"Such then is the abode / Of folly in the mind; and such the shapes / In which she governs her obsequious train."
— Akenside, Mark (1720-1771)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
W. Bowyer and J. Nichols
Date
1744, 1772, 1795
Metaphor
"Such then is the abode / Of folly in the mind; and such the shapes / In which she governs her obsequious train."
Metaphor in Context
Last of the motley bands on whom the power
Of gay derision bends her hostile aim,
Is that where shameful ignorance presides.
Beneath her sordid banners, lo! they march,
Like blind and lame. Whate'er their doubtful hands
Attempt, confusion straight appears behind,
And troubles all the work. Through many a maze,
Perplex'd they struggle, changing every path,
O'erturning every purpose; then at last
Sit down dismay'd, and leave the entangled scene
For scorn to sport with. Such then is the abode
Of folly in the mind; and such the shapes
In which she governs her obsequious train.
(p. 80, Bk. III, ll. 228-240)
Of gay derision bends her hostile aim,
Is that where shameful ignorance presides.
Beneath her sordid banners, lo! they march,
Like blind and lame. Whate'er their doubtful hands
Attempt, confusion straight appears behind,
And troubles all the work. Through many a maze,
Perplex'd they struggle, changing every path,
O'erturning every purpose; then at last
Sit down dismay'd, and leave the entangled scene
For scorn to sport with. Such then is the abode
Of folly in the mind; and such the shapes
In which she governs her obsequious train.
(p. 80, Bk. III, ll. 228-240)
Categories
Provenance
HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Text from Mark Akenside, The Poems Of Mark Akenside (London: W. Bowyer and J. Nichols, 1772).
Compare Mark Akenside, The Pleasures of the Imagination (London: 1744). <Link to Google Books>
Reading The Pleasures of Imagination (Otley, England: Woodstock Books, 2000), which reprints A. L. Barbauld's 1795 edition.
Compare Mark Akenside, The Pleasures of the Imagination (London: 1744). <Link to Google Books>
Reading The Pleasures of Imagination (Otley, England: Woodstock Books, 2000), which reprints A. L. Barbauld's 1795 edition.
Date of Entry
09/14/2009
Date of Review
06/10/2011
