"While Favour with a Syren's smile, / Which might Ulysses self beguile, / Presents the sparkling bright libation, / The nectar of intoxication; / And summoning her every grace / Of winning charms, and chearful face, / Smiles away Reason from his throne, / And makes his votaries her own."
— Lloyd, Robert (bap. 1733, d. 1764)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
March 1764, 1774
Metaphor
"While Favour with a Syren's smile, / Which might Ulysses self beguile, / Presents the sparkling bright libation, / The nectar of intoxication; / And summoning her every grace / Of winning charms, and chearful face, / Smiles away Reason from his throne, / And makes his votaries her own."
Metaphor in Context
Caprice, Opinion, Fashion wait,
The porters at the temple's gate,
And as the fond adorers press
Pronounce fantastic happiness;
While Favour with a Syren's smile,
Which might Ulysses self beguile,
Presents the sparkling bright libation,
The nectar of intoxication;
And summoning her ev'ry grace
Of winning charms, and chearful face,
Smiles away Reason from his throne,
And makes his votaries her own:
Instant resounds the voice of fame,
Caught with the whistlings of their name,
The fools grow frantic, in their pride
Contemning all the world besinde:
Pleas'd with the gewgaw toys of pow'r,
The noisy pageant of an hour,
Struts forth the statesman, haughty vain,
Amidst a supple servile train,
With shrug, grimace, nod, wink, and stare,
So proud, he almost treads in air;
While levee-fools, who sue for place,
Crouch for employment from his Grace,
And e'en good Bishops, taught to trim,
Forsake their God to bow to him.
(Cf. pp. 3-4 in magazine)
The porters at the temple's gate,
And as the fond adorers press
Pronounce fantastic happiness;
While Favour with a Syren's smile,
Which might Ulysses self beguile,
Presents the sparkling bright libation,
The nectar of intoxication;
And summoning her ev'ry grace
Of winning charms, and chearful face,
Smiles away Reason from his throne,
And makes his votaries her own:
Instant resounds the voice of fame,
Caught with the whistlings of their name,
The fools grow frantic, in their pride
Contemning all the world besinde:
Pleas'd with the gewgaw toys of pow'r,
The noisy pageant of an hour,
Struts forth the statesman, haughty vain,
Amidst a supple servile train,
With shrug, grimace, nod, wink, and stare,
So proud, he almost treads in air;
While levee-fools, who sue for place,
Crouch for employment from his Grace,
And e'en good Bishops, taught to trim,
Forsake their God to bow to him.
(Cf. pp. 3-4 in magazine)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "throne" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in ECCO.
Citation
At least 4 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1764, 1774, 1790). Appears in The Works of the English Poets.
See "The Temple of Favour" 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. IV. pp. 1ff. "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 Temple of Favour" 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. IV. pp. 1ff. "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
07/20/2004
