"For scenes that frequent shapes of Death impart / Arm the firm breast, and steel the manly heart"
— Pye, Henry James (1745-1813)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for John Stockdale
Date
1787
Metaphor
"For scenes that frequent shapes of Death impart / Arm the firm breast, and steel the manly heart"
Metaphor in Context
Full on the shore the giddy vessel drives,
And the rude shock her solid timbers rives,
The lashing wave her batter'd planks divides,
And o'er her deck the sea resistless rides.--
Say shall no voice in pitying strains relate
The hardy mariner's untimely fate,
Who oft Britannia's streaming flag unfurl'd
To the wild inmates of the Southern world,
Or with bold prow the hostile fleet explor'd
When louder than the surge the battle roar'd?
Yes! yes! to them the sorrowing Muse shall pay
The votive tribute of a mournful lay:
Yet while she pours the unavailing tear
Some transient gleams the night of horror chear.
For scenes that frequent shapes of Death impart
Arm the firm breast, and steel the manly heart;
And he who oft has seen his ghastly form
Glare in the fight, and thunder in the storm,
Will with bold arm his tyrant force engage,
And while he combats mitigates his rage.
And the rude shock her solid timbers rives,
The lashing wave her batter'd planks divides,
And o'er her deck the sea resistless rides.--
Say shall no voice in pitying strains relate
The hardy mariner's untimely fate,
Who oft Britannia's streaming flag unfurl'd
To the wild inmates of the Southern world,
Or with bold prow the hostile fleet explor'd
When louder than the surge the battle roar'd?
Yes! yes! to them the sorrowing Muse shall pay
The votive tribute of a mournful lay:
Yet while she pours the unavailing tear
Some transient gleams the night of horror chear.
For scenes that frequent shapes of Death impart
Arm the firm breast, and steel the manly heart;
And he who oft has seen his ghastly form
Glare in the fight, and thunder in the storm,
Will with bold arm his tyrant force engage,
And while he combats mitigates his rage.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry); found again "breast"
Citation
Only 1 entry in the ESTC (1787).
See Poems on Various Subjects. By Henry James Pye, 2 vols. (London: John Stockdale, 1787). <Link to ECCO> <Link to vol. ii in Google Books>
See Poems on Various Subjects. By Henry James Pye, 2 vols. (London: John Stockdale, 1787). <Link to ECCO> <Link to vol. ii in Google Books>
Date of Entry
06/10/2005
