"Without reflection, or comparison / They take what offers to th' untroubled mirror / Of their slight intellects"
— Brydges, Sir Samuel Egerton (1762-1837)
Place of Publication
Great Totham
Publisher
Charles Clark's Private Press
Date
1850
Metaphor
"Without reflection, or comparison / They take what offers to th' untroubled mirror / Of their slight intellects"
Metaphor in Context
Rightly to apprehend the mysteries
Of earth, and its most polish'd human habitants
Exalts the faculties of enjoyment in us;
But with it comes the keen and dire perception
Of wrongs and follies, which the heart embitters,
Then morbidness surmounts the pure delight
Of senses open to creation's charms.
The spells that play upon the surface, better
Perchance may frail humanity befit!
Without reflection, or comparison
They take what offers to th' untroubled mirror
Of their slight intellects; no poignant thoughts
Of past or future intervene to throw
Clouds on the gentle sunshine of the moment.
The sting of recollection is not theirs;
Nor terror of the storm that in repose
Lies hush'd; full gather'd in the distant sky.
Thus then, may seem, equality is brought,
And counterbalances for nature's treasures.
Darkly we see, and e'en the wisest see
We know not why we are so fearfully
Made, and so contradictory in nature.
Misfortune oft upon the heels attends
Of Virtue and grand qualities of mind,
And never quits them! It may be defect
Of worldly cunning, and the serpent's wisdom.
To semble and dissemble, is the art
To be successful in this life of falsehood!
And politicians play a game of trickery
In private paths, as in affairs of state!
Who are the rich? and how gain they their treasures?
How rare is new-got wealth with honesty
Acquir'd! The gambles of the Stock-Exchange;
Its lies habitual and incessant; frauds
Of foulness horrible, and unsuspected,
Extortion from the blood of famish'd faith;
Plunder of public funds, and perjury,
And murder of the innocent;--too oft
Whole tribes and nations! and then daily pilfer
By little and by little in all dealings;
And Jewish interest, and cruel loans
Of mean deception to necessity!
Such is too oft the scource of new-got riches!
Were Riches but the power to benefit
Our suffering fellow-beings,--wipe the tear
From misery and want, and lift the good
And highly-gifted with the ornaments
And strength of native talent, or great hearts,
Then by all virtuous means, at least, we might
Desire it, and put forth our efforts for it:
But e'en when honestly inherited,
Or gain'd by virtuous means, how rarely is it
Dispens'd for good, or innocently us'd!
How oft it pampers indolence, that generates
Ennui, and feebleness, and rank disease!
And then the mind and heart deteriorate,
And lose the intellectual rank of man!
Of earth, and its most polish'd human habitants
Exalts the faculties of enjoyment in us;
But with it comes the keen and dire perception
Of wrongs and follies, which the heart embitters,
Then morbidness surmounts the pure delight
Of senses open to creation's charms.
The spells that play upon the surface, better
Perchance may frail humanity befit!
Without reflection, or comparison
They take what offers to th' untroubled mirror
Of their slight intellects; no poignant thoughts
Of past or future intervene to throw
Clouds on the gentle sunshine of the moment.
The sting of recollection is not theirs;
Nor terror of the storm that in repose
Lies hush'd; full gather'd in the distant sky.
Thus then, may seem, equality is brought,
And counterbalances for nature's treasures.
Darkly we see, and e'en the wisest see
We know not why we are so fearfully
Made, and so contradictory in nature.
Misfortune oft upon the heels attends
Of Virtue and grand qualities of mind,
And never quits them! It may be defect
Of worldly cunning, and the serpent's wisdom.
To semble and dissemble, is the art
To be successful in this life of falsehood!
And politicians play a game of trickery
In private paths, as in affairs of state!
Who are the rich? and how gain they their treasures?
How rare is new-got wealth with honesty
Acquir'd! The gambles of the Stock-Exchange;
Its lies habitual and incessant; frauds
Of foulness horrible, and unsuspected,
Extortion from the blood of famish'd faith;
Plunder of public funds, and perjury,
And murder of the innocent;--too oft
Whole tribes and nations! and then daily pilfer
By little and by little in all dealings;
And Jewish interest, and cruel loans
Of mean deception to necessity!
Such is too oft the scource of new-got riches!
Were Riches but the power to benefit
Our suffering fellow-beings,--wipe the tear
From misery and want, and lift the good
And highly-gifted with the ornaments
And strength of native talent, or great hearts,
Then by all virtuous means, at least, we might
Desire it, and put forth our efforts for it:
But e'en when honestly inherited,
Or gain'd by virtuous means, how rarely is it
Dispens'd for good, or innocently us'd!
How oft it pampers indolence, that generates
Ennui, and feebleness, and rank disease!
And then the mind and heart deteriorate,
And lose the intellectual rank of man!
Categories
Provenance
Searching "thought" and "mirror" in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
12/14/2005
