"'Yes, if his soul to reason's rule resign'd, / 'And heaven's own views fair-opening on his mind,/ 'Caught from bright nature's flame the living ray, / 'Through passion's cloud pour'd in resistless day; / 'And taught mankind in reas'ning Pride's despite, / 'That God is wise, and all that is right.'"
— Mason, William (1725-1797)
Author
Date
1747, 1811
Metaphor
"'Yes, if his soul to reason's rule resign'd, / 'And heaven's own views fair-opening on his mind,/ 'Caught from bright nature's flame the living ray, / 'Through passion's cloud pour'd in resistless day; / 'And taught mankind in reas'ning Pride's despite, / 'That God is wise, and all that is right.'"
Metaphor in Context
"Come then that honest fame; whose temp'rate ray
"Or gilds the satire, or the moral lay;
"Which dawns, though thou, rough Donne! hew out the line:
"But beams, sage Horace! from each strain of thine.
"Oh, if like these, with conscious freedom bold,
"One Poet more his manly measures roll'd,
"Like these led forth the indignant Muse to brave
"The venal statesman, and the titled slave;
"To strip from frontless Vice her stars and strings,
"Nor spare her basking in the smile of kings:
"If grave, yet lively; rational, yet warm;
"Clear to convince, and eloquent to charm;
"He pour'd, for Virtue's cause, serene along
"The purest precept, in the sweetest song:
"If, for her cause, his heav'n-directed plan
"Mark'd each meander in the maze of man;
"Unmoved by sophistry, unawed by name,
"No dupe to doctrines, and no fool to fame;
"Led by no system's devious glare astray,
"That meteor-like, but glitters to betray.
"Yes, if his soul to reason's rule resign'd,
"And heaven's own views fair-opening on his mind,
"Caught from bright nature's flame the living ray,
"Through passion's cloud pour'd in resistless day;
"And taught mankind in reas'ning Pride's despite,
"That God is wise, and all that is right:
"If this his boast, pour here the welcome lays;
"Praise less than this is mockery of praise."
"Or gilds the satire, or the moral lay;
"Which dawns, though thou, rough Donne! hew out the line:
"But beams, sage Horace! from each strain of thine.
"Oh, if like these, with conscious freedom bold,
"One Poet more his manly measures roll'd,
"Like these led forth the indignant Muse to brave
"The venal statesman, and the titled slave;
"To strip from frontless Vice her stars and strings,
"Nor spare her basking in the smile of kings:
"If grave, yet lively; rational, yet warm;
"Clear to convince, and eloquent to charm;
"He pour'd, for Virtue's cause, serene along
"The purest precept, in the sweetest song:
"If, for her cause, his heav'n-directed plan
"Mark'd each meander in the maze of man;
"Unmoved by sophistry, unawed by name,
"No dupe to doctrines, and no fool to fame;
"Led by no system's devious glare astray,
"That meteor-like, but glitters to betray.
"Yes, if his soul to reason's rule resign'd,
"And heaven's own views fair-opening on his mind,
"Caught from bright nature's flame the living ray,
"Through passion's cloud pour'd in resistless day;
"And taught mankind in reas'ning Pride's despite,
"That God is wise, and all that is right:
"If this his boast, pour here the welcome lays;
"Praise less than this is mockery of praise."
Provenance
Searching "rule" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 13 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1747, 1748, 1764, 1771, 1773, 1774, 1777, 1779).
See Musæus: a Monody to the Memory of Mr. Pope, in Imitation of Milton’s Lycidas. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley; and sold by M. Cooper in Pater-noster-Row, 1747). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Works of William Mason 4 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1811). <Link to Google Books>
See Musæus: a Monody to the Memory of Mr. Pope, in Imitation of Milton’s Lycidas. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley; and sold by M. Cooper in Pater-noster-Row, 1747). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Works of William Mason 4 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1811). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
06/17/2004
Date of Review
03/26/2011
