One must leave improvements of the "vast domain" and "prop the throne of reason e're it falls."
— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Messrs. Longman and Rees ... and T. Becket ... By W. Dyde [etc.]
Date
1802
Metaphor
One must leave improvements of the "vast domain" and "prop the throne of reason e're it falls."
Metaphor in Context
Ye happier beings! blest in fortune's store,
On mimic ruins waste your wealth no more;
Your mould'ring monuments no more repair,
Far other ruins henceforth be your care:
Search for the failing towers of human kind,
And save that noblest edifice, the mind;
The central column of the dome defend,
Nor let the glory of the fabric bend:
The fabric nods! ah, leave your barren walls,
And prop the throne of reason e're it falls!
Such be th'improvements of your vast domain;
Without them, parks and palaces are vain:
O be the generous architects, to plan
How best to renovate decaying man;
The fragments gather, where in dust they lie,
And heav'n shall bless the work of charity.
On mimic ruins waste your wealth no more;
Your mould'ring monuments no more repair,
Far other ruins henceforth be your care:
Search for the failing towers of human kind,
And save that noblest edifice, the mind;
The central column of the dome defend,
Nor let the glory of the fabric bend:
The fabric nods! ah, leave your barren walls,
And prop the throne of reason e're it falls!
Such be th'improvements of your vast domain;
Without them, parks and palaces are vain:
O be the generous architects, to plan
How best to renovate decaying man;
The fragments gather, where in dust they lie,
And heav'n shall bless the work of charity.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "throne" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
07/27/2004
Date of Review
07/19/2011
