"Oh! I'm sick to the soul, to see Music alone, / Stretch her negligent length on the Drama's gay throne; / Where Muses more honor'd by Wisdom should sit, / To adorn the heart's mirror, and fashion our wit"
— Williams, John [pseud. Anthony Pasquin] (1754-1818)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
J. Strahan, W. Creech, J. Potts, P. Byrne, and the Author
Date
1786, 1787, 1788; 1789
Metaphor
"Oh! I'm sick to the soul, to see Music alone, / Stretch her negligent length on the Drama's gay throne; / Where Muses more honor'd by Wisdom should sit, / To adorn the heart's mirror, and fashion our wit"
Metaphor in Context
In opposing the follies and vice of the stage,
I must stand as a mark for the arrows of Rage;
Proscrib'd from those douceurs enjoy'd by that crowd,
Who are mean without merit, and servile tho' loud;
If I fall by Resentment, effecting my plan,
I hope when I'm martyr'd, to fall--like a man.--
Oh! I'm sick to the soul, to see Music alone,
Stretch her negligent length on the Drama's gay throne;
Where Muses more honor'd by Wisdom should sit,
To adorn the heart's mirror, and fashion our wit.
Let the Wench have her place, as a Wench worth respecting,
But to wound her old sisters, is base and affecting:
As all the high orders of Science deplore,
That their use is neglected, and influence is o'er.--
Tho' obedient Shields charms the ear by his skill,
He exalts his meek name, by resigning his will.
And Linley pens canzonets Pleasure holds dear,
Tho' Pensiveness dims every note with a tear;
But Arnold steps forward with colossal stride,
To command in the van, and diminish their pride;
Unabash'd he disports with the Orphean lyre,
As Judgment and Harmony temper his fire;
While the spirit of Handel, with rapture imprest,
Thinks the doomsday is o'er, and it flits mid the bless'd.
I must stand as a mark for the arrows of Rage;
Proscrib'd from those douceurs enjoy'd by that crowd,
Who are mean without merit, and servile tho' loud;
If I fall by Resentment, effecting my plan,
I hope when I'm martyr'd, to fall--like a man.--
Oh! I'm sick to the soul, to see Music alone,
Stretch her negligent length on the Drama's gay throne;
Where Muses more honor'd by Wisdom should sit,
To adorn the heart's mirror, and fashion our wit.
Let the Wench have her place, as a Wench worth respecting,
But to wound her old sisters, is base and affecting:
As all the high orders of Science deplore,
That their use is neglected, and influence is o'er.--
Tho' obedient Shields charms the ear by his skill,
He exalts his meek name, by resigning his will.
And Linley pens canzonets Pleasure holds dear,
Tho' Pensiveness dims every note with a tear;
But Arnold steps forward with colossal stride,
To command in the van, and diminish their pride;
Unabash'd he disports with the Orphean lyre,
As Judgment and Harmony temper his fire;
While the spirit of Handel, with rapture imprest,
Thinks the doomsday is o'er, and it flits mid the bless'd.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "mirror" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Published in parts: the first in 1786, the second in 1787, and the third in 1788. At least 9 entries in ECCO, LION, and ESTC (1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1792).
See The Children of Thespis. A Poem. Part First. (London: Printed by Denew and Grant, No 91, Wardour-Street, Soho; and sold by J. Bew; T. Hookman; and R. Jameson, 1786). <Link to ESTC>
And The Children of Thespis. A Poem. By Anthony Pasquin, Esq. Part the Second. (London: Printed by Denew & Grant; and sold by J. Bew; and J. Strahan, 1787). <Link to ESTC>
And The Children of Thespis. A Poem. By Anthony Pasquin, Esq. Part the Third. (London: Printed for J. Strahan, No. 67, near the Adelphi, Strand, 1788). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Poems: By Anthony Pasquin, 2nd ed. (London: Printed for J. Strahan, No. 67, Near the Adelphi, Strand; W. Creech, Edinburgh; J. Potts, and P. Byrne, Dublin; and the author, [London] No. 125, Strand, 1789). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link to Google Books>
See The Children of Thespis. A Poem. Part First. (London: Printed by Denew and Grant, No 91, Wardour-Street, Soho; and sold by J. Bew; T. Hookman; and R. Jameson, 1786). <Link to ESTC>
And The Children of Thespis. A Poem. By Anthony Pasquin, Esq. Part the Second. (London: Printed by Denew & Grant; and sold by J. Bew; and J. Strahan, 1787). <Link to ESTC>
And The Children of Thespis. A Poem. By Anthony Pasquin, Esq. Part the Third. (London: Printed for J. Strahan, No. 67, near the Adelphi, Strand, 1788). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Poems: By Anthony Pasquin, 2nd ed. (London: Printed for J. Strahan, No. 67, Near the Adelphi, Strand; W. Creech, Edinburgh; J. Potts, and P. Byrne, Dublin; and the author, [London] No. 125, Strand, 1789). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
11/21/2005
