"Discordant tho' the ideas be, / In Fancy's logic they agree; / As in the Ark by special grace, / Mice liv'd with Cats, yet throve apace."
— Courtenay, John Lees (1775?-1794)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by J. Jones, Chapel Street, Soho
Date
1796
Metaphor
"Discordant tho' the ideas be, / In Fancy's logic they agree; / As in the Ark by special grace, / Mice liv'd with Cats, yet throve apace."
Metaphor in Context
By Locke, true WIT is best defin'd,
Her pleasant pictures lure the mind;
Associations sudden rise,
And seize the fancy by surprise;
The effect is strong,--because it's odd,
Like fire electric from a clod;
Or when fix'd air puts out a light,
Tho' vital makes it blaze more bright.
Thus novelty a zest supplies,
And WIT still pleads by surprise;
The brilliant thought that charm'd to day,
By repetition fades away;
A maid thus shines the joy of life;-—
But what a different thing's a wife?
Wit suits not the heroic line,
Her similes are not divine;
The ludicrous they blithly season,
And make us laugh in spite of reason:-—
Discordant tho' the ideas be,
In Fancy's logic they agree;
As in the Ark by special grace,
Mice liv'd with Cats, yet throve apace.
(pp. 29-30)
Her pleasant pictures lure the mind;
Associations sudden rise,
And seize the fancy by surprise;
The effect is strong,--because it's odd,
Like fire electric from a clod;
Or when fix'd air puts out a light,
Tho' vital makes it blaze more bright.
Thus novelty a zest supplies,
And WIT still pleads by surprise;
The brilliant thought that charm'd to day,
By repetition fades away;
A maid thus shines the joy of life;-—
But what a different thing's a wife?
Wit suits not the heroic line,
Her similes are not divine;
The ludicrous they blithly season,
And make us laugh in spite of reason:-—
Discordant tho' the ideas be,
In Fancy's logic they agree;
As in the Ark by special grace,
Mice liv'd with Cats, yet throve apace.
(pp. 29-30)
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
