"Reason's empire never knew a slave, / Her sway is gentle and her laws are kind"
— Steele, Anne (1717-1778)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Bristol
Publisher
Printed by W. Pine. Sold by T. Cadell, T. Mills, and T. Evans; and by J. Buckland and J. Johnson
Date
1780
Metaphor
"Reason's empire never knew a slave, / Her sway is gentle and her laws are kind"
Metaphor in Context
TO SILVIA
My lovely Silvia, while in blooming youth
Your mental powers are active, sprightly, gay,
Attend the voice of friendship and of truth,
That courts your notice in the moral lay.
Those active powers the Lord of nature gave
To reason's rule by choice alone confin'd,
For reason's empire never knew a slave,
Her sway is gentle and her laws are kind.
Her subjects take their orders from her eye,
While she to each their various task assigns;
And now o'er nature's ample field they fly,
A field far richer than Peruvian mines.
Here with unweary'd diligence they rove,
Collecting treasures to enrich the mind:
And many a flower and plant in dale or grove,
Of virtues rare and fadeless bloom they find.
And now with treasures fraught returning home,
Before their queen display the shining spoil,
Arrang'd in beauteous order round the dome,
Her approbation crowns the pleasing toil.
When chill'd by time's cold hand, those sprightly powers
Inclin'd to rest, inactive, cease to roam,
Those mental stores shall cheer the wintery hours,
And flowers unfading breathe their sweets at home.
Extracting food amid the vernal bloom,
So flies the industrious bee around the vale,
With native skill she forms the waxen comb,
To keep for wintery days the rich regale.
My lovely Silvia, while in blooming youth
Your mental powers are active, sprightly, gay,
Attend the voice of friendship and of truth,
That courts your notice in the moral lay.
Those active powers the Lord of nature gave
To reason's rule by choice alone confin'd,
For reason's empire never knew a slave,
Her sway is gentle and her laws are kind.
Her subjects take their orders from her eye,
While she to each their various task assigns;
And now o'er nature's ample field they fly,
A field far richer than Peruvian mines.
Here with unweary'd diligence they rove,
Collecting treasures to enrich the mind:
And many a flower and plant in dale or grove,
Of virtues rare and fadeless bloom they find.
And now with treasures fraught returning home,
Before their queen display the shining spoil,
Arrang'd in beauteous order round the dome,
Her approbation crowns the pleasing toil.
When chill'd by time's cold hand, those sprightly powers
Inclin'd to rest, inactive, cease to roam,
Those mental stores shall cheer the wintery hours,
And flowers unfading breathe their sweets at home.
Extracting food amid the vernal bloom,
So flies the industrious bee around the vale,
With native skill she forms the waxen comb,
To keep for wintery days the rich regale.
Provenance
Searching "rule" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 2 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1780).
Anne Steele, Miscellaneous Pieces, in Verse and Prose, by Theodosia, ed. Caleb Evans (Bristol: Printed by W. Pine. Sold by T. Cadell, T. Mills, and T. Evans; - and by J. Buckland and J. Johnson, 1780). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Anne Steele, Miscellaneous Pieces, in Verse and Prose, by Theodosia, ed. Caleb Evans (Bristol: Printed by W. Pine. Sold by T. Cadell, T. Mills, and T. Evans; - and by J. Buckland and J. Johnson, 1780). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
06/22/2004
