"The polish'd links that form the social chain, / For ages still to ages may remain / Nor snapt by rage, nor undermin'd by art, / If well the rivets join in every part; / But if those links that would the peasant bind, / Gall his chaf'd body, and corrode his mind, / The poor man's iron, and the rich man's gold / Say, who the future changes may unfold?"
— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)
Place of Publication
London
Date
1801, 1803
Metaphor
"The polish'd links that form the social chain, / For ages still to ages may remain / Nor snapt by rage, nor undermin'd by art, / If well the rivets join in every part; / But if those links that would the peasant bind, / Gall his chaf'd body, and corrode his mind, / The poor man's iron, and the rich man's gold / Say, who the future changes may unfold?"
Metaphor in Context
Would power sustain th' advantage it has gain'd?
Be it with liberal modesty sustain'd:
To reach the end of all man's wealth and care,
The means how easy--to enjoy and share.
The polish'd links that form the social chain,
For ages still to ages may remain,
Nor snapt by rage, nor undermin'd by art,
If well the rivets join in every part;
But if those links that would the peasant bind,
Gall his chaf'd body, and corrode his mind,
The poor man's iron, and the rich man's gold,
Say, who the future changes may unfold?
(pp. 34-35)
Be it with liberal modesty sustain'd:
To reach the end of all man's wealth and care,
The means how easy--to enjoy and share.
The polish'd links that form the social chain,
For ages still to ages may remain,
Nor snapt by rage, nor undermin'd by art,
If well the rivets join in every part;
But if those links that would the peasant bind,
Gall his chaf'd body, and corrode his mind,
The poor man's iron, and the rich man's gold,
Say, who the future changes may unfold?
(pp. 34-35)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "iron" in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in Google Books.
Citation
First published as Bread; or, The Poor (Messrs. Longman and Rees, and T. Becket, 1801). [Not consulted]
Retitled Cottage-Pictures; or, The Poor: A Poem, with Notes and illustrations, by Mr. Pratt. Third edition, with Five Engravings, by Cardon, after Loutherbourg (London: Printed for J. N. Longman and O. Rees, Vernor and Hood, J. Hatchard, and T. Becket, 1803). <Link to Google Books>
Retitled Cottage-Pictures; or, The Poor: A Poem, with Notes and illustrations, by Mr. Pratt. Third edition, with Five Engravings, by Cardon, after Loutherbourg (London: Printed for J. N. Longman and O. Rees, Vernor and Hood, J. Hatchard, and T. Becket, 1803). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
06/07/2005
Date of Review
06/26/2011
