"May Europe's race the generous toil pursue, / And Truth's broad mirror spread to every view; / Awake to Reason's voice the savage mind, / Check Error's force, and civilize mankind."
— Pye, Henry James (1745-1813)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for John Stockdale
Date
1787
Metaphor
"May Europe's race the generous toil pursue, / And Truth's broad mirror spread to every view; / Awake to Reason's voice the savage mind, / Check Error's force, and civilize mankind."
Metaphor in Context
May Europe's race the generous toil pursue,
And Truth's broad mirror spread to every view;
Awake to Reason's voice the savage mind,
Check Error's force, and civilize mankind;
Faith's radiant beam impart to farthest climes,
And teach pure Wisdom undebas'd by crimes;
To the free breeze the swelling sail unfold
Impell'd by Virtue, not allur'd by Gold.
No more with arms the trembling tribes destroy,
But soft Persuasion's gentler Powers employ,
Till, from her throne barbarian Rudeness hurl'd,
Refinement spread her Empire o'er the world.
And Truth's broad mirror spread to every view;
Awake to Reason's voice the savage mind,
Check Error's force, and civilize mankind;
Faith's radiant beam impart to farthest climes,
And teach pure Wisdom undebas'd by crimes;
To the free breeze the swelling sail unfold
Impell'd by Virtue, not allur'd by Gold.
No more with arms the trembling tribes destroy,
But soft Persuasion's gentler Powers employ,
Till, from her throne barbarian Rudeness hurl'd,
Refinement spread her Empire o'er the world.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "reason" and "mirror" in HDIS (Poetry)
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
11/30/2005