"Though shields of gold protect their hearts of steel: / In rags, his best, his noblest friend, can see / If virtue warms his heart, and keeps him free."
— Stockdale, Percival (1736-1811)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and W. Clarke, By W. Pople
Date
1810
Metaphor
"Though shields of gold protect their hearts of steel: / In rags, his best, his noblest friend, can see / If virtue warms his heart, and keeps him free."
Metaphor in Context
Not so, the soul, who views our blooming shore;
Our haven fair, when life's rude storms are o'er;
To him a luminous, bold road is shown;
He marches on; and fears his God alone;
Strives to make tyrants, and oppressors, feel;
Though shields of gold protect their hearts of steel:
In rags, his best, his noblest friend, can see;
If virtue warms his heart, and keeps him free.--
Our haven fair, when life's rude storms are o'er;
To him a luminous, bold road is shown;
He marches on; and fears his God alone;
Strives to make tyrants, and oppressors, feel;
Though shields of gold protect their hearts of steel:
In rags, his best, his noblest friend, can see;
If virtue warms his heart, and keeps him free.--
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Text from The Poetical Works of Percival Stockdale. 2 vols. (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and W. Clarke, By W. Pople, 1810).
Date of Entry
06/11/2005
Date of Review
01/19/2012
