"Bid Fancy quit her fairy cell, / In all her colours drest / While prompt her sallies to control, / Reason, the judge, recalls the soul / To Truth's severest test."
— Akenside, Mark (1720-1771)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by E. Cave
Date
October, 1739
Metaphor
"Bid Fancy quit her fairy cell, / In all her colours drest / While prompt her sallies to control, / Reason, the judge, recalls the soul / To Truth's severest test."
Metaphor in Context
Next, to thy nobler search resign'd,
The busy, restless, Human Mind
Through every maze pursue;
Detect Perception where it lies,
Catch the Ideas as they rise,
And all their changes view
Say from what simple springs began
The vast ambitious thoughts of man,
Which range beyond control,
Which seek eternity to trace,
Dive through the infinity of space,
And strain to grasp the whole.
Her secret stores let Memory tell,
Bid Fancy quit her fairy cell,
In all her colours drest;
While prompt her sallies to control,
Reason, the judge, recalls the soul
To Truth's severest test.
(ll. 25-42; Cf. IX, p. 544. in GM)
The busy, restless, Human Mind
Through every maze pursue;
Detect Perception where it lies,
Catch the Ideas as they rise,
And all their changes view
Say from what simple springs began
The vast ambitious thoughts of man,
Which range beyond control,
Which seek eternity to trace,
Dive through the infinity of space,
And strain to grasp the whole.
Her secret stores let Memory tell,
Bid Fancy quit her fairy cell,
In all her colours drest;
While prompt her sallies to control,
Reason, the judge, recalls the soul
To Truth's severest test.
(ll. 25-42; Cf. IX, p. 544. in GM)
Provenance
HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 8 instances and entries in ECCO and ESTC (1761, 1762, 1765, 1775, 1780, 1781, 1790, 1791, 1795, 1800).
See "Hymn to Science" in The Gentleman's Magazine (October 1739), IX, p. 544<Link to Google Books>
Text from The Poems Of Mark Akenside (London: Printed by W. Bowyer and J. Nichols, 1772). <Link to ESTC>
See "Hymn to Science" in The Gentleman's Magazine (October 1739), IX, p. 544<Link to Google Books>
Text from The Poems Of Mark Akenside (London: Printed by W. Bowyer and J. Nichols, 1772). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
08/31/2004
Date of Review
06/10/2011
