"Where, to the Beam of intellectual Day, / The genuine Charms of moral Beauty play: / With pleasing Force the strong Attractions move / Each finer Sense, and tune it into Love."
— Carter, Elizabeth (1717-1806)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
John Rivington
Date
1762
Metaphor
"Where, to the Beam of intellectual Day, / The genuine Charms of moral Beauty play: / With pleasing Force the strong Attractions move / Each finer Sense, and tune it into Love."
Metaphor in Context
By Heav'n's enthusiastic Impulse taught
What shining Visions rose on Plato's Thought!
While by the Muses gently winding Flood*,
His searching Fancy trac'd the sov'reign Good!
The laurell'd Sisters touch'd the vocal Lyre,
And Wisdom's Goddess led their tuneful Choir.
Beneath the genial Plantane's spreading Shade,
How sweet the philosophic Music play'd!
Thro' all the Grove, along the flow'ry Shore
The charming Sounds responsive Echoes bore.
Here, from the Cares of vulgar Life refin'd,
Immortal Pleasures open'd on his Mind:
In gay Succession to his ravish'd Eyes
The animating Pow'rs of Beauty rise;
On ev'ry Object round, above, below,
Quick to the Sight her vivid Colours glow:
Yet, not to Matter's shadowy Forms confin'd,
The Fair and Good he sought remain'd behind:
'Till gradual rising thro' the boundless Whole,
He view'd the blooming Graces of the Soul;
Where, to the Beam of intellectual Day,
The genuine Charms of moral Beauty play:
With pleasing Force the strong Attractions move
Each finer Sense, and tune it into Love.
(ll. 41-64, pp. 17-18)
*ILYSUSUS, a River near ATHENS, dedicated to the Muses. On the Banks of this River, under a Plantane, Plato lays the Scene of his Dialogues on Love and Beauty.
What shining Visions rose on Plato's Thought!
While by the Muses gently winding Flood*,
His searching Fancy trac'd the sov'reign Good!
The laurell'd Sisters touch'd the vocal Lyre,
And Wisdom's Goddess led their tuneful Choir.
Beneath the genial Plantane's spreading Shade,
How sweet the philosophic Music play'd!
Thro' all the Grove, along the flow'ry Shore
The charming Sounds responsive Echoes bore.
Here, from the Cares of vulgar Life refin'd,
Immortal Pleasures open'd on his Mind:
In gay Succession to his ravish'd Eyes
The animating Pow'rs of Beauty rise;
On ev'ry Object round, above, below,
Quick to the Sight her vivid Colours glow:
Yet, not to Matter's shadowy Forms confin'd,
The Fair and Good he sought remain'd behind:
'Till gradual rising thro' the boundless Whole,
He view'd the blooming Graces of the Soul;
Where, to the Beam of intellectual Day,
The genuine Charms of moral Beauty play:
With pleasing Force the strong Attractions move
Each finer Sense, and tune it into Love.
(ll. 41-64, pp. 17-18)
*ILYSUSUS, a River near ATHENS, dedicated to the Muses. On the Banks of this River, under a Plantane, Plato lays the Scene of his Dialogues on Love and Beauty.
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
