"Know too, the joys of sense controul, / And clog the motions of the soul; / Forbid her pinions to aspire, / Damp and impair her native fire: / And sure as Sense (that tyrant!) reigns, / She holds the empress, Soul, in chains."
— Cotton, Nathaniel, the elder (1705-1788)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for R. Dodsley and M. Cooper
Date
1752, 1791
Metaphor
"Know too, the joys of sense controul, / And clog the motions of the soul; / Forbid her pinions to aspire, / Damp and impair her native fire: / And sure as Sense (that tyrant!) reigns, / She holds the empress, Soul, in chains."
Metaphor in Context
What! must the soul her pow'rs dispense
To raise and swell the joys of sense?--
Know too, the joys of sense controul,
And clog the motions of the soul;
Forbid her pinions to aspire,
Damp and impair her native fire:
And sure as Sense (that tyrant!) reigns,
She holds the empress, Soul, in chains.
Inglorious bondage to the mind,
Heaven-born, sublime, and unconfin'd!
She's independent, fair, and great,
And justly claims a large estate;
She asks no borrow'd aids to shine,
She boasts within a golden mine;
But, like the treasures of Peru,
Her wealth lies deep, and far from view.
Say, shall the man who knows her worth,
Debase her dignity and birth;
Or e'er repine at Heaven's decree,
Who kindly gave her leave to be;
Call'd her from nothing into day,
And built her tenement of clay?
Hear and accept me for your guide,
(Reason shall ne'er desert your side.)
Who listens to my wiser voice,
Can't but applaud his Maker's choice;
Pleas'd with that First and Sov'reign Cause,
Pleas'd with unerring Wisdom's laws;
Secure, since Sov'reign Goodness reigns,
Secure, since Sov'reign Pow'r obtains.
(pp. 77-8; cf. pp. 126-7 in 1752 ed.)
To raise and swell the joys of sense?--
Know too, the joys of sense controul,
And clog the motions of the soul;
Forbid her pinions to aspire,
Damp and impair her native fire:
And sure as Sense (that tyrant!) reigns,
She holds the empress, Soul, in chains.
Inglorious bondage to the mind,
Heaven-born, sublime, and unconfin'd!
She's independent, fair, and great,
And justly claims a large estate;
She asks no borrow'd aids to shine,
She boasts within a golden mine;
But, like the treasures of Peru,
Her wealth lies deep, and far from view.
Say, shall the man who knows her worth,
Debase her dignity and birth;
Or e'er repine at Heaven's decree,
Who kindly gave her leave to be;
Call'd her from nothing into day,
And built her tenement of clay?
Hear and accept me for your guide,
(Reason shall ne'er desert your side.)
Who listens to my wiser voice,
Can't but applaud his Maker's choice;
Pleas'd with that First and Sov'reign Cause,
Pleas'd with unerring Wisdom's laws;
Secure, since Sov'reign Goodness reigns,
Secure, since Sov'reign Pow'r obtains.
(pp. 77-8; cf. pp. 126-7 in 1752 ed.)
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "chain" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
20 entries in ESTC (1752, 1753, 1755, 1760, 1767, 1771, 1776, 1781, 1782, 1786, 1787, 1790, 1794, 1798).
Text from Various Pieces in Verse and Prose, 2 vols. (London: J. Dodsley, 1791). <Link to Google Books>
Text confirmed in Nathaniel Cotton, Visions in Verse, for the Entertainment and Instruction of Younger Minds, 3rd ed. rev. (London: R. Dodsley and M. Cooper, 1752). <Link to EECO>
See also Visions in Verse: For the Entertainment and Instruction of Younger Minds. A New Edition. (London: J. Dodsley, 1790). <Link to Google Books>
The revised and enlarged 3rd edition adds a new, ninth vision: "Death. Vision the Last"
Text from Various Pieces in Verse and Prose, 2 vols. (London: J. Dodsley, 1791). <Link to Google Books>
Text confirmed in Nathaniel Cotton, Visions in Verse, for the Entertainment and Instruction of Younger Minds, 3rd ed. rev. (London: R. Dodsley and M. Cooper, 1752). <Link to EECO>
See also Visions in Verse: For the Entertainment and Instruction of Younger Minds. A New Edition. (London: J. Dodsley, 1790). <Link to Google Books>
The revised and enlarged 3rd edition adds a new, ninth vision: "Death. Vision the Last"
Date of Entry
07/14/2011
