"Fain would he see some distant scene / Suggested by his restless spleen, / And fancy's telescope applies / With tinctur'd glass to cheat his eyes."
— Green, Matthew (1696-1737)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for A. Dodd
Date
1737 (also 1738, 1743, reprinted 1754)
Metaphor
"Fain would he see some distant scene / Suggested by his restless spleen, / And fancy's telescope applies / With tinctur'd glass to cheat his eyes."
Metaphor in Context
Th' enthusiast's hopes, and raptures wild,
Have never yet my reason foil'd.
His springy soul dilates like air,
When free from weight of ambient care;
And, hush'd in meditations deep,
Slides into dreams, as when asleep;
Then, fond of new discov'ries grown,
Proves a Columbus of her own,
Disdains the narrow bounds of place,
And thro' the wilds of endless space,
Borne up on metaphysic wings,
Chases light forms, and shadowy things;
And, in the vague excursion caught,
Brings home some rare exotic thought:
The melancholy man such dreams
As brightest evidence esteems;
Fain would he see some distant scene
Suggested by his restless spleen,
And fancy's telescope applies
With tinctur'd glass to cheat his eyes.
Such thoughts, as love the gloom of night,
I close examine by the light.
For who, tho' brib'd by gain to lye,
Dare sun-beam written truths deny,
And execute plain common sense
On faith's mere hearsay evidence?
(p. 21 in 1737 ed., pp. 40-1 in 1754 ed.)
Have never yet my reason foil'd.
His springy soul dilates like air,
When free from weight of ambient care;
And, hush'd in meditations deep,
Slides into dreams, as when asleep;
Then, fond of new discov'ries grown,
Proves a Columbus of her own,
Disdains the narrow bounds of place,
And thro' the wilds of endless space,
Borne up on metaphysic wings,
Chases light forms, and shadowy things;
And, in the vague excursion caught,
Brings home some rare exotic thought:
The melancholy man such dreams
As brightest evidence esteems;
Fain would he see some distant scene
Suggested by his restless spleen,
And fancy's telescope applies
With tinctur'd glass to cheat his eyes.
Such thoughts, as love the gloom of night,
I close examine by the light.
For who, tho' brib'd by gain to lye,
Dare sun-beam written truths deny,
And execute plain common sense
On faith's mere hearsay evidence?
(p. 21 in 1737 ed., pp. 40-1 in 1754 ed.)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "fancy" and "telescope" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
7 copies in ECCO. Earliest printings from 1737 and 1738. I find two "second" editions: from 1738 and 1754 and a Dublin edition from 1743.
Text from C-H/HDIS transcription of Matthew Green, The Spleen. An Epistle Inscribed to his particular Friend Mr. C. J., 2nd edition (London: Printed for A. Dodd, 1754). <Link to ECCO><Link to ESTC>
See also the first edition (London: A Dodd, 1737) in ECCO <Link> or third edition, corrected (London: A. Dodd, 1738) in Google Books <Link>
Text from C-H/HDIS transcription of Matthew Green, The Spleen. An Epistle Inscribed to his particular Friend Mr. C. J., 2nd edition (London: Printed for A. Dodd, 1754). <Link to ECCO><Link to ESTC>
See also the first edition (London: A Dodd, 1737) in ECCO <Link> or third edition, corrected (London: A. Dodd, 1738) in Google Books <Link>
Date of Entry
11/14/2005
Date of Review
06/10/2013
