Venus "Bids the warm heart with friendship glow, / Or melt in pity's softer flow; / In chains our boasted reason bind, / And rule at will th'impassion'd mind."
— Lennox, née Ramsay, (Barbara) Charlotte (1730/1?-1804)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Payne, and J. Bouquet
Date
1751
Metaphor
Venus "Bids the warm heart with friendship glow, / Or melt in pity's softer flow; / In chains our boasted reason bind, / And rule at will th'impassion'd mind."
Metaphor in Context
A Hymn to Venus.
Hail, daughter of immortal Jove,
Celestial Venus, queen of love!
Soft source of ev'ry pleasing woe,
From whom our choicest blessings flow!
Sweet troubler of the human heart!
Each age, each sex, receives thy dart;
Feels all thy fierce consuming fires,
And melts in new unnam'd desires.
Thee, goddess! thee, all hearts adore,
And heav'n itself reveres thy pow'r.
The awful fire of gods and men
Submits to thy enchanting pain;
And, tho' his thunders shake the world,
Is by thy mightier sway controul'd.
Touch'd by thy secret pow'rful charm,
The frozen breast of age grows warm;
The sweet intoxicating pain
Glides swiftly thro' each icy vein;
While love, and joy, and youth renew'd,
With pleasing raptures fire the blood.
Thou steal'st into the virgin-breast,
A painful, soft, unusual guest!
Hence the soft languish fills the eye,
The glowing blush, the heaving sigh,
The wish, by bashful fear restrain'd,
The pleasing hope by love maintain'd,
The thrilling pain, the lambent fire,
The sweetly new, yet check'd desire.
Thou in the hero's bosom glows,
And valour first from love arose;
Love, the reward and cause of strife!
Gave ev'ry kindred passion life;
Ambition's fever first inspires,
And anger's fierce destructive fires:
Bids the warm heart with friendship glow,
Or melt in pity's softer flow;
In chains our boasted reason bind,
And rule at will th' impassion'd mind.
(pp. 187-8)
Hail, daughter of immortal Jove,
Celestial Venus, queen of love!
Soft source of ev'ry pleasing woe,
From whom our choicest blessings flow!
Sweet troubler of the human heart!
Each age, each sex, receives thy dart;
Feels all thy fierce consuming fires,
And melts in new unnam'd desires.
Thee, goddess! thee, all hearts adore,
And heav'n itself reveres thy pow'r.
The awful fire of gods and men
Submits to thy enchanting pain;
And, tho' his thunders shake the world,
Is by thy mightier sway controul'd.
Touch'd by thy secret pow'rful charm,
The frozen breast of age grows warm;
The sweet intoxicating pain
Glides swiftly thro' each icy vein;
While love, and joy, and youth renew'd,
With pleasing raptures fire the blood.
Thou steal'st into the virgin-breast,
A painful, soft, unusual guest!
Hence the soft languish fills the eye,
The glowing blush, the heaving sigh,
The wish, by bashful fear restrain'd,
The pleasing hope by love maintain'd,
The thrilling pain, the lambent fire,
The sweetly new, yet check'd desire.
Thou in the hero's bosom glows,
And valour first from love arose;
Love, the reward and cause of strife!
Gave ev'ry kindred passion life;
Ambition's fever first inspires,
And anger's fierce destructive fires:
Bids the warm heart with friendship glow,
Or melt in pity's softer flow;
In chains our boasted reason bind,
And rule at will th' impassion'd mind.
(pp. 187-8)
Provenance
Searching "rule" and "reason" in HDIS (Prose); found again searching "mind" and "chain"
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1751).
The Life of Harriot Stuart. Written by Herself., 2 vols. (London: Printed for J. Payne, and J. Bouquet, 1751).
The Life of Harriot Stuart. Written by Herself., 2 vols. (London: Printed for J. Payne, and J. Bouquet, 1751).
Theme
Ruling Passion
Date of Entry
06/09/2004
Date of Review
07/27/2011
