"We live, alas! where the bright god of day, / Full from the zenith whirls his torrid ray: / Beneath the rage of his consuming fires, / All fancy melts, all eloquence expires."
— Williams, Francis (c.1697-1762)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Lowndes
Date
1774
Metaphor
"We live, alas! where the bright god of day, / Full from the zenith whirls his torrid ray: / Beneath the rage of his consuming fires, / All fancy melts, all eloquence expires."
Metaphor in Context
We live, alas! where the bright god of day,
Full from the zenith whirls his torrid ray:
Beneath the rage of his consuming fires,
All fancy melts, all eloquence expires.
Yet may you deign accept this humble song,
Tho' wrapt in gloom, and from a fal'tring tongue;
Tho' dark the stream on which the tribute flows,
Not from the skin, but from the heart it rose.
To all of human kind, benignant heaven
(Since nought forbids) one common soul has given.
This rule was 'stablished by th'Eternal Mind;
Nor virtue's self, nor prudence are confin'd
To colour; none imbues the honest heart;
To science none belongs, and none to art.
Oh! Muse, of blackest tint, why shrinks thy breast,
Why fears t'approach the Caesar of the West!
Dispel thy doubts, with confidence ascend
The regal dome, and hail him for thy friend:
Nor blush, altho' in garb funereal drest,
Thy body's white, tho' clad in sable vest.
Manners unsullied, and the radiant glow
Of genius, burning with desire to know;
And learned speech, with modest accent worn,
Shall best the sooty African adorn,
An heart with wisdom fraught, a patriot flame,
A love of virtue; these shall lift his name
Conspicuous, far beyond his kindred race,
Distinguish'd from them by the foremost place.
In this prolific isle I drew my birth,
And Britain nurs'd, illustrious through the earth;
This, my lov'd isle, which never more shall grieve,
Whilst you our common friend, our father live.
Then this my pray'r--"May earth and heaven survey
A people blest, beneath your sway!"
(p. 73, pp. 482-3 in Long)
Full from the zenith whirls his torrid ray:
Beneath the rage of his consuming fires,
All fancy melts, all eloquence expires.
Yet may you deign accept this humble song,
Tho' wrapt in gloom, and from a fal'tring tongue;
Tho' dark the stream on which the tribute flows,
Not from the skin, but from the heart it rose.
To all of human kind, benignant heaven
(Since nought forbids) one common soul has given.
This rule was 'stablished by th'Eternal Mind;
Nor virtue's self, nor prudence are confin'd
To colour; none imbues the honest heart;
To science none belongs, and none to art.
Oh! Muse, of blackest tint, why shrinks thy breast,
Why fears t'approach the Caesar of the West!
Dispel thy doubts, with confidence ascend
The regal dome, and hail him for thy friend:
Nor blush, altho' in garb funereal drest,
Thy body's white, tho' clad in sable vest.
Manners unsullied, and the radiant glow
Of genius, burning with desire to know;
And learned speech, with modest accent worn,
Shall best the sooty African adorn,
An heart with wisdom fraught, a patriot flame,
A love of virtue; these shall lift his name
Conspicuous, far beyond his kindred race,
Distinguish'd from them by the foremost place.
In this prolific isle I drew my birth,
And Britain nurs'd, illustrious through the earth;
This, my lov'd isle, which never more shall grieve,
Whilst you our common friend, our father live.
Then this my pray'r--"May earth and heaven survey
A people blest, beneath your sway!"
(p. 73, pp. 482-3 in Long)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1774).
The History of Jamaica. or, General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of That Island: With Reflections on Its Situation, Settlements, Inhabitants. 3 vols. (London : printed for T. Lowndes, 1774). <Link to ESTC>
Reading Vincent Carretta's Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the Eighteenth Century. Expanded ed. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2004): 72-4.
The History of Jamaica. or, General Survey of the Antient and Modern State of That Island: With Reflections on Its Situation, Settlements, Inhabitants. 3 vols. (London : printed for T. Lowndes, 1774). <Link to ESTC>
Reading Vincent Carretta's Unchained Voices: An Anthology of Black Authors in the English-Speaking World of the Eighteenth Century. Expanded ed. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2004): 72-4.
Date of Entry
03/14/2011
