"Say, coward learning! long, too long, misled! / If, yet, thou dar'st erect thy dizzy head! / And art not, yet, heart-conquer'd quite, / By power and custom join'd; too, too unequal fight!"
— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for the Benefit of the Family
Date
1753
Metaphor
"Say, coward learning! long, too long, misled! / If, yet, thou dar'st erect thy dizzy head! / And art not, yet, heart-conquer'd quite, / By power and custom join'd; too, too unequal fight!"
Metaphor in Context
Say, coward learning! long, too long, misled!
If, yet, thou dar'st erect thy dizzy head!
And art not, yet, heart-conquer'd quite,
By power and custom join'd; too, too unequal fight!
If, yet, once more, thou dar'st assert thy eyes,
Once more, undazled, view Truth's beamy skies;
And can'st, with strong, unstagg'ring sight,
Firm-fix'd, in steddy gaze, take in the o'erwhelming light!
Say, nor fear th' oppressive hate,
Which truth, told plainly, must create!
The foes of truth, in bulk, tho' great,
Lifted boldly, want, in weight!
Say, to what sad cause, we owe,
That naked virtue must, regardless go!
Or, shiv'ring stand, in fortune's snow:
Till chance does some gay mantle, o'er her, throw,
And notice does not, from her worth, but her adornments, flow?
Immortal heav'n! if man may dare
Climb thither, to refresh his care!
What means our God! when he requires,
That man, in virtue's rugged paths, shou'd tread,
If, to blessings, he aspires?
And yet, strange paradox! permits, to virtue's foes,
The mounts of power, from whence to aim their blows:
And hurl red ruin down, in surer throws,
With levell'd malice, nicely pois'd, to hit the climbing head,
While they sit safe, and laugh, above, to see th' aspirer dead!
If, yet, thou dar'st erect thy dizzy head!
And art not, yet, heart-conquer'd quite,
By power and custom join'd; too, too unequal fight!
If, yet, once more, thou dar'st assert thy eyes,
Once more, undazled, view Truth's beamy skies;
And can'st, with strong, unstagg'ring sight,
Firm-fix'd, in steddy gaze, take in the o'erwhelming light!
Say, nor fear th' oppressive hate,
Which truth, told plainly, must create!
The foes of truth, in bulk, tho' great,
Lifted boldly, want, in weight!
Say, to what sad cause, we owe,
That naked virtue must, regardless go!
Or, shiv'ring stand, in fortune's snow:
Till chance does some gay mantle, o'er her, throw,
And notice does not, from her worth, but her adornments, flow?
Immortal heav'n! if man may dare
Climb thither, to refresh his care!
What means our God! when he requires,
That man, in virtue's rugged paths, shou'd tread,
If, to blessings, he aspires?
And yet, strange paradox! permits, to virtue's foes,
The mounts of power, from whence to aim their blows:
And hurl red ruin down, in surer throws,
With levell'd malice, nicely pois'd, to hit the climbing head,
While they sit safe, and laugh, above, to see th' aspirer dead!
Categories
Provenance
Searching "conque" and "heart" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1753, 1754).
Text from The Works of the Late Aaron Hill, Esq; in Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, and of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious. With an Essay on the Art of Acting. (London: Printed for the benefit of the family, 1753). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Works of the Late Aaron Hill, Esq; in Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, and of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious. With an Essay on the Art of Acting. (London: Printed for the benefit of the family, 1753). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
02/10/2005
