"Yet you disdain the meaner arts / By women us'd to conquer hearts."
— Derrick, Samuel (1724-1769)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for the author; And sold by A. Millar
Date
1755
Metaphor
"Yet you disdain the meaner arts / By women us'd to conquer hearts."
Metaphor in Context
Silvia, with soft bewitching eye,
You fondly raise the tender sigh;
Love's flame to ev'ry breast impart,
And sov'reign rule o'er ev'ry heart:
Your's is the shape proportion'd sleek,
The coral lip, vermilion'd cheek,
The forehead smooth, the well-turn'd nose,
And teeth as white as falling snows,
Two iv'ry globes that heave in sight,
Pregnant with rapturous delight,
The graceful step, the sprightly air,
And each perfection of the fair;
Yet you disdain the meaner arts
By women us'd to conquer hearts;
With transport hear true merit shown,
And ev'ry virtue--but your own:
Why else should Silvia slight the verse
That would her matchless praise rehearse;
How vain the task?--thy fame shall live,
Void of the aid the Muse might give;
Be meaner worth to verse confin'd,
Yours is in ev'ry breast enshrin'd.
You fondly raise the tender sigh;
Love's flame to ev'ry breast impart,
And sov'reign rule o'er ev'ry heart:
Your's is the shape proportion'd sleek,
The coral lip, vermilion'd cheek,
The forehead smooth, the well-turn'd nose,
And teeth as white as falling snows,
Two iv'ry globes that heave in sight,
Pregnant with rapturous delight,
The graceful step, the sprightly air,
And each perfection of the fair;
Yet you disdain the meaner arts
By women us'd to conquer hearts;
With transport hear true merit shown,
And ev'ry virtue--but your own:
Why else should Silvia slight the verse
That would her matchless praise rehearse;
How vain the task?--thy fame shall live,
Void of the aid the Muse might give;
Be meaner worth to verse confin'd,
Yours is in ev'ry breast enshrin'd.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "conque" and "heart" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Only 1 entry in ECCO and ESTC (1755).
A Collection of Original Poems. By Samuel Derrick. (London: printed for the author; and sold by A. Millar, in the Strand, 1755). <Link to ESTC>
A Collection of Original Poems. By Samuel Derrick. (London: printed for the author; and sold by A. Millar, in the Strand, 1755). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
02/09/2005
Date of Review
05/27/2011
