"Thus on the golden thread that Fancy weaves / Buoyant, as Hope's illusive flattery breathes, / The young and visionary Poet leaves / Life's dull realities, while sevenfold wreaths / Of rainbow light around his head revolve."
— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies
Date
1797
Metaphor
"Thus on the golden thread that Fancy weaves / Buoyant, as Hope's illusive flattery breathes, / The young and visionary Poet leaves / Life's dull realities, while sevenfold wreaths / Of rainbow light around his head revolve."
Metaphor in Context
Sonnet LXXVII.
To the Insect of the Gossamer
Small, viewless aeronaut, that by the line
Of Gossamer suspended, in mid air
Float'st on a sun-beam--Living atom, where
Ends thy breeze-guided voyage? With what design
In æther dost thou launch thy form minute,
Mocking the eye? Alas! before the veil
Of denser clouds shall hide thee, the pursuit
Of the keen Swift may end thy fairy sail!
Thus on the golden thread that Fancy weaves
Buoyant, as Hope's illusive flattery breathes,
The young and visionary Poet leaves
Life's dull realities, while sevenfold wreaths
Of rainbow light around his head revolve.
Ah! soon at Sorrow's touch the radiant dreams dissolve.
(ii, p. 18)
To the Insect of the Gossamer
Small, viewless aeronaut, that by the line
Of Gossamer suspended, in mid air
Float'st on a sun-beam--Living atom, where
Ends thy breeze-guided voyage? With what design
In æther dost thou launch thy form minute,
Mocking the eye? Alas! before the veil
Of denser clouds shall hide thee, the pursuit
Of the keen Swift may end thy fairy sail!
Thus on the golden thread that Fancy weaves
Buoyant, as Hope's illusive flattery breathes,
The young and visionary Poet leaves
Life's dull realities, while sevenfold wreaths
Of rainbow light around his head revolve.
Ah! soon at Sorrow's touch the radiant dreams dissolve.
(ii, p. 18)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Reading and comparing The Poems of Charlotte Smith, ed. Stuart Curran (New York and Oxford: OUP, 1993).
Elegiac Sonnets, And Other Poems, By Charlotte Smith, 8th edition, 2 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, Junior, and W. Davies, 1797). <Link to ECCO><Link to volume I in Google Books><volume II>
See also Elegiac Sonnets and Other Poems, by Charlotte Smith, 9th edition, 2 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies, 1800). <Link to volume I in Google Books> <Link to volume II in ECCO> — Note, Curran uses this edition as his base text for Sonnets 1 through 59.
Elegiac Sonnets, And Other Poems, By Charlotte Smith, 8th edition, 2 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, Junior, and W. Davies, 1797). <Link to ECCO><Link to volume I in Google Books><volume II>
See also Elegiac Sonnets and Other Poems, by Charlotte Smith, 9th edition, 2 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies, 1800). <Link to volume I in Google Books> <Link to volume II in ECCO> — Note, Curran uses this edition as his base text for Sonnets 1 through 59.
Date of Entry
06/01/2005
