The "grim natives" of East-Brent were of "reason wholly void, whom instinct rules"
— Bowden, Samuel (fl. 1733-1761)
Place of Publication
Bath
Publisher
Printed by T. Boddely, for the Author
Date
1754
Metaphor
The "grim natives" of East-Brent were of "reason wholly void, whom instinct rules"
Metaphor in Context
Had mournful Ovid been to Brent condemn'd,
His Tristibus more movingly he'd penn'd.
Gladly he wou'd have chang'd this miry lough,
For wat'ry Pontus, or the Scythian snow.
The Goths were not so barbarous a race,
As the grim natives of this dismal place.
Of reason wholly void, whom instinct rules,
Yet will be knaves, tho' nature made them fools;
A strange half human, and half beastly brood,
Of speech uncouth, and in their manners rude.
When they essay to speak, the mortals roar,
As loud as waves contending with the shoar.
Their widen'd mouth into a circle grows,
For all their vowels are but A's and O's.
The beasts have the same language, and the cow,
Seems like her owner's noisy voice to low.
The lamb to bah, taught by its keeper, trys,
And puppys learn to howl from children's crys,
It never yet cou'd be exactly stated,
What time o'th year this ball was first created,
Some plead for summer, but the wise bethought 'em,
That th' earth like other fruit was ripe in Autumn;
While gayer wits the vernal bloom prefer,
And think the finish'd world did first appear
I'th' youthful glory of the budding year.
But the black nole, and all the marshes round
(A sort of chaos, and unfinish'd ground,)
Were made in winter, one may safely swear,
For winter is the only season there.
His Tristibus more movingly he'd penn'd.
Gladly he wou'd have chang'd this miry lough,
For wat'ry Pontus, or the Scythian snow.
The Goths were not so barbarous a race,
As the grim natives of this dismal place.
Of reason wholly void, whom instinct rules,
Yet will be knaves, tho' nature made them fools;
A strange half human, and half beastly brood,
Of speech uncouth, and in their manners rude.
When they essay to speak, the mortals roar,
As loud as waves contending with the shoar.
Their widen'd mouth into a circle grows,
For all their vowels are but A's and O's.
The beasts have the same language, and the cow,
Seems like her owner's noisy voice to low.
The lamb to bah, taught by its keeper, trys,
And puppys learn to howl from children's crys,
It never yet cou'd be exactly stated,
What time o'th year this ball was first created,
Some plead for summer, but the wise bethought 'em,
That th' earth like other fruit was ripe in Autumn;
While gayer wits the vernal bloom prefer,
And think the finish'd world did first appear
I'th' youthful glory of the budding year.
But the black nole, and all the marshes round
(A sort of chaos, and unfinish'd ground,)
Were made in winter, one may safely swear,
For winter is the only season there.
Provenance
Searching rule and reason in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Only 1 entry in ECCO and ESTC (1754).
See Poems on Various Subjects; with some Essays in Prose, Letters to Correspondents, &c. and A Treatise on Health. By Samuel Bowden. (Bath: T. Boddely, 1754). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
See Poems on Various Subjects; with some Essays in Prose, Letters to Correspondents, &c. and A Treatise on Health. By Samuel Bowden. (Bath: T. Boddely, 1754). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
06/15/2004
