"When Air's pure essence joins the vital flood, / And with phosphoric Acid dyes the blood, / Your Virgin trains the transient Heat dispart, / And lead the soft combustion round the heart; / Life's holy lamp with fires successive feed"
— Darwin, Erasmus (1731-1802)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Johnson
Date
1789, 1791, 1799
Metaphor
"When Air's pure essence joins the vital flood, / And with phosphoric Acid dyes the blood, / Your Virgin trains the transient Heat dispart, / And lead the soft combustion round the heart; / Life's holy lamp with fires successive feed"
Metaphor in Context
"When Air's pure essence joins the vital flood,
And with phosphoric Acid dyes the blood,
Your Virgin trains the transient Heat dispart,
And lead the soft combustion round the heart;
Life's holy lamp with fires successive feed,
From the crown'd forehead to the prostrate weed,
From Earth's proud realms to all that swim or sweep
The yielding ether or tumultuous deep.
You swell the bulb beneath the heaving lawn,
Brood the live seed, unfold the bursting spawn;
Nurse with soft lap, and warm with fragrant breath
The embryon panting in the arms of Death;
Youth's vivid eye with living light adorn,
And fire the rising blush of Beauty's golden morn.
And with phosphoric Acid dyes the blood,
Your Virgin trains the transient Heat dispart,
And lead the soft combustion round the heart;
Life's holy lamp with fires successive feed,
From the crown'd forehead to the prostrate weed,
From Earth's proud realms to all that swim or sweep
The yielding ether or tumultuous deep.
You swell the bulb beneath the heaving lawn,
Brood the live seed, unfold the bursting spawn;
Nurse with soft lap, and warm with fragrant breath
The embryon panting in the arms of Death;
Youth's vivid eye with living light adorn,
And fire the rising blush of Beauty's golden morn.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 13 entries in the ESTC (1789, 1790, 1791, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1798, 1799).
Text from The Botanic Garden, a Poem. In Two Parts. Part I. Containing the Economy of Vegetation, Part II. The Loves of the Plants. With Philosophical Notes. 4th ed. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1799).
See The Botanic Garden, Part II. Containing the Loves of the Plants, a Poem. With Philosophical Notes. Volume the Second. (Lichfield : printed by J. Jackson. Sold by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard, London: M,DCC,LXXXIX. (entered at Stationers Hall.), [1789]). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Botanic Garden, a Poem. In Two Parts. Part I. Containing the Economy of Vegetation, Part II. The Loves of the Plants. With Philosophical Notes. 4th ed. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1799).
See The Botanic Garden, Part II. Containing the Loves of the Plants, a Poem. With Philosophical Notes. Volume the Second. (Lichfield : printed by J. Jackson. Sold by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard, London: M,DCC,LXXXIX. (entered at Stationers Hall.), [1789]). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
01/19/2006
