"If wisdom once relax her golden reins, / No bliss is felt-but what the transport feign / Excess of joy but terminates in pain, / And impotence is ever in disdain."
— Ruffhead, James
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for the Author
Date
1746
Metaphor
"If wisdom once relax her golden reins, / No bliss is felt-but what the transport feign / Excess of joy but terminates in pain, / And impotence is ever in disdain."
Metaphor in Context
Passions, in every stage of live are such
We either feel too little, or too much,
This moment blest-our spirits rise too high,
The next-too low t'elaborate a sigh.
Not to indulge-but to restrain their rage,
Is the great work-in which we shou'd engage
If wisdom once relax her golden reins,
No bliss is felt-but what the transport feign
Excess of joy but terminates in pain,
And impotence is ever in disdain.
O temp'rance! plenitude of bliss is thine,
And all that makes a sweet complexion fine.
(p. 15, in. 122)
We either feel too little, or too much,
This moment blest-our spirits rise too high,
The next-too low t'elaborate a sigh.
Not to indulge-but to restrain their rage,
Is the great work-in which we shou'd engage
If wisdom once relax her golden reins,
No bliss is felt-but what the transport feign
Excess of joy but terminates in pain,
And impotence is ever in disdain.
O temp'rance! plenitude of bliss is thine,
And all that makes a sweet complexion fine.
(p. 15, in. 122)
Categories
Provenance
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
Date of Review
06/29/2012
