"Hence the same Charity, heart-cheering guest, / That burnt, with fervent flame, in Dryden's breast, / Inspirits mine"
— Mason, William (1725-1797)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies
Date
w. 1796, 1811
Metaphor
"Hence the same Charity, heart-cheering guest, / That burnt, with fervent flame, in Dryden's breast, / Inspirits mine"
Metaphor in Context
Who founds his faith on Revelation's base
Must hold, that all of Adam's sinful race
Inherit death from their delinquent sire:
Yet still may christian Charity aspire,
To nurse a modest hope that those who lie
Uncherish'd by the Day-spring from on high
May still be blest, ev'n though a tenfold shade
Of Pagan darkness now involves their head;
And only those, the obstinately blind,
Will meet the doom intail'd on lost mankind.
Hence the same Charity, heart-cheering guest,
That burnt, with fervent flame, in Dryden's breast,
Inspirits mine; that Charity, which Paul
Says "hopeth all things, and believeth all,"
But this is not reveal'd: what is alone
The true believer dares to call his own.
More he may hope, and he that hopes the most,
Though haply by some waves of error tost,
Will steer his Christian bark from quicksands free,
Whose helm is Faith, whose sail is Charity.
Must hold, that all of Adam's sinful race
Inherit death from their delinquent sire:
Yet still may christian Charity aspire,
To nurse a modest hope that those who lie
Uncherish'd by the Day-spring from on high
May still be blest, ev'n though a tenfold shade
Of Pagan darkness now involves their head;
And only those, the obstinately blind,
Will meet the doom intail'd on lost mankind.
Hence the same Charity, heart-cheering guest,
That burnt, with fervent flame, in Dryden's breast,
Inspirits mine; that Charity, which Paul
Says "hopeth all things, and believeth all,"
But this is not reveal'd: what is alone
The true believer dares to call his own.
More he may hope, and he that hopes the most,
Though haply by some waves of error tost,
Will steer his Christian bark from quicksands free,
Whose helm is Faith, whose sail is Charity.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "guest" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Text from The Works of William Mason 4 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1811). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
03/13/2006
