" Till Shakespeare touch'd the soul with all her smart, / And stamp'd her living image on the heart."
— Blacklock, Thomas (1721-1791)
Work Title
Place of Publication
Edinburgh
Date
1754, 1793
Metaphor
" Till Shakespeare touch'd the soul with all her smart, / And stamp'd her living image on the heart."
Metaphor in Context
Once fair she flourish'd, nature's joy and pride,
But droop'd and wither'd, when a father dy'd.
Severe extremes of tenderness and woe,
When love and virtue mourn one common blow;
When griefs alternate o'er the bosom reign,
And ev'ry sense, and ev'ry thought is pain!
Here nature triumph'd, on her throne sublime,
And mock'd each pigmy muse of later time;
Till Shakespeare touch'd the soul with all her smart,
And stamp'd her living image on the heart.
But droop'd and wither'd, when a father dy'd.
Severe extremes of tenderness and woe,
When love and virtue mourn one common blow;
When griefs alternate o'er the bosom reign,
And ev'ry sense, and ev'ry thought is pain!
Here nature triumph'd, on her throne sublime,
And mock'd each pigmy muse of later time;
Till Shakespeare touch'd the soul with all her smart,
And stamp'd her living image on the heart.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "soul" and "stamp" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 5 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1754, 1756, 1793).
See Poems on Several Occasions. By Thomas Blacklock, Student of Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. (Edinburgh: Printed by Hamilton, Balfour and Neill, 1754). <Link to ECCO>
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, Edinburgh, and T. Cadell, London, 1793). <Link to ESTC>
See Poems on Several Occasions. By Thomas Blacklock, Student of Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. (Edinburgh: Printed by Hamilton, Balfour and Neill, 1754). <Link to ECCO>
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, Edinburgh, and T. Cadell, London, 1793). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
04/07/2005
