"Such callous Hearts to no Impression yield, / All-guarded with Corruption's seven-fold Shield;"
— Warton, Thomas, the elder (1688-1745)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for R. Manby and H. S. Cox [etc.]
Date
1748
Metaphor
"Such callous Hearts to no Impression yield, / All-guarded with Corruption's seven-fold Shield;"
Metaphor in Context
Yet Oh! what Hero Folly can confound?
The dull, lethargic Villain feels no Wound:
Culprits, like poisonous Adders deaf, we find:
In Biscay's Bay who chides the raging Wind?
Such callous Hearts to no Impression yield,
All-guarded with Corruption's seven-fold Shield;
Unstung by Shame, and resolute in Ill;
Vice is a Python Phoebus ne'er can kill:
Heedless of Satire, Sin persists to reign,
As Curfews bid us leave our Fires in vain;
Poets, and Setting-Dogs, one Task employs,
Each points at Knaves or Birds, but ne'er destroys;
What tho' you sweat, complain, and rail, and write,
The mad, luxurious Town sins on for Spite.
Could Boileau to reform a Nation hope?
A Sodom can't be mended by a Pope.
To cleanse th' Augëan Stable tho' you toil,
Still Virtue yields to[1] Heidegger and[2] Hoyle;
Still Britons (Justice, Freedom, Conscience sold)
Own the supreme Omnipotence of Gold.
The dull, lethargic Villain feels no Wound:
Culprits, like poisonous Adders deaf, we find:
In Biscay's Bay who chides the raging Wind?
Such callous Hearts to no Impression yield,
All-guarded with Corruption's seven-fold Shield;
Unstung by Shame, and resolute in Ill;
Vice is a Python Phoebus ne'er can kill:
Heedless of Satire, Sin persists to reign,
As Curfews bid us leave our Fires in vain;
Poets, and Setting-Dogs, one Task employs,
Each points at Knaves or Birds, but ne'er destroys;
What tho' you sweat, complain, and rail, and write,
The mad, luxurious Town sins on for Spite.
Could Boileau to reform a Nation hope?
A Sodom can't be mended by a Pope.
To cleanse th' Augëan Stable tho' you toil,
Still Virtue yields to[1] Heidegger and[2] Hoyle;
Still Britons (Justice, Freedom, Conscience sold)
Own the supreme Omnipotence of Gold.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "impression" in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
05/16/2005
