"Yet e'en o'er thee, in thy despotic hours, / When thou hast chain'd the mind's excursive powers, / Though to thy gloomy keep by pain betray'd, / That mind can triumph by celestial aid."
— Hayley, William (1745-1820)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by A. Strahan ... for T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies [etc.]
Date
1800
Metaphor
"Yet e'en o'er thee, in thy despotic hours, / When thou hast chain'd the mind's excursive powers, / Though to thy gloomy keep by pain betray'd, / That mind can triumph by celestial aid."
Metaphor in Context
Disease, dread fiend! whatever name thou bear,
I most abhor thee as the child of Care;
Nor fix'd of feature, nor of station sure,
Thy power as noxious as thy shape obscure;
While thy cold vapours, with a baleful gloom,
Blight intellectual fruits howe'er they bloom:
Yet e'en o'er thee, in thy despotic hours,
When thou hast chain'd the mind's excursive powers,
Though to thy gloomy keep by pain betray'd,
That mind can triumph by celestial aid:
From thee, dull monitor! e'en then can learn
A mental lesson of most high concern--
To know the suffering spirit's sure resource,
And hail the hallow'd fount of human force.
I most abhor thee as the child of Care;
Nor fix'd of feature, nor of station sure,
Thy power as noxious as thy shape obscure;
While thy cold vapours, with a baleful gloom,
Blight intellectual fruits howe'er they bloom:
Yet e'en o'er thee, in thy despotic hours,
When thou hast chain'd the mind's excursive powers,
Though to thy gloomy keep by pain betray'd,
That mind can triumph by celestial aid:
From thee, dull monitor! e'en then can learn
A mental lesson of most high concern--
To know the suffering spirit's sure resource,
And hail the hallow'd fount of human force.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "chain" in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
07/15/2011
