Fancy may never "view a shape of lovelier kind / In the bright mirror of her Shakespeare's mind."
— Hayley, William (1745-1820)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Dodsley
Date
1781
Metaphor
Fancy may never "view a shape of lovelier kind / In the bright mirror of her Shakespeare's mind."
Metaphor in Context
Now, eager to display her light attire,
The sprightly damsel seeks her sullen sire;
His gloomy brow with sportive air she kist:
Ah! how could Spleen that magic lip resist?
That voice, whose melting music might assuage
The scorpion Anger's self-tormenting rage?
For ne'er did nature to a sire's embrace
Present a filial form of softer grace;
Or fancy view a shape of lovelier kind
In the bright mirror of her Shakespeare's mind.
The sprightly damsel seeks her sullen sire;
His gloomy brow with sportive air she kist:
Ah! how could Spleen that magic lip resist?
That voice, whose melting music might assuage
The scorpion Anger's self-tormenting rage?
For ne'er did nature to a sire's embrace
Present a filial form of softer grace;
Or fancy view a shape of lovelier kind
In the bright mirror of her Shakespeare's mind.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "mirror" in HDIS (Poetry); found again "fancy"
Citation
Ten entries in ESTC, London editions (1781, 1782, 1784, 1788, 1793).
First published as The Triumphs of Temper; A Poem: In Six Cantos. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1781). <Link to ECCO><Link to 2nd edition in Google Books>
Text from new edition of Hayley's Poems and Plays, 6 vols. (London: T. Cadell, 1788).
First published as The Triumphs of Temper; A Poem: In Six Cantos. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1781). <Link to ECCO><Link to 2nd edition in Google Books>
Text from new edition of Hayley's Poems and Plays, 6 vols. (London: T. Cadell, 1788).
Date of Entry
06/28/2005
