"And the more I with study my fancy refin'd, / The deeper impression she made on my mind."
— Shenstone, William (1714-1763)
Date
w. 1737-1742, published 1755, 1764, 1773
Metaphor
"And the more I with study my fancy refin'd, / The deeper impression she made on my mind."
Metaphor in Context
By the side of a grove, at the foot of a hill,
Where whisper'd the beech, and where murmur'd the rill;
I vow'd to the muses my time and my care,
Since neither could win me the smiles of my fair.
Free I rang'd like the birds, like the birds free I sung,
And Delia's lov'd name scarce escap'd from my tongue:
But if once a smooth accent delighted my ear,
I should wish, unawares, that my Delia might hear.
With fairest ideas my bosom I stor'd,
Allusive to none but the nymph I ador'd!
And the more I with study my fancy refin'd,
The deeper impression she made on my mind.
So long as of nature the charms I pursue,
I still must my Delia's dear image renew:
The graces have yielded with Delia to rove,
And the muses are all in alliance with love.
(I, p. 161)
Where whisper'd the beech, and where murmur'd the rill;
I vow'd to the muses my time and my care,
Since neither could win me the smiles of my fair.
Free I rang'd like the birds, like the birds free I sung,
And Delia's lov'd name scarce escap'd from my tongue:
But if once a smooth accent delighted my ear,
I should wish, unawares, that my Delia might hear.
With fairest ideas my bosom I stor'd,
Allusive to none but the nymph I ador'd!
And the more I with study my fancy refin'd,
The deeper impression she made on my mind.
So long as of nature the charms I pursue,
I still must my Delia's dear image renew:
The graces have yielded with Delia to rove,
And the muses are all in alliance with love.
(I, p. 161)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "impression" in HDIS (Poetry); found again "fancy"
Citation
20 entries for Works in ESTC (1764, 1765, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1773, 1776, 1776, 1777, 1779, 1791).
Text from The Works, in Verse and Prose, of William Shenstone, Esq. 2 vols., 4th ed. (London: Printed by H. S. Woodfall, for J. Dodsley, 1773), i, 161 <Link to UVA E-Text Center>. "Song XIII. The Scholar's Relapse" appears under the heading: "Songs, written chiefly between the Year 1737 and 1742."
See also William Shenstone, The Works, in Verse and Prose, 2 vols. (London: Dodsley, 1764), i, 164. <Link to Vol. 1 in Google Books><Link to Vol. 1 in Hathi Trust><Vol. 2><Vol. 3>
Published in 1755[?] in The Vocal Medley Part the Second (York: Printed and Sold by John Jackson, [1755?]), 58. <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from The Works, in Verse and Prose, of William Shenstone, Esq. 2 vols., 4th ed. (London: Printed by H. S. Woodfall, for J. Dodsley, 1773), i, 161 <Link to UVA E-Text Center>. "Song XIII. The Scholar's Relapse" appears under the heading: "Songs, written chiefly between the Year 1737 and 1742."
See also William Shenstone, The Works, in Verse and Prose, 2 vols. (London: Dodsley, 1764), i, 164. <Link to Vol. 1 in Google Books><Link to Vol. 1 in Hathi Trust><Vol. 2><Vol. 3>
Published in 1755[?] in The Vocal Medley Part the Second (York: Printed and Sold by John Jackson, [1755?]), 58. <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
05/16/2005
Date of Review
01/28/2012
