"By tyrants awed, who never find / The passage to their people's mind; / To whom the joy was never known / Of planting in the heart their throne."
— Churchill, Charles (1731-1764)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
Books I-II and III, 1762; Book IV, 1763
Metaphor
"By tyrants awed, who never find / The passage to their people's mind; / To whom the joy was never known / Of planting in the heart their throne."
Metaphor in Context
Swift through the regions of the sky,
Above the reach of human eye,
Onward she drove the furious blast,
And rapid as a whirlwind past,
O'er countries, once the seats of taste,
By time and ignorance laid waste;
O'er lands, where former ages saw
Reason and truth the only law;
Where arts and arms, and public love,
In generous emulation strove;
Where kings were proud of legal sway,
And subjects happy to obey,
Though now in slavery sunk, and broke
To superstition's galling yoke;
Of arts, of arms, no more they tell,
Or freedom, which with science fell:
By tyrants awed, who never find
The passage to their people's mind;
To whom the joy was never known
Of planting in the heart their throne;
Far from all prospect of relief,
Their hours in fruitless prayers and grief
For loss of blessings they employ
Which we unthankfully enjoy.
Above the reach of human eye,
Onward she drove the furious blast,
And rapid as a whirlwind past,
O'er countries, once the seats of taste,
By time and ignorance laid waste;
O'er lands, where former ages saw
Reason and truth the only law;
Where arts and arms, and public love,
In generous emulation strove;
Where kings were proud of legal sway,
And subjects happy to obey,
Though now in slavery sunk, and broke
To superstition's galling yoke;
Of arts, of arms, no more they tell,
Or freedom, which with science fell:
By tyrants awed, who never find
The passage to their people's mind;
To whom the joy was never known
Of planting in the heart their throne;
Far from all prospect of relief,
Their hours in fruitless prayers and grief
For loss of blessings they employ
Which we unthankfully enjoy.
Categories
Provenance
HDIS (Poetry); found again searching "throne" and "heart" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
In four books, first published separately. 11 entries in ESTC (1762, 1763, 1765, 1766, 1769).
See Charles Churchill, The Ghost (London: Printed for the author, and sold by William Flexney, 1762). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link to ECCO-TCP>
See also The Ghost. By C. Churchill. Book III. The second edition, with additions. (London: Printed for the author; and sold by W. Flexney, near Gray’s-Inn Gate, Holborn, 1763).<Link to ECCO-TCP>
And also The Ghost: Book IV. By C. Churchill. (London: Printed for J. Coote; W. Flexney; G. Kearsly; T. Henderson; J. Gardner; and J. Almon, 1763). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Reading Charles Churchill: Selected Poetry, ed. Adam Rounce (Nottingham: Trent Editions, 2003).
See Charles Churchill, The Ghost (London: Printed for the author, and sold by William Flexney, 1762). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link to ECCO-TCP>
See also The Ghost. By C. Churchill. Book III. The second edition, with additions. (London: Printed for the author; and sold by W. Flexney, near Gray’s-Inn Gate, Holborn, 1763).<Link to ECCO-TCP>
And also The Ghost: Book IV. By C. Churchill. (London: Printed for J. Coote; W. Flexney; G. Kearsly; T. Henderson; J. Gardner; and J. Almon, 1763). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Reading Charles Churchill: Selected Poetry, ed. Adam Rounce (Nottingham: Trent Editions, 2003).
Date of Entry
08/07/2004
Date of Review
05/29/2012
