The soul controls "the state, the splendour and the throne, / An intellectual kingdom, all her own"
— Cowper, William (1731-1800)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Johnson
Date
1786
Metaphor
The soul controls "the state, the splendour and the throne, / An intellectual kingdom, all her own"
Metaphor in Context
It is not from his form in which we trace
Strength joined with beauty, dignity with grace,
That man, the master of this globe, derives
His right of empire over all that lives.
That form indeed, the associate of a mind
Vast in its powers, ethereal in its kind,
That form, the labour of Almighty skill,
Framed for the service of a free-born will,
Asserts precedence, and bespeaks controul,
But borrows all its grandeur from the soul.
Hers is the state, the splendour and the throne,
An intellectual kingdom, all her own.
For her, the memory fills her ample page
With truths pour'd down from every distant age,
For her amasses an unbounded store,
The wisdom of great nations, now no more,
Though laden, not encumber'd with her spoil,
Laborious, yet unconscious of her toil,
When copiously supplied then most enlarged,
Still to be fed, and not to be surcharged.
For her, the fancy roving unconfined,
The present Muse of every pensive mind,
Works magic wonders, adds a brighter hue
To nature's scenes, than nature ever knew;
At her command, winds rise and waters roar,
Again she lays them slumbering on the shore;
With flower and fruit the wilderness supplies,
Or bids the rocks in ruder pomp arise.
For her, the judgment, umpire in the strife,
That grace and nature have to wage through life,
Quick-sighted arbiter of good and ill,
Appointed sage preceptor to the will,
Condemns, approves, and with a faithful voice
Guides the decision of a doubtful choice.
Strength joined with beauty, dignity with grace,
That man, the master of this globe, derives
His right of empire over all that lives.
That form indeed, the associate of a mind
Vast in its powers, ethereal in its kind,
That form, the labour of Almighty skill,
Framed for the service of a free-born will,
Asserts precedence, and bespeaks controul,
But borrows all its grandeur from the soul.
Hers is the state, the splendour and the throne,
An intellectual kingdom, all her own.
For her, the memory fills her ample page
With truths pour'd down from every distant age,
For her amasses an unbounded store,
The wisdom of great nations, now no more,
Though laden, not encumber'd with her spoil,
Laborious, yet unconscious of her toil,
When copiously supplied then most enlarged,
Still to be fed, and not to be surcharged.
For her, the fancy roving unconfined,
The present Muse of every pensive mind,
Works magic wonders, adds a brighter hue
To nature's scenes, than nature ever knew;
At her command, winds rise and waters roar,
Again she lays them slumbering on the shore;
With flower and fruit the wilderness supplies,
Or bids the rocks in ruder pomp arise.
For her, the judgment, umpire in the strife,
That grace and nature have to wage through life,
Quick-sighted arbiter of good and ill,
Appointed sage preceptor to the will,
Condemns, approves, and with a faithful voice
Guides the decision of a doubtful choice.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "throne" and "soul" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 6 entries in the ESTC (1786, 1787, 1788, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1798, 1799, 1800).
See Poems, by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq. Volume the Second. Containing the Task. An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq. Tirocinium, or a Review of Schools. And the History of John Gilpin. 2nd ed. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1786). <Link to ESTC>
Reading The Poems of William Cowper, eds. John D. Baird and Charles Ryskamp (Oxford: Oxford UP: 1980), vol. 2 of 3.
See Poems, by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq. Volume the Second. Containing the Task. An Epistle to Joseph Hill, Esq. Tirocinium, or a Review of Schools. And the History of John Gilpin. 2nd ed. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1786). <Link to ESTC>
Reading The Poems of William Cowper, eds. John D. Baird and Charles Ryskamp (Oxford: Oxford UP: 1980), vol. 2 of 3.
Date of Entry
07/30/2004
