Reason may be clouded
— Churchill, Charles (1731-1764)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Author; Sold by W. Flexney, G. Kearsly
Date
1764
Metaphor
Reason may be clouded
Metaphor in Context
Forgiving as a friend, what, whilst I live,
As a philosopher I can't forgive,
In this one point at last I join with you,
To Nature pay all that is Nature's due;
But let not clouded Reason sink so low,
To fancy debts she does not, cannot owe:
Bear, to full manhood grown, those shackles bear
Which Nature meant us for a time to wear,
As we wear leading-strings, which, useless grown,
Are laid aside, when we can walk alone;
But on thyself by peevish humour sway'd
Wilt thou lay burdens Nature never laid?
Wilt thou make faults, whilst Judgment weakly errs,
And then defend, mistaking them for hers?
Darest thou to say, in our enlighten'd age,
That this grand master passion, this brave rage
Which flames out for thy country, was imprest
And fix'd by Nature in the human breast?
As a philosopher I can't forgive,
In this one point at last I join with you,
To Nature pay all that is Nature's due;
But let not clouded Reason sink so low,
To fancy debts she does not, cannot owe:
Bear, to full manhood grown, those shackles bear
Which Nature meant us for a time to wear,
As we wear leading-strings, which, useless grown,
Are laid aside, when we can walk alone;
But on thyself by peevish humour sway'd
Wilt thou lay burdens Nature never laid?
Wilt thou make faults, whilst Judgment weakly errs,
And then defend, mistaking them for hers?
Darest thou to say, in our enlighten'd age,
That this grand master passion, this brave rage
Which flames out for thy country, was imprest
And fix'd by Nature in the human breast?
Categories
Provenance
Searching HDIS for "ruling passion"
Citation
2 entries in the ESTC (1764, 1765).
See The Farewell. A Poem. (Printed for Author; Sold by W. Flexney, G. Kearsly, 1764). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Poems of Charles Churchill, ed. James Laver. 2 vols. (London: The King's Printers, 1933).
See The Farewell. A Poem. (Printed for Author; Sold by W. Flexney, G. Kearsly, 1764). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Poems of Charles Churchill, ed. James Laver. 2 vols. (London: The King's Printers, 1933).
Date of Entry
05/25/2004
