Marks of mind are "Stamp'd on each countenance"
— Cowper, William (1731-1800)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
The Speaker
Date
1792
Metaphor
Marks of mind are "Stamp'd on each countenance"
Metaphor in Context
Awhile they mused; surveying every face,
Thou hadst supposed them of superior race;
Their periwigs of wool and fears combined,
Stamp'd on each countenance such marks of mind,
That sage they seem'd, as lawyers o'er a doubt,
Which, puzzling long, at last they puzzle out;
Or academic tutors, teaching youths,
Sure ne'er to want them, mathematic truths;
When thus a mutton statelier than the rest,
A ram, the ewes and wethers sad address'd:
(ll. 73-82, p. 47)
Thou hadst supposed them of superior race;
Their periwigs of wool and fears combined,
Stamp'd on each countenance such marks of mind,
That sage they seem'd, as lawyers o'er a doubt,
Which, puzzling long, at last they puzzle out;
Or academic tutors, teaching youths,
Sure ne'er to want them, mathematic truths;
When thus a mutton statelier than the rest,
A ram, the ewes and wethers sad address'd:
(ll. 73-82, p. 47)
Categories
Provenance
Found again searching "stamp" and "mind" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Cowper, William. The Poems of William Cowper. 3 vols. Ed. John D. Baird and Charles Ryskamp. Oxford: Oxford UP: 1980. Vol III.
Theme
Physiognomy
Date of Entry
12/30/2003
