"Twas but a coinage vain / Of the distemper'd fancy! Gone, 'tis gone,"
— Dodd, William (1729-1777)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for C. Dilly, in the Poultry
Date
1777, 1793
Metaphor
"Twas but a coinage vain / Of the distemper'd fancy! Gone, 'tis gone,"
Metaphor in Context
"Dear father, is it thou?" Methought his ghost
Glided in silence by me! Not a word,--
While mournfully he shakes his dear pale face!
O stay, thou much-lov'd parent! stay, and give
One word of consolation; if allow'd
To son, like whom no son hath ever lov'd,
None ever suffer'd! See, it comes again:
August it flits across th'astonish'd room!
I know thee well, thy beauteous image know:
Dear spirit stay, and take me to the world
Where thou art. And where thou art, oh my father,
I must, I must be happy.--Every day
Thou know'st, remembrance hath embalm'd thy love,
And wish'd thy presence. Melancholy thought,
At last to meet thee in a place like this!
Oh stay, and waft me instant--But, 'tis gone,
The dear delusion! He nor hears my words,
My filial anxiety, nor regards
My pleading tears. 'Twas but a coinage vain
Of the distemper'd fancy! Gone, 'tis gone,
And here I'm left a trembling wretch, to weep
Unheard, unpitied left, to weep alone!
(pp. 97-8; cf. p. 100 in 1793 ed.)
Glided in silence by me! Not a word,--
While mournfully he shakes his dear pale face!
O stay, thou much-lov'd parent! stay, and give
One word of consolation; if allow'd
To son, like whom no son hath ever lov'd,
None ever suffer'd! See, it comes again:
August it flits across th'astonish'd room!
I know thee well, thy beauteous image know:
Dear spirit stay, and take me to the world
Where thou art. And where thou art, oh my father,
I must, I must be happy.--Every day
Thou know'st, remembrance hath embalm'd thy love,
And wish'd thy presence. Melancholy thought,
At last to meet thee in a place like this!
Oh stay, and waft me instant--But, 'tis gone,
The dear delusion! He nor hears my words,
My filial anxiety, nor regards
My pleading tears. 'Twas but a coinage vain
Of the distemper'd fancy! Gone, 'tis gone,
And here I'm left a trembling wretch, to weep
Unheard, unpitied left, to weep alone!
(pp. 97-8; cf. p. 100 in 1793 ed.)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "fancy" and "coin" in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in ECCO.
Citation
10 entries in ESTC (1777, 1778, 1781, 1783, 1789, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796).
Text from Thoughts in Prison, in Five Parts, viz. The Imprisonment--The Retrospect--Public Punishment--The Trial--Futurity; By the Rev. William Dodd. To which are added, His Last Prayer, Written in the Night before his Death; The Convict's Address to his Unhappy Brethren; and Other Miscellaneous Pieces: With an Account of the Author, and a List of his Works, 4th ed. (London: Printed for C. Dilly, in the Poultry, 1793). <Link to ESTC>
Compare Thoughts in Prison: In Five Parts. Viz. the Imprisonment. The Retrospect. Publick Punishment. The Trial. Futurity. By the Rev. William Dodd, LLD. To Which Are Added, His Last Prayer, Written in the Night Before His Death: and Other Miscellaneous Pieces. (London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, in the Poultry; and G. Kearsly, at No 46, in Fleet-Street, 1777). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Thoughts in Prison, in Five Parts, viz. The Imprisonment--The Retrospect--Public Punishment--The Trial--Futurity; By the Rev. William Dodd. To which are added, His Last Prayer, Written in the Night before his Death; The Convict's Address to his Unhappy Brethren; and Other Miscellaneous Pieces: With an Account of the Author, and a List of his Works, 4th ed. (London: Printed for C. Dilly, in the Poultry, 1793). <Link to ESTC>
Compare Thoughts in Prison: In Five Parts. Viz. the Imprisonment. The Retrospect. Publick Punishment. The Trial. Futurity. By the Rev. William Dodd, LLD. To Which Are Added, His Last Prayer, Written in the Night Before His Death: and Other Miscellaneous Pieces. (London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, in the Poultry; and G. Kearsly, at No 46, in Fleet-Street, 1777). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
04/14/2005
Date of Review
04/26/2007
