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"And the gay vein of sportive Sense / Enrich'd by sterling Innocence; / Th'undrossy treasures of the Mind / Good-humour'd, graceful, and refin'd; / And, rivalling the Seers of old, / Whate'er you touch transmutes to Gold."

— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)

Author

Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)

Work Title

The Philosopher's Stone. To Eliza Bree. [from Harvest-Home: Consisting of Supplementary Gleanings, Original Dramas and Poems, Contributions of Literary Friends, and Select Re-publications, Including Sympathy, a Poem, Revised, Corrected, and Enlarged. From the Eighth edition]

Place of Publication

London

Publisher

Printed for Richard Phillips

Date

1805

Metaphor

"And the gay vein of sportive Sense / Enrich'd by sterling Innocence; / Th'undrossy treasures of the Mind / Good-humour'd, graceful, and refin'd; / And, rivalling the Seers of old, / Whate'er you touch transmutes to Gold."

Metaphor in Context

Or if, as Sages oft have told,
The charm consists in making gold
Pure as if stamp'd in mint divine,--
Eliza, still that mint is thine;
And your sweet Alchemy shall claim,
Beyond the Sage, superior fame.
From that rich mine--a merry heart--
You draw, with more than chemic art,
Of happy thoughts a copious store,
And radiant Gold without the Ore,
And the gay vein of sportive Sense
Enrich'd by sterling Innocence;
Th'undrossy treasures of the Mind,
Good-humour'd, graceful, and refin'd;
And, rivalling the Seers of old,
Whate'er you touch transmutes to Gold.
The Brass of Life, and e'en the Lead,
Turn to this envied Stone instead,
And, by the power of Transmutation,
Grow better by their alteration.
And hence 'tis plain this envied Stone
Belongs to Innocence alone;
And those who are as good as you,
May, if they please, possess it too;
For to be good, and gay, and free,
Is still the best Philosophy.