"As age come on, and vigorous minds decay / All pleasures sicken, satiate, die away."
— Ruffhead, James
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for the Author
Date
1746
Metaphor
"As age come on, and vigorous minds decay / All pleasures sicken, satiate, die away."
Metaphor in Context
Not all the waters of the pearly main
Can quench the dropsy thirst of sacred gain.
Not Ixion, fixt to the eternal wheel,
A greater plague than avarice can feel,
Which, deluge like, whole nations sweeps away,
And scenes of ruin--make its spirits gay.
Beauty the world, but gold o'er beauty sways,
Whose passion strengthens with the length of days.
As age comes on, and vigorous minds decay,
All pleasures sicken, satiate, die away,
All tumults, that disturb the joys of peace,
As the years increase--from all distraction cease;
All covet, wish, and court the calm retreat,
Tir'd with the world--and sick of being great:
But avarice, deceit, and lurking pride,
(The nearest to the meanest souls ally'd,)
No weakness--to the utmost period feel,
Against humanity--the bosom steel;
E'en when no more, are tortur'd with desires,
Whose terrene crimes are their eternal fires.
(pp. 10-11, in. 23-4)
Can quench the dropsy thirst of sacred gain.
Not Ixion, fixt to the eternal wheel,
A greater plague than avarice can feel,
Which, deluge like, whole nations sweeps away,
And scenes of ruin--make its spirits gay.
Beauty the world, but gold o'er beauty sways,
Whose passion strengthens with the length of days.
As age comes on, and vigorous minds decay,
All pleasures sicken, satiate, die away,
All tumults, that disturb the joys of peace,
As the years increase--from all distraction cease;
All covet, wish, and court the calm retreat,
Tir'd with the world--and sick of being great:
But avarice, deceit, and lurking pride,
(The nearest to the meanest souls ally'd,)
No weakness--to the utmost period feel,
Against humanity--the bosom steel;
E'en when no more, are tortur'd with desires,
Whose terrene crimes are their eternal fires.
(pp. 10-11, in. 23-4)
Provenance
Searching in Gale's Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO).
Citation
At least 2 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1746, 1747).
James Ruffhead, The Passions of Man. A Poem. In Four Epistles (London: Printed for the Author, 1746). <Link to ECCO>
James Ruffhead, The Passions of Man. A Poem. In Four Epistles (London: Printed for the Author, 1746). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
01/06/2004
