"Good sense like cloth, the ground-work place, / And then sow on your Wit and lace."
— Courtenay, John Lees (1775?-1794)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by J. Jones, Chapel Street, Soho
Date
1796
Metaphor
"Good sense like cloth, the ground-work place, / And then sow on your Wit and lace."
Metaphor in Context
With Wit, your speech you should not load,
The Britons who made use of Woad,
Painted their bodies here and there,
But did not daub them every where--
WIT on all points is out of season,
It's use is to embroider reason.--
Good sense like cloth, the ground-work place,
And then sow on your Wit and lace.
The dome let Doric pillars prop,
Corinthian wreaths may grace the top.
The sabre's hilt with gems inlaid,
Give's lustre to the useful blade.
To guard the head the helmet wear,
The plume but adds a grace and air;
Kian, and Soy are good ingredients,
But for the turbot, poor expedients.
—-Some hurt themselves by flippant WIT,
As too much GAS, balloons will split;--
With buoyant splendour, up they rise,
The spirit bursts, the bubble dies.
(pp. 28-9)
The Britons who made use of Woad,
Painted their bodies here and there,
But did not daub them every where--
WIT on all points is out of season,
It's use is to embroider reason.--
Good sense like cloth, the ground-work place,
And then sow on your Wit and lace.
The dome let Doric pillars prop,
Corinthian wreaths may grace the top.
The sabre's hilt with gems inlaid,
Give's lustre to the useful blade.
To guard the head the helmet wear,
The plume but adds a grace and air;
Kian, and Soy are good ingredients,
But for the turbot, poor expedients.
—-Some hurt themselves by flippant WIT,
As too much GAS, balloons will split;--
With buoyant splendour, up they rise,
The spirit bursts, the bubble dies.
(pp. 28-9)
Categories
Provenance
Browsing in Google Books
Citation
John Lees Courtenay, Juvenile Poems (London: J. Jones, 1796). <Link to Google Books
Date of Entry
05/20/2011
