"But as a Bow that's always bent / Hath soon its force elastic spent; / So, lest the over-burthen'd brain / (Which can't too great a weight sustain) / Should not so much rich food digest, / 'Tis sometimes good to give it rest."
— Keate, George (1729-1797)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Dodsley [etc.]
Date
1781
Metaphor
"But as a Bow that's always bent / Hath soon its force elastic spent; / So, lest the over-burthen'd brain / (Which can't too great a weight sustain) / Should not so much rich food digest, / 'Tis sometimes good to give it rest."
Metaphor in Context
But as a Bow that's always bent
Hath soon its force elastic spent;
So, lest the over-burthen'd brain
(Which can't too great a weight sustain)
Should not so much rich food digest,
'Tis sometimes good to give it rest.
Quite jaded out, I march to Nando's,
And look as grave as any man does,
Shake hands with friends I wish to see,
And take my sober pot of tea;
Touch the light topics of the day,
Ask for my letters?--What's the play?--
Or, if I have already had 'em,
Lounge at the bar, be smart with Madam;
'Tis hot, 'tis cold, 'tis dirty weather,
With all such small-talk patch'd together,
As modern conversations teach,
And fix for standard parts of speech.--
A Coffee-house serves many uses;
Deep Politicians it produces;
Supplies with Critic Wits the place,
As Hockley breeds the canine Race.
And is a general rendezvous
For telling, or for reading, News.--
The paper skim'd, my chat exhausted,
By no fresh Comer-in accosted;
I listen to some Student Posse,
Who ne'er was taught Teipsum nosce,
And yet in Modesty's despite,
Are setting all the Judges right,
Re-arguing an hour, or more,
What two wise Serjeants said before.
The box resounds with Lilly's Entries,
Levinz,--Croke James,--and Second Ventris,--
Statute of Gloucester,--Pollexfen,--
Popham,--Sixth modern, Folio ten,--
Hale,--Dyer,--Salkeld,--Barnardiston,--
And twenty more whose names I've mist on.
My head and ears confus'd, I find
One cannot here relax the Mind,
In vain she strives to slip her chains,
Law, Law, through all these regions reigns;
So back to Chambers I return,
More Patience, and more Law, to learn.
Hath soon its force elastic spent;
So, lest the over-burthen'd brain
(Which can't too great a weight sustain)
Should not so much rich food digest,
'Tis sometimes good to give it rest.
Quite jaded out, I march to Nando's,
And look as grave as any man does,
Shake hands with friends I wish to see,
And take my sober pot of tea;
Touch the light topics of the day,
Ask for my letters?--What's the play?--
Or, if I have already had 'em,
Lounge at the bar, be smart with Madam;
'Tis hot, 'tis cold, 'tis dirty weather,
With all such small-talk patch'd together,
As modern conversations teach,
And fix for standard parts of speech.--
A Coffee-house serves many uses;
Deep Politicians it produces;
Supplies with Critic Wits the place,
As Hockley breeds the canine Race.
And is a general rendezvous
For telling, or for reading, News.--
The paper skim'd, my chat exhausted,
By no fresh Comer-in accosted;
I listen to some Student Posse,
Who ne'er was taught Teipsum nosce,
And yet in Modesty's despite,
Are setting all the Judges right,
Re-arguing an hour, or more,
What two wise Serjeants said before.
The box resounds with Lilly's Entries,
Levinz,--Croke James,--and Second Ventris,--
Statute of Gloucester,--Pollexfen,--
Popham,--Sixth modern, Folio ten,--
Hale,--Dyer,--Salkeld,--Barnardiston,--
And twenty more whose names I've mist on.
My head and ears confus'd, I find
One cannot here relax the Mind,
In vain she strives to slip her chains,
Law, Law, through all these regions reigns;
So back to Chambers I return,
More Patience, and more Law, to learn.
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
George Keate, The Poetical Works of George Keate 2 vols. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1781).
Date of Entry
07/15/2011
