"Think that you hear them plead from Reason's throne!"
— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by Whittingham and Rowland ... for Sharpe and Hailes [etc.]
Date
1810
Metaphor
"Think that you hear them plead from Reason's throne!"
Metaphor in Context
And ye, who guard a generous people's rights,
In whom strong wisdom, with strong power, unites;
Ye chosen guardians of a smiling land,
To whom an empire delegates command;
Patrons, protectors of her awful laws,
Rise ye to aid Compassion's sacred cause;
Your's of the Higher World, the highest place,
Ah! look with Pity on a hapless race,
Thrown on the rage or mercy of mankind,
A tower of strength in you they yet may find.
Think that you see the desolated throng,
Cover'd with stripes, and many a bleeding wrong;
Think that you see the Suppliants at your feet,
And hear the pang-extorted moan and bleat;
Think you behold them congregating round,
Dragging their ruins near your hallow'd ground.
Think that they raise to you th' imploring eye,
The pitious look, deep wound, and piercing cry;
Victims of wanton pride and deadly rage,
O let them all your eloquence engage;
The hard of heart, a moral sense to teach,
Image then gifted with the powers of speech;
Think, that, in verity, just Heav'n bestows
A human voice to tell inhuman woes;
Sublim'd awhile their Nature to your own,
Think that you hear them plead from Reason's throne!
In whom strong wisdom, with strong power, unites;
Ye chosen guardians of a smiling land,
To whom an empire delegates command;
Patrons, protectors of her awful laws,
Rise ye to aid Compassion's sacred cause;
Your's of the Higher World, the highest place,
Ah! look with Pity on a hapless race,
Thrown on the rage or mercy of mankind,
A tower of strength in you they yet may find.
Think that you see the desolated throng,
Cover'd with stripes, and many a bleeding wrong;
Think that you see the Suppliants at your feet,
And hear the pang-extorted moan and bleat;
Think you behold them congregating round,
Dragging their ruins near your hallow'd ground.
Think that they raise to you th' imploring eye,
The pitious look, deep wound, and piercing cry;
Victims of wanton pride and deadly rage,
O let them all your eloquence engage;
The hard of heart, a moral sense to teach,
Image then gifted with the powers of speech;
Think, that, in verity, just Heav'n bestows
A human voice to tell inhuman woes;
Sublim'd awhile their Nature to your own,
Think that you hear them plead from Reason's throne!
Categories
Provenance
Searching "throne" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Samuel Jackson Pratt, The Lower World (London: Whittingham and Rowland, 1810). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
07/27/2004
Date of Review
07/19/2011
