"Imagination fondly stoops to trace / The parlour splendours of that festive place."
— Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?-1774)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
W. Griffin
Date
1770
Metaphor
"Imagination fondly stoops to trace / The parlour splendours of that festive place."
Metaphor in Context
But past is all his fame. The very spot,
Where many a time he triumphed, is forgot.
Near yonder thorn, that lifts its head on high,
Where once the signpost caught the passing eye,
Low lies that house where nutbrown draughts inspired,
Where greybeard mirth and smiling toil retired,
Where village statesmen talked with looks profound,
And news much older than their ale went round.
Imagination fondly stoops to trace
The parlour splendours of that festive place;
The white-washed wall, the nicely sanded floor,
The varnished clock that clicked behind the door;
The chest contrived a double debt to pay,
A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day;
The pictures placed for ornament and use,
The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose;
The hearth, except when winter chilled the day,
With aspen boughs and flowers and fennel gay;
While broken teacups, wisely kept for show,
Ranged o'er the chimney, glistened in a row.
(ll. 217-36, pp. 685-6)
Where many a time he triumphed, is forgot.
Near yonder thorn, that lifts its head on high,
Where once the signpost caught the passing eye,
Low lies that house where nutbrown draughts inspired,
Where greybeard mirth and smiling toil retired,
Where village statesmen talked with looks profound,
And news much older than their ale went round.
Imagination fondly stoops to trace
The parlour splendours of that festive place;
The white-washed wall, the nicely sanded floor,
The varnished clock that clicked behind the door;
The chest contrived a double debt to pay,
A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day;
The pictures placed for ornament and use,
The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose;
The hearth, except when winter chilled the day,
With aspen boughs and flowers and fennel gay;
While broken teacups, wisely kept for show,
Ranged o'er the chimney, glistened in a row.
(ll. 217-36, pp. 685-6)
Categories
Provenance
Reading and HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 71 entries in ESTC (1770, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1775, 1777, 1779, 1780, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1786, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1795, 1796, 1798, 1799, 1800). Complicated publication history: consult William B. Todd, "The Private Issues of the Deserted Village," in Studies in Bibliography 6 (1954), 25-44.
The Deserted Village, a Poem. By Dr Goldsmith. (London: Printed for W. Griffin, at Garrick's Head, in Catharine Street, Strand, 1770). <Link to ECCO [false imprint]>
See also Poems and Plays. By Oliver Goldsmith, M.B. to Which Is Prefixed, the Life of the Author. (Dublin: Printed for Wm. Wilson, 1777). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Text from Roger Lonsdale's The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, and Oliver Goldsmith (London and New York: Longman and Norton, 1972). <Link to LION>
The Deserted Village, a Poem. By Dr Goldsmith. (London: Printed for W. Griffin, at Garrick's Head, in Catharine Street, Strand, 1770). <Link to ECCO [false imprint]>
See also Poems and Plays. By Oliver Goldsmith, M.B. to Which Is Prefixed, the Life of the Author. (Dublin: Printed for Wm. Wilson, 1777). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Text from Roger Lonsdale's The Poems of Thomas Gray, William Collins, and Oliver Goldsmith (London and New York: Longman and Norton, 1972). <Link to LION>
Date of Entry
11/27/2003
Date of Review
06/10/2010
