"The king of men to sudden rage resign'd, / At once, the empire of his mighty mind."
— Wilkie, William (1721-1772)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Edinburgh
Publisher
Printed by Hamilton, Balfour, & Neill
Date
1757, 1769
Metaphor
"The king of men to sudden rage resign'd, / At once, the empire of his mighty mind."
Metaphor in Context
Thus as the hero spoke, the kings divide,
And mingled murmurs round th' assembly glide,
Heard like the sound which warn the careful swain
Of sudden winds or thick descending rain;
When mountain echoes catch the sullen roar
Of billows bursting on the sandy shore,
And hurl it round in airy circles tost,
Till in the distant clouds the voice is lost.
The king of men to sudden rage resign'd,
At once, the empire of his mighty mind,
With sharp reproaches hast'ning to reply;
But, more sedate, the Pylian monarch nigh,
In act to rise, the angry chief confin'd;
And, whisp'ring, thus address'd with head declin'd:
It ill becomes the prince, whose sov'reign hand
Sways the dread scepter of supreme command,
To be the first in discord; and obey
As headlong passion blindly leads the way.
For when the kings in rash debate engage,
'Tis yours to check and moderate their rage;
Since, of the various ills that can distress
Confed'rate councils and prevent success,
Discord is chief; where'er the fury sways,
The parts she severs, and the whole betrays.
And mingled murmurs round th' assembly glide,
Heard like the sound which warn the careful swain
Of sudden winds or thick descending rain;
When mountain echoes catch the sullen roar
Of billows bursting on the sandy shore,
And hurl it round in airy circles tost,
Till in the distant clouds the voice is lost.
The king of men to sudden rage resign'd,
At once, the empire of his mighty mind,
With sharp reproaches hast'ning to reply;
But, more sedate, the Pylian monarch nigh,
In act to rise, the angry chief confin'd;
And, whisp'ring, thus address'd with head declin'd:
It ill becomes the prince, whose sov'reign hand
Sways the dread scepter of supreme command,
To be the first in discord; and obey
As headlong passion blindly leads the way.
For when the kings in rash debate engage,
'Tis yours to check and moderate their rage;
Since, of the various ills that can distress
Confed'rate councils and prevent success,
Discord is chief; where'er the fury sways,
The parts she severs, and the whole betrays.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "empire" in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in ECCO in 1757 edition
Citation
4 entries in ESTC (1757, 1759, 1769).
See The Epigoniad. A Poem. In Nine Books. (Edinburgh: Printed by Hamilton, Balfour, & Neill, 1757). <Link to ESTC>
Text from 2nd edition: The Epigoniad. A Poem. In Nine Books. By William Wilkie, The Second Edition, Carefully Corrected and Improved. To which is Added, A Dream. In the Manner of Spenser. (London: J. Murray, 1769). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
See The Epigoniad. A Poem. In Nine Books. (Edinburgh: Printed by Hamilton, Balfour, & Neill, 1757). <Link to ESTC>
Text from 2nd edition: The Epigoniad. A Poem. In Nine Books. By William Wilkie, The Second Edition, Carefully Corrected and Improved. To which is Added, A Dream. In the Manner of Spenser. (London: J. Murray, 1769). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
08/11/2004
