"The Learned, who with Anatomic Art / Dissect the Mind, and thinking Substance part, / And various Pow'rs and Faculties assert; / Perhaps by such Abstraction of the Mind / Divide the Things, that are in Nature joyn'd."
— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for S. Buckley and J. Tonson
Date
1712
Metaphor
"The Learned, who with Anatomic Art / Dissect the Mind, and thinking Substance part, / And various Pow'rs and Faculties assert; / Perhaps by such Abstraction of the Mind / Divide the Things, that are in Nature joyn'd."
Metaphor in Context
Sages remark, we labour not to show
The Will is free, but that the Man is so.
For what inlighten'd Reas'ner can declare
What Human Will and Understanding are?
What Science from those Objects can we frame
Of which we little know, besides the Name?
The Learned, who with Anatomic Art
Dissect the Mind, and thinking Substance part,
And various Pow'rs and Faculties assert;
Perhaps by such Abstraction of the Mind
Divide the Things, that are in Nature joyn'd.
What Masters of the Schools can make it clear
Those Faculties, which Two to them appear,
Are not residing in the Soul the same,
And not distinct, but by a diff'rent Name?
(VII, ll. 554-568, pp. 345-6)
The Will is free, but that the Man is so.
For what inlighten'd Reas'ner can declare
What Human Will and Understanding are?
What Science from those Objects can we frame
Of which we little know, besides the Name?
The Learned, who with Anatomic Art
Dissect the Mind, and thinking Substance part,
And various Pow'rs and Faculties assert;
Perhaps by such Abstraction of the Mind
Divide the Things, that are in Nature joyn'd.
What Masters of the Schools can make it clear
Those Faculties, which Two to them appear,
Are not residing in the Soul the same,
And not distinct, but by a diff'rent Name?
(VII, ll. 554-568, pp. 345-6)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "fig." in OED.
Citation
At least 8 entries in ESTC (1712, 1715, 1718, 1736, 1797).
Text from Sir Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem. Demonstrating the Existence and Providence of a God, 2nd ed. (London: S. Buckley and J. Tonson, 1712). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Other Online Editions: first edition (also published in 1712) is available <Link to ECCO>. See also 3rd edition (1715) <Link to Google Books>.
Text from Sir Richard Blackmore, Creation: A Philosophical Poem. Demonstrating the Existence and Providence of a God, 2nd ed. (London: S. Buckley and J. Tonson, 1712). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Other Online Editions: first edition (also published in 1712) is available <Link to ECCO>. See also 3rd edition (1715) <Link to Google Books>.
Date of Entry
05/04/2011
