"Then, then, exert thy utmost pow'r, / And teach me Being to endure; / Lest reason from the helm should start, / And lawless fury rule my heart; / Lest madness all my soul subdue, / To ask her Maker, What dost thou?"
— Blacklock, Thomas (1721-1791)
Work Title
Date
1746, 1793
Metaphor
"Then, then, exert thy utmost pow'r, / And teach me Being to endure; / Lest reason from the helm should start, / And lawless fury rule my heart; / Lest madness all my soul subdue, / To ask her Maker, What dost thou?"
Metaphor in Context
O thou! whose spirit warms my song,
With energy divinely strong,
Erect his soul, confirm his breast,
And let him know the sweets of rest;
Till ev'ry human pain and care,
All that may be, and all that are,
But false imagin'd ills appear
Beneath our hope, our grief, or fear.
And, if I right invoke thy aid,
By thee be all my woes allay'd;
With scorn instruct me to defy
Imposing fear, and lawless joy;
To struggle thro' this scene of strife,
The pains of death, the pangs of life,
With constant brow to meet my fate,
And meet still more, Euanthe's hate.
And, when some swain her charms shall claim,
Who feels not half my gen'rous flame,
Whose cares her angel-voice beguiles,
On whom she bends her heav'nly smiles;
For whom she weeps, for whom she glows,
On whom her treasur'd soul bestows;
When perfect mutual joy they share,
Ah! joy enhanc'd by my despair!
Mix beings in each flaming kiss,
And blest, still rise to higher bliss:
Then, then, exert thy utmost pow'r,
And teach me Being to endure;
Lest reason from the helm should start,
And lawless fury rule my heart;
Lest madness all my soul subdue,
To ask her Maker, What dost thou?
Yet, could'st thou in that dreadful hour,
On my rack'd soul all Lethe pour,
Or fan me with the gelid breeze,
That chains in ice th' indignant seas;
Or wrap my heart in tenfold steel,
I still am man, and still must feel.
With energy divinely strong,
Erect his soul, confirm his breast,
And let him know the sweets of rest;
Till ev'ry human pain and care,
All that may be, and all that are,
But false imagin'd ills appear
Beneath our hope, our grief, or fear.
And, if I right invoke thy aid,
By thee be all my woes allay'd;
With scorn instruct me to defy
Imposing fear, and lawless joy;
To struggle thro' this scene of strife,
The pains of death, the pangs of life,
With constant brow to meet my fate,
And meet still more, Euanthe's hate.
And, when some swain her charms shall claim,
Who feels not half my gen'rous flame,
Whose cares her angel-voice beguiles,
On whom she bends her heav'nly smiles;
For whom she weeps, for whom she glows,
On whom her treasur'd soul bestows;
When perfect mutual joy they share,
Ah! joy enhanc'd by my despair!
Mix beings in each flaming kiss,
And blest, still rise to higher bliss:
Then, then, exert thy utmost pow'r,
And teach me Being to endure;
Lest reason from the helm should start,
And lawless fury rule my heart;
Lest madness all my soul subdue,
To ask her Maker, What dost thou?
Yet, could'st thou in that dreadful hour,
On my rack'd soul all Lethe pour,
Or fan me with the gelid breeze,
That chains in ice th' indignant seas;
Or wrap my heart in tenfold steel,
I still am man, and still must feel.
Provenance
Searching HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
In ECCO and ESTC (1746, 1754, 1770, 1775, 1781, 1793). Found in Lady's Poetical Magazine. Found also in Pearch's Collection of Poems.
See Poems on Several Occasions. By Thomas Blacklock. (Glasgow: Printed for the Author; and Sold by the Booksellers in Town and Country, 1746), pp. 27-8.
Text from Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock; Together with an Essay on the Education of the Blind. To Which is Prefixed A New Account of the Life and Writings of the Author (Edinburgh: Printed by Alexander Chapman and Company; Sold by W. Creech ... and T. Cadell, 1793). <Link to ECCO>
See Poems on Several Occasions. By Thomas Blacklock. (Glasgow: Printed for the Author; and Sold by the Booksellers in Town and Country, 1746), pp. 27-8.
Text from Poems by the Late Reverend Dr. Thomas Blacklock; Together with an Essay on the Education of the Blind. To Which is Prefixed A New Account of the Life and Writings of the Author (Edinburgh: Printed by Alexander Chapman and Company; Sold by W. Creech ... and T. Cadell, 1793). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
06/15/2004
