"The great grow greater, while its force they prove, / But little hearts want room, and cripple love."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)


Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
1726, 1753
Metaphor
"The great grow greater, while its force they prove, / But little hearts want room, and cripple love."
Metaphor in Context
As fire, by nature, climbs direct, and bright,
And beams, in spotless rays, a shining light;
But if some gross obstruction stops its way,
Smokes in low curls, and scents the sullied day:
So love, itself, untainted, and refin'd,
Borrows a tincture, from the colour'd mind;
The great grow greater, while its force they prove,
But little hearts want room, and cripple love.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 4 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1726, 1753, 1754).

See Miscellaneous Poems and Translations. By Several Hands. Publish’d by Richard Savage, Son of the Late Earl Rivers. (London: Printed for Samuel Chapman, at the Angel in Pall-Mall, 1726). <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

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.