"Knowledge Divine they by degrees bestow'd, / And with blest Seed your Heart industrious sow'd, / Whence verdant Issues soon began to shoot; / A Bloom ensu'd, that promis'd generous Fruit."
— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by W. Wilkins for Jonas Browne ... and J. Walthoe [etc.]
Date
1718
Metaphor
"Knowledge Divine they by degrees bestow'd, / And with blest Seed your Heart industrious sow'd, / Whence verdant Issues soon began to shoot; / A Bloom ensu'd, that promis'd generous Fruit."
Metaphor in Context
When first to Think your active Mind essay'd,
And young Ideas in your Fancy play'd,
While dawning Reason's unexperienc'd Ray
Drew a faint Scetch of Intellectual Day,
Your Parents, who the Laws of Heav'n revere,
And make Immortal Bliss their pious Care,
Assiduous strove by mild Instructive Light
To form your pliant Infancy aright.
Knowledge Divine they by degrees bestow'd,
And with blest Seed your Heart industrious sow'd,
Whence verdant Issues soon began to shoot;
A Bloom ensu'd, that promis'd generous Fruit.
Drawn by their Pray'r, from Heav'n descending Dews
Cheer the fair Plant, and Heat Divine infuse:
While watchful they destroy'd the springing Weeds,
Baneful to Virtue, which our Bosom breeds,
Nature's spontaneous Growth, that no Assistant needs.
(ll. 1-17)
And young Ideas in your Fancy play'd,
While dawning Reason's unexperienc'd Ray
Drew a faint Scetch of Intellectual Day,
Your Parents, who the Laws of Heav'n revere,
And make Immortal Bliss their pious Care,
Assiduous strove by mild Instructive Light
To form your pliant Infancy aright.
Knowledge Divine they by degrees bestow'd,
And with blest Seed your Heart industrious sow'd,
Whence verdant Issues soon began to shoot;
A Bloom ensu'd, that promis'd generous Fruit.
Drawn by their Pray'r, from Heav'n descending Dews
Cheer the fair Plant, and Heat Divine infuse:
While watchful they destroy'd the springing Weeds,
Baneful to Virtue, which our Bosom breeds,
Nature's spontaneous Growth, that no Assistant needs.
(ll. 1-17)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC and ECCO (1718).
Richard Blackmore, A Collection of Poems on Various Subjects. By Sir Richard Blackmore, Kt. M. D. Fellow of the Royal-College of Physicians. (London: Printed by W. Wilkins, for Jonas Browne and J. Walthoe, 1718). <Link to ECCO>
Richard Blackmore, A Collection of Poems on Various Subjects. By Sir Richard Blackmore, Kt. M. D. Fellow of the Royal-College of Physicians. (London: Printed by W. Wilkins, for Jonas Browne and J. Walthoe, 1718). <Link to ECCO>
Theme
Cultivation
Date of Entry
05/20/2010
