"A far-stretch'd mirror spreads: its Bosom shews / Th'inverted prospect, circled in with hills / And cliffs, a Theatre immense!"

— Keate, George (1729-1797)


Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Dodsley [etc.]
Date
1763
Metaphor
"A far-stretch'd mirror spreads: its Bosom shews / Th'inverted prospect, circled in with hills / And cliffs, a Theatre immense!"
Metaphor in Context
Lo! where yon Summits court our steps, how wild
The rocky path! now their rude points reflect
The darting Sunbeam, and anon are lost
In clouds and passing vapours!--Their ascent
Must not affright; Nature like some coy Fair,
Spreads not her Charms at once, but hides them half
From timid Gazers.--On thy Brow, Saleve[1],
(Thy well-known Brow, that hath so often woo'd
My pensive mind) I catch with greedy eye
Th'enchanting Landscape, beyond fiction fair;
Where towns, and castles lie dispers'd, and woods,
And ruddy vineyards, where its proudest boast,
Geneva's Turrets rise; and yon blue Lake
A far-stretch'd mirror spreads: its Bosom shews
Th'inverted prospect, circled in with hills
And cliffs, a Theatre immense!
--But this
No peril wears to him who dares attempt
The Glaciers slippery track, or climbs the Steeps
Of Tourne, or St. Gothard, or hath join'd
The toiling passengers o'er Cenis Mount,
Or great St. Bernard: Scarce the aching sight
Sustains the view, Rocks beyond Rocks arise,
In ever varying shapes. There piles of Snow
And dashing Cat'racts chill; here a thick Mist
Steals on us while we gaze, and all below
Like one wide Ocean shows!--It breaks,--it fleets,--
A new Creation bursts upon our sight,
Clear and more clear emerging: Now distinct
On the far Plain behold the lab'ring Ox,
The busied Husbandman, and shepherd Boys
Tending their fleecy fold.--From heights like these
How little they appear!--diminish'd!--faint!--
Nay all beneath how small!--Nor will the Muse,
Best-heard instructess, in her verse forbear
To wreath the moral lay--So looks the World
To him whose philosophic mind hath curb'd
Its visionary hopes; as he ascends
The rock of Virtue, all Life's envy'd toys,
Lov'd, nay, ador'd before, shrink from the sight;
Pausing, he wonders they could charm so long,
Then to the senseless Pageant bids farewel!
(vol. II, pp. 64-7)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "bosom" and "mirror" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Text from George Keate, The Poetical Works of George Keate 2 vols. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1781). <Link to vol. II in Google Books>
Date of Entry
11/30/2005
Date of Review
07/15/2011

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.