"But men's thoughts were the steps which paved thy throne, / Their admiration thy best weapon shone."
— Byron, George Gordon Noel, sixth Baron Byron (1788-1824)
Date
1816
Metaphor
"But men's thoughts were the steps which paved thy throne, / Their admiration thy best weapon shone."
Metaphor in Context
If, like a tower upon a headlong rock,
Thou hadst been made to stand or fall alone,
Such scorn of man had helped to brave the shock;
But men's thoughts were the steps which paved thy throne,
Their admiration thy best weapon shone;
The part of Philip's son was thine, not then
(Unless aside thy Purple had been thrown)
Like stern Diogenes to mock at men--
For sceptred Cynics Earth were far too wide a den
(p. 868, ll. 361-9)
Thou hadst been made to stand or fall alone,
Such scorn of man had helped to brave the shock;
But men's thoughts were the steps which paved thy throne,
Their admiration thy best weapon shone;
The part of Philip's son was thine, not then
(Unless aside thy Purple had been thrown)
Like stern Diogenes to mock at men--
For sceptred Cynics Earth were far too wide a den
(p. 868, ll. 361-9)
Categories
Provenance
Reading in Perkins. Text from HDIS.
Citation
Perkins, David, ed. English Romantic Writers. 2nd ed. Harcourt Brace Publishers, 1995.
Date of Entry
05/27/2008
Date of Review
05/27/2008
