"Peace rules the day, where reason rules the mind."
— Collins, William (1721-1759)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Roberts
Date
w. 1739, 1742
Metaphor
"Peace rules the day, where reason rules the mind."
Metaphor in Context
'At that dead hour the silent asp shall creep,
If aught of rest I find, upon my sleep;
Or some swoll'n serpent twist his scales around,
And wake to anguish with a burning wound.
Thrice happy they, the wise contented poor,
From lust of wealth and dread of death secure.
They tempt no deserts and no griefs they find;
Peace rules the day, where reason rules the mind.
Sad was the hour and luckless was the day,
When first from Schiraz' walls I bent my way.
(ll. 61-70, p. 379)
If aught of rest I find, upon my sleep;
Or some swoll'n serpent twist his scales around,
And wake to anguish with a burning wound.
Thrice happy they, the wise contented poor,
From lust of wealth and dread of death secure.
They tempt no deserts and no griefs they find;
Peace rules the day, where reason rules the mind.
Sad was the hour and luckless was the day,
When first from Schiraz' walls I bent my way.
(ll. 61-70, p. 379)
Provenance
Searching keywords in HDIS; rediscovered searching "rule" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Over 30 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1742, 1757, 1760, 1763, 1765, 1767, 1768, 1770, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1781, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1790, 1794. 1796, 1798, 1799, 1800). [Also titled Oriental Eclogues. Frequently anthologized. Published in The Works of the English Poets.]
See Persian Eclogues. Written Originally for the Entertainment of the Ladies of Tauris. And Now First Translated, &c. (London: Printed for J. Roberts, in Warwick-Lane, 1742). <Link to ESTC>
Reading Roger Lonsdale's The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, and Oliver Goldsmith (London and New York: Longman and Norton, 1972).
See Persian Eclogues. Written Originally for the Entertainment of the Ladies of Tauris. And Now First Translated, &c. (London: Printed for J. Roberts, in Warwick-Lane, 1742). <Link to ESTC>
Reading Roger Lonsdale's The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, and Oliver Goldsmith (London and New York: Longman and Norton, 1972).
Date of Entry
11/12/2003
Date of Review
08/25/2010
