"The dawning mind would drink each classic ray, / And pants impatient for a brighter day"
— Jones, Henry (1721-1770)
Author
Work Title
Date
1767, 1778
Metaphor
"The dawning mind would drink each classic ray, / And pants impatient for a brighter day"
Metaphor in Context
A thousand rich improvements round me rise,
And Bristol's new-born beauties charm my eyes;
There embryon plans to ripe perfection swell,
Which time shall foster, and which fame shall tell:
How letter'd taste its progress here improves,
Which sense inculcates, and which wisdom loves:
The dawning mind would drink each classic ray,
And pants impatient for a brighter day.
Here science, like the sun, see radiant rise,
With intellectual beam, through mental skies,
To gild, to gladden all th' improving space,
With taste, with candor, learning, sense, and grace;
To light up all the mind's remotest cells,
Where fancy fledges, and where genius dwells;
To bid the soul her own rich funds employ,
Increase her treasures, and her wealth enjoy;
On talents and on taste propitious smile,
To the proud muses rear a pompous pile:
A theatre, that erst at Rome might rise,
When Rome was valiant, and when Rome was wise,
Where tragic scenes shall all their pow'r display,
And comedy shall laugh our cares away;
Where wit and beauty shall with rival rays,
Provoke our wonder, and divide our praise:
There Bristol proud, her daughters' charms shall see;
Their polish'd charms the muses theme shall be,
Her florid sons shall stand in next degree.
In bright assemblies see them winding move,
In all the measur'd modes of grace and love;
In labyrinths reciprocal they roam,
Whilst breathing beauties deck the beauteous dome;
Th' accomplish'd pile invites with polish'd air,
The well-bred letter'd youth, the lovely fair,
With chaste delight to meet and mingle there;
The youth in every step new talents show,
Whilst beauty brightens as the graces grow.
And Bristol's new-born beauties charm my eyes;
There embryon plans to ripe perfection swell,
Which time shall foster, and which fame shall tell:
How letter'd taste its progress here improves,
Which sense inculcates, and which wisdom loves:
The dawning mind would drink each classic ray,
And pants impatient for a brighter day.
Here science, like the sun, see radiant rise,
With intellectual beam, through mental skies,
To gild, to gladden all th' improving space,
With taste, with candor, learning, sense, and grace;
To light up all the mind's remotest cells,
Where fancy fledges, and where genius dwells;
To bid the soul her own rich funds employ,
Increase her treasures, and her wealth enjoy;
On talents and on taste propitious smile,
To the proud muses rear a pompous pile:
A theatre, that erst at Rome might rise,
When Rome was valiant, and when Rome was wise,
Where tragic scenes shall all their pow'r display,
And comedy shall laugh our cares away;
Where wit and beauty shall with rival rays,
Provoke our wonder, and divide our praise:
There Bristol proud, her daughters' charms shall see;
Their polish'd charms the muses theme shall be,
Her florid sons shall stand in next degree.
In bright assemblies see them winding move,
In all the measur'd modes of grace and love;
In labyrinths reciprocal they roam,
Whilst breathing beauties deck the beauteous dome;
Th' accomplish'd pile invites with polish'd air,
The well-bred letter'd youth, the lovely fair,
With chaste delight to meet and mingle there;
The youth in every step new talents show,
Whilst beauty brightens as the graces grow.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
4 entries in ESTC (1767, 1773, 1779)
Text from Clifton: A Poem. In Two Cantos. Including Bristol and all its Environs. By the late Henry Jones ... To Which is Added, An Ode to Shakespear, In Honor of the Jubilee. Written by the Same Author. 2nd ed. (London: Printed and Sold by T. Cocking, 1778).
See also Clifton: a Poem, in Two Cantos. Including Bristol and all its Environs. By Henry Jones (Bristol: Printed and Sold by E. Farley and Co.: sold also by the booksellers of Bristol and Bath, 1767). <Link to ECCO>
Text from Clifton: A Poem. In Two Cantos. Including Bristol and all its Environs. By the late Henry Jones ... To Which is Added, An Ode to Shakespear, In Honor of the Jubilee. Written by the Same Author. 2nd ed. (London: Printed and Sold by T. Cocking, 1778).
See also Clifton: a Poem, in Two Cantos. Including Bristol and all its Environs. By Henry Jones (Bristol: Printed and Sold by E. Farley and Co.: sold also by the booksellers of Bristol and Bath, 1767). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
08/10/2005
