"Over-cramm'd / With self, and surfeiting on brief success, / The narrow-compass'd heart wants room, for taste."
— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for the Benefit of the Family
Date
1753
Metaphor
"Over-cramm'd / With self, and surfeiting on brief success, / The narrow-compass'd heart wants room, for taste."
Metaphor in Context
Say, Tacitus,--thy skill the secret found:
In what state-scale, five hundred insults, poiz'd,
Weigh'd down five hundred thanks, in grateful gold.
Dream not, thy Roman's genius mov'd such boon:
Not his fam'd father's vict'ries, ten times won,
And to thy claim transferr'd, had, there, so charm'd.
Oh power of prompt reproach, to rasp reward:
And flash conception's fire from flint most cold!
Call it not bounty: blast it, angry muse;
And from the fame of Albion blot that tale.
Th' imbitter'd hand of calumny bows down
The heart; its gall corrodes, to smile thro' wrongs,
And pay compell'd respect, to dreaded scorn:
While, on the candid courtship of the kind,
No fost'ring glance descends!--untott'ring power
Takes compliment, as tribute. Over-cramm'd
With self, and surfeiting on brief success,
The narrow-compass'd heart wants room, for taste.
--Or grant some glimm'ry ray gave light, to guess
Th' effect of skill'd applause: what thence, results,
But insolent contempt, of aid unsought?
The busy breast, that pants, in post hard held,
Wants leisure to be grateful: 'Tis the task
Of grandeur in disgrace, to thank a friend.
In what state-scale, five hundred insults, poiz'd,
Weigh'd down five hundred thanks, in grateful gold.
Dream not, thy Roman's genius mov'd such boon:
Not his fam'd father's vict'ries, ten times won,
And to thy claim transferr'd, had, there, so charm'd.
Oh power of prompt reproach, to rasp reward:
And flash conception's fire from flint most cold!
Call it not bounty: blast it, angry muse;
And from the fame of Albion blot that tale.
Th' imbitter'd hand of calumny bows down
The heart; its gall corrodes, to smile thro' wrongs,
And pay compell'd respect, to dreaded scorn:
While, on the candid courtship of the kind,
No fost'ring glance descends!--untott'ring power
Takes compliment, as tribute. Over-cramm'd
With self, and surfeiting on brief success,
The narrow-compass'd heart wants room, for taste.
--Or grant some glimm'ry ray gave light, to guess
Th' effect of skill'd applause: what thence, results,
But insolent contempt, of aid unsought?
The busy breast, that pants, in post hard held,
Wants leisure to be grateful: 'Tis the task
Of grandeur in disgrace, to thank a friend.
Categories
Provenance
Searching 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
08/29/2005
