"Pale Fear, and all her haggard train, / That generate and nurture pain, / And each unwelcome mental guest, / Lay dormant in the human breast."
— Williams, John [pseud. Anthony Pasquin] (1754-1818)
Place of Publication
London; Edinburgh
Publisher
Printed for J. Strahan ... and the Author; W. Creech [etc.]
Date
1789?
Metaphor
"Pale Fear, and all her haggard train, / That generate and nurture pain, / And each unwelcome mental guest, / Lay dormant in the human breast."
Metaphor in Context
In such an age, a guileless twain,
Roger and Sue, illum'd the plain;
Unbred in academic schools,
They follow'd Reason and her rules;
In all the paths of prudence trod,
And lov'd their friend, and fear'd their God.
Then Freedom rov'd the mountain's side,
And Innocence was all their pride;
No sadd'ning love-lorn maiden then,
Bemoan'd the perfidy of men;
For Virtue bless'd the rural throng,
Inform'd their hearts, and fed their song.
No vicious tenets broke their rest,
(Like missives from the peevish east,
Blighting the wholesome rip'ning ear)
Or laid the basis of a tear.
The dirty passions of the mind,
Were then subdu'd, controul'd, confin'd;
Pale Fear, and all her haggard train,
That generate and nurture pain,
And each unwelcome mental guest,
Lay dormant in the human breast;
No Cypress then deform'd the brow,
Or mourning willow noted woe;
Or broken oaths made maids forlorn,
For Woe and Vice were then unborn;
Their lives unchoak'd with baneful weeds,
Pass'd in a change of worthy deeds;
The sacred commerce fixt and known,
Supreme delight was all their own.
Roger and Sue, illum'd the plain;
Unbred in academic schools,
They follow'd Reason and her rules;
In all the paths of prudence trod,
And lov'd their friend, and fear'd their God.
Then Freedom rov'd the mountain's side,
And Innocence was all their pride;
No sadd'ning love-lorn maiden then,
Bemoan'd the perfidy of men;
For Virtue bless'd the rural throng,
Inform'd their hearts, and fed their song.
No vicious tenets broke their rest,
(Like missives from the peevish east,
Blighting the wholesome rip'ning ear)
Or laid the basis of a tear.
The dirty passions of the mind,
Were then subdu'd, controul'd, confin'd;
Pale Fear, and all her haggard train,
That generate and nurture pain,
And each unwelcome mental guest,
Lay dormant in the human breast;
No Cypress then deform'd the brow,
Or mourning willow noted woe;
Or broken oaths made maids forlorn,
For Woe and Vice were then unborn;
Their lives unchoak'd with baneful weeds,
Pass'd in a change of worthy deeds;
The sacred commerce fixt and known,
Supreme delight was all their own.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
06/22/2004
Date of Review
01/12/2012
