occasions: In which are included, The Toilette and The Fall. By Joseph Thurston, 2nd ed. (London: Printed for B. Motte, and C. Bathurst, 1737).
See also Poems on Several Occasions. By Mr. Joseph Thurson. (London: Printed by W.P. for Benj. Motte, at the Middle-Temple Gate, Fleetstreet, 1729). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
06/22/2004
