"Should you the Reins to guilty Passions give, / And to suppress reluctant Conscience strive, / You must maintain a long uncertain Field, / By Turns prevail, by Turns inglorious yield."
— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by W. Wilkins for Jonas Browne ... and J. Walthoe [etc.]
Date
1718
Metaphor
"Should you the Reins to guilty Passions give, / And to suppress reluctant Conscience strive, / You must maintain a long uncertain Field, / By Turns prevail, by Turns inglorious yield."
Metaphor in Context
Tho' Youth untaught in Virtues heav'nly School,
Who ne'er rever'd Religion's sacred Rule,
Make swift Improvements, and with little Pain,
Mature in Vice, an Eminence attain.
Should you the Reins to guilty Passions give,
And to suppress reluctant Conscience strive,
You must maintain a long uncertain Field,
By Turns prevail, by Turns inglorious yield.
You'd sin and grieve, and by alternate Course
Know fleeting Joy, and permanent Remorse.
Now you would taste forbidden Fruit, and now
Repent your Folly, and renew your Vow:
Thus will your Mind a constant Strife sustain,
Amus'd with false Delight, or rack'd with real Pain.
(ll. 72-85)
Who ne'er rever'd Religion's sacred Rule,
Make swift Improvements, and with little Pain,
Mature in Vice, an Eminence attain.
Should you the Reins to guilty Passions give,
And to suppress reluctant Conscience strive,
You must maintain a long uncertain Field,
By Turns prevail, by Turns inglorious yield.
You'd sin and grieve, and by alternate Course
Know fleeting Joy, and permanent Remorse.
Now you would taste forbidden Fruit, and now
Repent your Folly, and renew your Vow:
Thus will your Mind a constant Strife sustain,
Amus'd with false Delight, or rack'd with real Pain.
(ll. 72-85)
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>
Date of Entry
05/20/2010
