"But souls in common are a dreary waste, / By brambles, thistles, barb'rous docks disgrac'd; / That need the ploughshare, harrow, and the fire--"
— Wolcot, John, pseud. Peter Pindar, (1738-1819)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for H. D. Symonds
Date
1792
Metaphor
"But souls in common are a dreary waste, / By brambles, thistles, barb'rous docks disgrac'd; / That need the ploughshare, harrow, and the fire--"
Metaphor in Context
But souls in common are a dreary waste,
By brambles, thistles, barb'rous docks disgrac'd;
That need the ploughshare, harrow, and the fire--
Some souls are caves of filth and spectred gloom,
That want a window and a broom,
To yield them light, and clear the mire.
When honours lift th' unworthy fool on high,
On Fortune how with fierce contempt I scowl!
She hangs a dirty cloud upon the sky,
And with an eagle's pinion imps an ow
By brambles, thistles, barb'rous docks disgrac'd;
That need the ploughshare, harrow, and the fire--
Some souls are caves of filth and spectred gloom,
That want a window and a broom,
To yield them light, and clear the mire.
When honours lift th' unworthy fool on high,
On Fortune how with fierce contempt I scowl!
She hangs a dirty cloud upon the sky,
And with an eagle's pinion imps an ow
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 8 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1792, 1793, 1794, 1795).
A Pair of Lyric Epistles to Lord Macartney and His Ship. By Peter Pindar, Esq. (London: Printed for H. D. Symonds, No 20, Paternoster-Row, 1792). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Works of Peter Pindar, 4 vols. (London: Printed for Walker and Edwards, 1816).
A Pair of Lyric Epistles to Lord Macartney and His Ship. By Peter Pindar, Esq. (London: Printed for H. D. Symonds, No 20, Paternoster-Row, 1792). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Works of Peter Pindar, 4 vols. (London: Printed for Walker and Edwards, 1816).
Date of Entry
01/18/2006
