Friendship her soft harmonious Touch affords, / And gently strikes the sympathetic Chords, / Th' agreeing Notes in social Measures roll, / And the sweet Concert flows from Soul to Soul."
— Carter, Elizabeth (1717-1806)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
John Rivington
Date
1762
Metaphor
Friendship her soft harmonious Touch affords, / And gently strikes the sympathetic Chords, / Th' agreeing Notes in social Measures roll, / And the sweet Concert flows from Soul to Soul."
Metaphor in Context
In what blest clime, beneath what fav'ring Skies,
Did thy fair Form, propitious Friendship rise?
With mystic Sense, the Poet's tuneful Tongue
*Urania's Birth in glitt'ring Fiction sung.
That Paphos first her smiling Presence own'd,
Which wide diffus'd it's happy Influence round,
With Hands united, and with Looks serene,
Th' attending Graces hail'd their new-born Queen;
The Zephyrs round her wav'd their purple Wing,
And shed the Fragrance of the breathing Spring;
The rosy Hours, advanc'd in silent Flight,
Led sparkling Youth, and ever new Delight.
Soft sigh the Winds, the Waters gently roll,
A purer Azure vests the lucid Pole,
All Nature welcom'd in the beauteous train,
Amd Heav'n and Earth smil'd conscious of the Scene.
But long e'er Paphos rose, or Poet sung,
In heav'nly Breasts the sacred Passion sprung:
The same bright Flames in raptur'd Seraphs glow,
As warm consenting Tempers here below:
While one Attraction Mortal, Angel, binds,
Virtue, which forms the Unison of Minds:
Friendship her soft harmonious Touch affords,
And gently strikes the sympathetic Chords,
Th' agreeing Notes in social Measures roll,
And the sweet Concert flows from Soul to Soul.
(ll. 15-40, pp. 16-17)
*There were two VENUSES among the Ancients; one called PANDEMUS, to whom they attributed the Love of wild disorderly Pleasures; the other nam'd URANIA, the Patroness and Inspirer of Friendship, Knowledge, and Virtue.
Did thy fair Form, propitious Friendship rise?
With mystic Sense, the Poet's tuneful Tongue
*Urania's Birth in glitt'ring Fiction sung.
That Paphos first her smiling Presence own'd,
Which wide diffus'd it's happy Influence round,
With Hands united, and with Looks serene,
Th' attending Graces hail'd their new-born Queen;
The Zephyrs round her wav'd their purple Wing,
And shed the Fragrance of the breathing Spring;
The rosy Hours, advanc'd in silent Flight,
Led sparkling Youth, and ever new Delight.
Soft sigh the Winds, the Waters gently roll,
A purer Azure vests the lucid Pole,
All Nature welcom'd in the beauteous train,
Amd Heav'n and Earth smil'd conscious of the Scene.
But long e'er Paphos rose, or Poet sung,
In heav'nly Breasts the sacred Passion sprung:
The same bright Flames in raptur'd Seraphs glow,
As warm consenting Tempers here below:
While one Attraction Mortal, Angel, binds,
Virtue, which forms the Unison of Minds:
Friendship her soft harmonious Touch affords,
And gently strikes the sympathetic Chords,
Th' agreeing Notes in social Measures roll,
And the sweet Concert flows from Soul to Soul.
(ll. 15-40, pp. 16-17)
*There were two VENUSES among the Ancients; one called PANDEMUS, to whom they attributed the Love of wild disorderly Pleasures; the other nam'd URANIA, the Patroness and Inspirer of Friendship, Knowledge, and Virtue.
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 5 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1762, 1766, 1776, 1777, 1789)
See Poems on Several Occasions. (London: Printed for John Rivington, at the Bible and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1762). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link 2nd edition in Google Books>
See also Elizabeth Carter, Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, with a New Edition of her Poems, Ed. Montagu Pennington, 2 vols. (London: F.C. and J. Rivington, 1816). <Link to WWO><Same edition in Internet Archive>
See Poems on Several Occasions. (London: Printed for John Rivington, at the Bible and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1762). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link 2nd edition in Google Books>
See also Elizabeth Carter, Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, with a New Edition of her Poems, Ed. Montagu Pennington, 2 vols. (London: F.C. and J. Rivington, 1816). <Link to WWO><Same edition in Internet Archive>
Date of Entry
06/23/2011
