"Yet ruthless Rulers! hearts of stone and steel!"
— Merry, Robert (1755-1798)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by John Bell
Date
1790
Metaphor
"Yet ruthless Rulers! hearts of stone and steel!"
Metaphor in Context
Yet ruthless Rulers! hearts of stone and steel!
Ye, who can never heed what others feel,
But swol'n with pow'r, and insolence of state,
Presume to call your little selves, the great!
Yet shall my song all feeble tho' it be,
Awake the latent spark of energy;
And shew, in Nature's universal scale,
That each with each must equally prevail,
That she no real difference decreed,
'Twixt those that dominate, and those that bleed,
But nobly scorns the poor presumptuous pleas,
Of such, as wish to live in wealth, and ease,
Who deem that wretches ought to weep, and toil,
For them to feast and gorge upon the spoil.
Yes, while keen sorrow rends my troubled soul,
And o'er my lids the scalding tumours roll,
My faithful song that with the suff'rance blends,
Shall call on Virtue's, and on Freedom's friends:
Point ev'ry grief that desolates the slave,
Unceasing labour, and an early grave;--
Or, dropping here the germe of truth sublime,
Shall leave th'event to mercy and to time.
Ye, who can never heed what others feel,
But swol'n with pow'r, and insolence of state,
Presume to call your little selves, the great!
Yet shall my song all feeble tho' it be,
Awake the latent spark of energy;
And shew, in Nature's universal scale,
That each with each must equally prevail,
That she no real difference decreed,
'Twixt those that dominate, and those that bleed,
But nobly scorns the poor presumptuous pleas,
Of such, as wish to live in wealth, and ease,
Who deem that wretches ought to weep, and toil,
For them to feast and gorge upon the spoil.
Yes, while keen sorrow rends my troubled soul,
And o'er my lids the scalding tumours roll,
My faithful song that with the suff'rance blends,
Shall call on Virtue's, and on Freedom's friends:
Point ev'ry grief that desolates the slave,
Unceasing labour, and an early grave;--
Or, dropping here the germe of truth sublime,
Shall leave th'event to mercy and to time.
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1790).
The Laurel of Liberty; a Poem. By Robert Merry, A. M. Member of the Royal Academy of Florence (London: Printed by John Bell, 1790).
The Laurel of Liberty; a Poem. By Robert Merry, A. M. Member of the Royal Academy of Florence (London: Printed by John Bell, 1790).
Date of Entry
06/10/2005
