"Great Frederic!--Form of steel, and soul of flame, / Who shares with Swedish Charles the palm of fame!"
— Seward, Anna (1742-1809)
Author
Place of Publication
Edinburgh
Publisher
Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for John Ballantyne and Co. London. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme
Date
w. 1783, 1810
Metaphor
"Great Frederic!--Form of steel, and soul of flame, / Who shares with Swedish Charles the palm of fame!"
Metaphor in Context
Sinec with the laurels, whose luxuriant bough
Oft veils the sternness of the warrior's brow,
For thee the arts their varied foliage twine,
Their roses blossom, and their myrtles shine,
Why, St. George, should thy soul disdain the powers
So fondly cultur'd in the muses' bowers?
O! shall the etherial dews, by Genius shed,
In full libation, on thy favour'd head,
Be scorn'd, for that their joy-dispensing flood
Feeds not the wreath that vegetates on blood?[1]
Not so the warrior, who, like thee, surveys
Heroic glory with an eagle's gaze,
Great Frederic!--Form of steel, and soul of flame,
Who shares with Swedish Charles the palm of fame!
See him, the toils of camps and battles done,
Pant for the softer wreaths by Fancy won,
Spring to the muses' lists, and ardent dare
The lyric contest with the gay Voltaire!
(II, pp. 215-6)
Oft veils the sternness of the warrior's brow,
For thee the arts their varied foliage twine,
Their roses blossom, and their myrtles shine,
Why, St. George, should thy soul disdain the powers
So fondly cultur'd in the muses' bowers?
O! shall the etherial dews, by Genius shed,
In full libation, on thy favour'd head,
Be scorn'd, for that their joy-dispensing flood
Feeds not the wreath that vegetates on blood?[1]
Not so the warrior, who, like thee, surveys
Heroic glory with an eagle's gaze,
Great Frederic!--Form of steel, and soul of flame,
Who shares with Swedish Charles the palm of fame!
See him, the toils of camps and battles done,
Pant for the softer wreaths by Fancy won,
Spring to the muses' lists, and ardent dare
The lyric contest with the gay Voltaire!
(II, pp. 215-6)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry); found again in Google Books.
Citation
Text from The Poetical Works of Anna Seward; with Extracts from Her Literary Correspondence. ed. Walter Scott. 3 vols. (Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for John Ballantyne and Co., 1810).
Date of Entry
06/12/2005
