"Draw close those ties, so fine and yet so strong, / That gently lead the willing soul along, / Nor crush beneath oppression's iron rod / The kindred image of the parent God; / Nor think that rigour's galling chains can bind / The native force of the superior mind."
— Grant [née MacVicar], Anne (1755-1838)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by C. Whittingham ... for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme [etc.]
Date
1808
Metaphor
"Draw close those ties, so fine and yet so strong, / That gently lead the willing soul along, / Nor crush beneath oppression's iron rod / The kindred image of the parent God; / Nor think that rigour's galling chains can bind / The native force of the superior mind."
Metaphor in Context
Now, Chiefs and Senators--ye patriot band!
Born to illume, protect, and bless the land;
While the loose furies rage in other climes,
And Nature sickens at her children's crimes;
While Gallia pours profuse the purple flood,
And stains her lilies with her Monarch's blood;
Encircle like an adamantine zone
The hallow'd altar and the honour'd throne;
And let your banners, rais'd aloft, reveal
The blended interests of the general weal:
Draw close those ties, so fine and yet so strong,
That gently lead the willing soul along,
Nor crush beneath oppression's iron rod
The kindred image of the parent God;
Nor think that rigour's galling chains can bind
The native force of the superior mind.
'Twas not from such the glowing ardour rose
That followers drew to Wallace and Montrose.
Brethren in martial toils--affection fond,
Kind twisting round each heart the lasting bond;
Like that wide chain, which, when creation rose,
Did all the mighty Maker's works inclose,
Whose closing ties celestial voices sung,
While all the answering constellations rung,
Which joins the worlds below to those above
With golden links, and angels call it--LOVE!
Born to illume, protect, and bless the land;
While the loose furies rage in other climes,
And Nature sickens at her children's crimes;
While Gallia pours profuse the purple flood,
And stains her lilies with her Monarch's blood;
Encircle like an adamantine zone
The hallow'd altar and the honour'd throne;
And let your banners, rais'd aloft, reveal
The blended interests of the general weal:
Draw close those ties, so fine and yet so strong,
That gently lead the willing soul along,
Nor crush beneath oppression's iron rod
The kindred image of the parent God;
Nor think that rigour's galling chains can bind
The native force of the superior mind.
'Twas not from such the glowing ardour rose
That followers drew to Wallace and Montrose.
Brethren in martial toils--affection fond,
Kind twisting round each heart the lasting bond;
Like that wide chain, which, when creation rose,
Did all the mighty Maker's works inclose,
Whose closing ties celestial voices sung,
While all the answering constellations rung,
Which joins the worlds below to those above
With golden links, and angels call it--LOVE!
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "chain" in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
07/14/2011
