"While prose-man deems the verse-man fool, / And measures wit by line and rule, / And, as he lops off fancy's limb, / Turns executioner of whim."
— Lloyd, Robert (bap. 1733, d. 1764)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
January, 1764; 1774
Metaphor
"While prose-man deems the verse-man fool, / And measures wit by line and rule, / And, as he lops off fancy's limb, / Turns executioner of whim."
Metaphor in Context
No author ever spar'd a brother:
"Wits are game cocks to one another."
But no antipathy so strong,
Which acts so fiercely, lasts so long
As that which rages in the breast
Of critic, and of wit profest:
When, eager for some bold emprize,
Wit, Titan-like, affects the skies,
When, full of energy divine,
The mighty dupe of all the nine,
Bids his kite soar on paper wing,
The critic comes, and cuts the string;
Hence dire contention often grows
'Twixt man of verse, and man of prose;
While prose-man deems the verse-man fool,
And measures wit by line and rule,
And, as he lops off fancy's limb,
Turns executioner of whim;
While genius, which too oft disdains
To bear e'en honourable chains;
(Such as a sheriff's self might wear,
Or grace the wisdom of a may'r)
Turns rebel to dame reason's throne
And holds no judgment like his own.
(Cf. pp. 341 in magazine)
"Wits are game cocks to one another."
But no antipathy so strong,
Which acts so fiercely, lasts so long
As that which rages in the breast
Of critic, and of wit profest:
When, eager for some bold emprize,
Wit, Titan-like, affects the skies,
When, full of energy divine,
The mighty dupe of all the nine,
Bids his kite soar on paper wing,
The critic comes, and cuts the string;
Hence dire contention often grows
'Twixt man of verse, and man of prose;
While prose-man deems the verse-man fool,
And measures wit by line and rule,
And, as he lops off fancy's limb,
Turns executioner of whim;
While genius, which too oft disdains
To bear e'en honourable chains;
(Such as a sheriff's self might wear,
Or grace the wisdom of a may'r)
Turns rebel to dame reason's throne
And holds no judgment like his own.
(Cf. pp. 341 in magazine)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in ECCO.
Citation
At least 13 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1764, 1765, 1774, 1778, 1783, 1790, 1795, 1796). Appears in volume 3 of The Beauties of All the Magazines, The Annual Register and in The Works of the English Poets.
See "The Candle and Snuffers. A Fable." in The St. James's Magazine. By Robert Lloyd, A.M. (London [England]: Printed for W[illiam]. Flexney, near Gray's-Inn-Gate, Holborn; T[homas]. Davies, in Russel-Street, Covent-Garden; and J[ohn]. Coote, in Pater-noster-Row, 1764). -- from vol. III, pp. 341-3. "Volumes 1-3 were edited, by Robert Lloyd, who was also a contributor. After Feb. 1764, the editorship was taken over by the playwright William Kenrick" <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Poetical Works of Robert Lloyd, A.M. to Which Is Prefixed an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author. by W. Kenrick, LL.D. in Two Volumes. (London: printed for T. Evans in the Strand, 1774). <Link to ESTC>
See "The Candle and Snuffers. A Fable." in The St. James's Magazine. By Robert Lloyd, A.M. (London [England]: Printed for W[illiam]. Flexney, near Gray's-Inn-Gate, Holborn; T[homas]. Davies, in Russel-Street, Covent-Garden; and J[ohn]. Coote, in Pater-noster-Row, 1764). -- from vol. III, pp. 341-3. "Volumes 1-3 were edited, by Robert Lloyd, who was also a contributor. After Feb. 1764, the editorship was taken over by the playwright William Kenrick" <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Poetical Works of Robert Lloyd, A.M. to Which Is Prefixed an Account of the Life and Writings of the Author. by W. Kenrick, LL.D. in Two Volumes. (London: printed for T. Evans in the Strand, 1774). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
07/19/2004
