"A Whirlpool swallowing up each awful thought / That Heav'n had stamp'd, or education taught."
— Woodhouse, James (bap. 1735, d. 1820)
Publisher
Printed for the author by Watts and Bridgewater
Date
1803
Metaphor
"A Whirlpool swallowing up each awful thought / That Heav'n had stamp'd, or education taught."
Metaphor in Context
Innumerous beauties spread the space between,
Where every Art adorns the vivid scene;
All architectural cunning can supply,
To fence the frame, or fascinate the eye.
All Horticulture's compound pow'rs can yield,
Or Husbandry produce in fatten'd field;
Irriguous gardens, shades, and shrubberies bright,
For Leisure's lounge, or Luxury's delight.
Towns--hamlets--sumptuous domes, in prospect rise
And scarce a scrap of Earth neglected lies.
All fair and fertile by the plough, or spade--
With strengthening crops, or ornaments, array'd--
Where Usefulness and Beauty bless each part,
To cherish hope, and charm the eye and heart;
Except, O Epsom! thy uncultur'd wild,
By wisdom spurn'd--by Dissipation spoil'd!
In Nature's rugged garment rude, and waste!
By Toil unbroken, and unbless'd by Taste!
Where, Friends in semblance, Dupes and Swindlers, meet,
Caress each other, and each other cheat.
Vile mint of execrations, oaths, and lies,
That prove the Scoundrel, and provoke the Skies!
Mad chaos of Debauchery, Filth, and Fraud!
That none but Knaves approve, and Fools applaud.
Confusion--Uproar--Impudence--and Lust--
Bless'd Peace appal, and Decency disgust.
Where Justice staggers--Reason feels offence--
And Trick, and Trifling, banish Truth and Sense.
Where Folly all Reflection overturns--
Pure Conscience boggles--every Virtue burns--
All held, by Angels, or by Christians, dear,
Trod down by Phrenzy in her fierce career.
A Whirlpool swallowing up each awful thought
That Heav'n had stamp'd, or education taught.
Where Nature's noble Brute, caress'd before,
Is bath'd in floods of sweat, and streams of gore,
His strength and constitution soon destroy'd;
A sacrifice to Selfishness or Pride!
Erewhile so tender, so superbly, bred--
Like Peers' or Princes' offspring lodg'd and fed--
With separate Servant at his shrine to crouch;
To store his table--and to shake his couch--
Yet, after all, so nurtur'd, and so nurs'd,
Soon by Caprice and Persecution curs'd--
When, having long maintain'd exalted name,
And rais'd his Master's fortune, or his fame,
From battening board and kind Attention turn'd;
In rank degraded, and by Sportsmen spurn'd,
His short remains of life in misery spends,
And, friendless days, in ditch, or kennel, ends!
Where every Art adorns the vivid scene;
All architectural cunning can supply,
To fence the frame, or fascinate the eye.
All Horticulture's compound pow'rs can yield,
Or Husbandry produce in fatten'd field;
Irriguous gardens, shades, and shrubberies bright,
For Leisure's lounge, or Luxury's delight.
Towns--hamlets--sumptuous domes, in prospect rise
And scarce a scrap of Earth neglected lies.
All fair and fertile by the plough, or spade--
With strengthening crops, or ornaments, array'd--
Where Usefulness and Beauty bless each part,
To cherish hope, and charm the eye and heart;
Except, O Epsom! thy uncultur'd wild,
By wisdom spurn'd--by Dissipation spoil'd!
In Nature's rugged garment rude, and waste!
By Toil unbroken, and unbless'd by Taste!
Where, Friends in semblance, Dupes and Swindlers, meet,
Caress each other, and each other cheat.
Vile mint of execrations, oaths, and lies,
That prove the Scoundrel, and provoke the Skies!
Mad chaos of Debauchery, Filth, and Fraud!
That none but Knaves approve, and Fools applaud.
Confusion--Uproar--Impudence--and Lust--
Bless'd Peace appal, and Decency disgust.
Where Justice staggers--Reason feels offence--
And Trick, and Trifling, banish Truth and Sense.
Where Folly all Reflection overturns--
Pure Conscience boggles--every Virtue burns--
All held, by Angels, or by Christians, dear,
Trod down by Phrenzy in her fierce career.
A Whirlpool swallowing up each awful thought
That Heav'n had stamp'd, or education taught.
Where Nature's noble Brute, caress'd before,
Is bath'd in floods of sweat, and streams of gore,
His strength and constitution soon destroy'd;
A sacrifice to Selfishness or Pride!
Erewhile so tender, so superbly, bred--
Like Peers' or Princes' offspring lodg'd and fed--
With separate Servant at his shrine to crouch;
To store his table--and to shake his couch--
Yet, after all, so nurtur'd, and so nurs'd,
Soon by Caprice and Persecution curs'd--
When, having long maintain'd exalted name,
And rais'd his Master's fortune, or his fame,
From battening board and kind Attention turn'd;
In rank degraded, and by Sportsmen spurn'd,
His short remains of life in misery spends,
And, friendless days, in ditch, or kennel, ends!
Categories
Provenance
Searching "stamp" and "thought" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
James Woodhouse, Norbury Park, A Poem: With Several Others, Written on Various Occasions (Printed for the author by Watts and Bridgewater, and sold by H.D. Symonds, Cuthell and Martin, and by the author, 1803).
Text from The Life and Poetical Works of James Woodhouse, ed. R. I. Woodhouse, 2 vols. (London: The Leadenhall Press, 1896). <Link to Hathi Trust> <Link to LION>
Text from The Life and Poetical Works of James Woodhouse, ed. R. I. Woodhouse, 2 vols. (London: The Leadenhall Press, 1896). <Link to Hathi Trust> <Link to LION>
Date of Entry
04/11/2005
