"Where shape, and air, and symmetry divine, / And rays reflected from the source of thought, / That beam intuitive throughout the eye, / The speaking eye, that window of the mind."
— Jones, Henry (1721-1770)
Author
Work Title
Date
1763, 1767
Metaphor
"Where shape, and air, and symmetry divine, / And rays reflected from the source of thought, / That beam intuitive throughout the eye, / The speaking eye, that window of the mind."
Metaphor in Context
Invited still by sweet variety,
The feasted soul's unsatiating regale,
The raptur'd muse impatient presses on
From charm to charm, attracted still, with still
Increasing force, from nature's local sweets,
That please the sense, but interest not the heart,
To life, to energy, to intellect,
And motion from the will spontateous sprung,
To quick perception, spirit, sense, and choice,
And mental faculty by these express'd;
Where shape, and air, and symmetry divine,
And rays reflected from the source of thought,
That beam intuitive throughout the eye,
The speaking eye, that window of the mind;
That vigour, life, and grace diffuse o'er all,
And give to beauty and her shapes a soul;
Ah see in glittering tribes successive shine
The vivid offspring of the genial god;
These children of the sun, in rainbows rob'd,
Whose sportive pinion in the morning beam
Imbib'd the beauties of the brightest dawn,
When Nature wanton'd, and when Time was young;
The orient pheasant, bird of paradise,
That second phoenix, livery'd o'er with light,
In all the tinges that the prism yields,
When Newton's hand unfolds the robe of day,
And pours bright wonders on the dazzled sight,
With pride around their elegant domain,
Like earthly cherubims rejoic'd they run,
And bask in kingly George's bounteous beam;
In tints as different as their different climes,
They charm alternately the ravish'd eye,
By turns displaying as they glittering pass,
In beautiful extremes that joy the heart;
The costly mixtures, green, and red, and gold,
That East and West and Indian mines can yield,
The rising and the setting sun bestow'd;
Whilst o'er the margins of the crystal pool,
With vegetating gay mosaic crown'd,
(For earth and water here their charms unite)
Their glistering shapes as in a mirrour seen,
To the bright surface call the finny train,
By envy struck at such bespangled coats,
Like jealous beauties at a splendid show,
They vindicate their elemental pride,
In gay comparisons oppose their own,
With gold bedrop'd, and gems, and scarlet dyes,
In rival radiance mingling ray with ray.
The feasted soul's unsatiating regale,
The raptur'd muse impatient presses on
From charm to charm, attracted still, with still
Increasing force, from nature's local sweets,
That please the sense, but interest not the heart,
To life, to energy, to intellect,
And motion from the will spontateous sprung,
To quick perception, spirit, sense, and choice,
And mental faculty by these express'd;
Where shape, and air, and symmetry divine,
And rays reflected from the source of thought,
That beam intuitive throughout the eye,
The speaking eye, that window of the mind;
That vigour, life, and grace diffuse o'er all,
And give to beauty and her shapes a soul;
Ah see in glittering tribes successive shine
The vivid offspring of the genial god;
These children of the sun, in rainbows rob'd,
Whose sportive pinion in the morning beam
Imbib'd the beauties of the brightest dawn,
When Nature wanton'd, and when Time was young;
The orient pheasant, bird of paradise,
That second phoenix, livery'd o'er with light,
In all the tinges that the prism yields,
When Newton's hand unfolds the robe of day,
And pours bright wonders on the dazzled sight,
With pride around their elegant domain,
Like earthly cherubims rejoic'd they run,
And bask in kingly George's bounteous beam;
In tints as different as their different climes,
They charm alternately the ravish'd eye,
By turns displaying as they glittering pass,
In beautiful extremes that joy the heart;
The costly mixtures, green, and red, and gold,
That East and West and Indian mines can yield,
The rising and the setting sun bestow'd;
Whilst o'er the margins of the crystal pool,
With vegetating gay mosaic crown'd,
(For earth and water here their charms unite)
Their glistering shapes as in a mirrour seen,
To the bright surface call the finny train,
By envy struck at such bespangled coats,
Like jealous beauties at a splendid show,
They vindicate their elemental pride,
In gay comparisons oppose their own,
With gold bedrop'd, and gems, and scarlet dyes,
In rival radiance mingling ray with ray.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "window" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
3 entries in ESTC (1763, 1767).
See Kew Garden: a Poem. In Two Cantos. By Henry Jones (Dublin: Printed for William Watson, 1763). <Link>
Text from Kew Garden. A Poem. In Two Cantos. By Henry Jones (London: Printed by J. Browne, 1767). <Link to Hathi Trust>
See Kew Garden: a Poem. In Two Cantos. By Henry Jones (Dublin: Printed for William Watson, 1763). <Link>
Text from Kew Garden. A Poem. In Two Cantos. By Henry Jones (London: Printed by J. Browne, 1767). <Link to Hathi Trust>
Date of Entry
09/08/2005
