Apollo's "sacred fire" inspires the bard's breast, "Like the fair empty sheet he hangs to view, / Void, and unfurnish'd, till inspir'd by you."
— Jenyns, Soame (1704-1787)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for R. Dodsley
Date
1752, 1790
Metaphor
Apollo's "sacred fire" inspires the bard's breast, "Like the fair empty sheet he hangs to view, / Void, and unfurnish'd, till inspir'd by you."
Metaphor in Context
Divine APOLLO! let thy sacred fire
Thy youthful bard's unskilful breast inspire,
Like the fair empty sheet he hangs to view,
Void, and unfurnish'd, till inspir'd by you;
O let one beam, one kind inlightning ray
At once upon his mind and paper play!
Hence num'rous forms the silver field shall strew,
Hence shall his breast with bright ideas glow.
But now the muse's useful precepts view,
And with just care the pleasing work pursue.
First chuse a window that convenient lyes,
And to the north directs the wand'ring eyes,
Dark be the room, let not a straggling ray
Intrude, to chase the shadowy forms away,
Except one bright, refulgent blaze, convey'd
Thro' a strait passage, in the shutter made,
In which th' ingenious artist first must place
A little, convex, round, transparent glass,
And just behind th' extended paper lay,
On which his art shall all its pow'r display:
There rays reflected from all parts shall meet,
And paint their objects on the silver sheet;
A thousand forms shall in a moment rise,
And magic landskips charm our wand'ring eyes;
'Tis thus from ev'ry object that we view,
If EPICURUS' doctrine teaches true,
The subtile parts upon our organs play,
And to our minds th' external forms convey.
(pp. 176-7, ll. 7-34)
Thy youthful bard's unskilful breast inspire,
Like the fair empty sheet he hangs to view,
Void, and unfurnish'd, till inspir'd by you;
O let one beam, one kind inlightning ray
At once upon his mind and paper play!
Hence num'rous forms the silver field shall strew,
Hence shall his breast with bright ideas glow.
But now the muse's useful precepts view,
And with just care the pleasing work pursue.
First chuse a window that convenient lyes,
And to the north directs the wand'ring eyes,
Dark be the room, let not a straggling ray
Intrude, to chase the shadowy forms away,
Except one bright, refulgent blaze, convey'd
Thro' a strait passage, in the shutter made,
In which th' ingenious artist first must place
A little, convex, round, transparent glass,
And just behind th' extended paper lay,
On which his art shall all its pow'r display:
There rays reflected from all parts shall meet,
And paint their objects on the silver sheet;
A thousand forms shall in a moment rise,
And magic landskips charm our wand'ring eyes;
'Tis thus from ev'ry object that we view,
If EPICURUS' doctrine teaches true,
The subtile parts upon our organs play,
And to our minds th' external forms convey.
(pp. 176-7, ll. 7-34)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "paper" in HDIS (Poetry); Found again searching "sheet" and "breast"
Citation
Text from The Works of Soame Jenyns, 4 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1790).
See Soame Jenyns, Poems. By *****. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley, 1752). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
See Soame Jenyns, Poems. By *****. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley, 1752). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Theme
Blank Slate; Camera Obscura
Date of Entry
03/26/2005
