The native heart may be read in man
— Collins, William (1721-1759)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
A. Millar, in the Strand
Date
1746
Metaphor
The native heart may be read in man
Metaphor in Context
Youth of the quick uncheated sight,
Thy walks, Observance, more invite!
O thou, who lov'st that ampler range,
Where life's wide prospects round thee change,
And with her mingling sons allied,
Throw'st the prattling page aside:
To me in converse sweet impart
To read in man the native heart,
To learn, where science sure is found,
From Nature as she lives around:
And gazing oft her mirror true,
By turns each shifting image view!
Till meddling Art's officious lore
Reverse the lessons taught before,
Alluring from a safer rule
To dream in her enchanted school;
Thou Heaven, whate'er of great we boast,
Hast blest this social science most.
(ll. 19-36, pp. 472-3)
Thy walks, Observance, more invite!
O thou, who lov'st that ampler range,
Where life's wide prospects round thee change,
And with her mingling sons allied,
Throw'st the prattling page aside:
To me in converse sweet impart
To read in man the native heart,
To learn, where science sure is found,
From Nature as she lives around:
And gazing oft her mirror true,
By turns each shifting image view!
Till meddling Art's officious lore
Reverse the lessons taught before,
Alluring from a safer rule
To dream in her enchanted school;
Thou Heaven, whate'er of great we boast,
Hast blest this social science most.
(ll. 19-36, pp. 472-3)
Categories
Provenance
Searching keywords in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Ed. Roger Lonsdale. The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, and Oliver Goldsmith. London and New York: Longman and Norton: 1972
Date of Entry
11/21/2003
