"Bind up bold Thought, in Slumber's silky Chain, / Since all we act, and all we know, is vain."
— Mitchell, Joseph (c. 1684-1738)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Harmen Noorthouck [etc.]
Date
1732
Metaphor
"Bind up bold Thought, in Slumber's silky Chain, / Since all we act, and all we know, is vain."
Metaphor in Context
Hereafter then, ye poring Students, cease,
Nor maze your Minds, nor break your Chain of Peace.
Make Truce with Leisure for awhile, and view
What empty Nothings your Desires pursue.
Remember Adam's fatal Itch, to know,
Was the first bitter Spring of human Woe.
Think how presumptuous 'tis for breathing Clay,
To tread Heav'n's winding Paths, and lose its Way:
Think what short Limits Understanding boasts,
And shun th' Enticements of her shoaly Coasts.
With Solomon, that prudent Sage! and Me,
From fruitless Labour set your Spirits free:
Bind up bold Thought, in Slumber's silky Chain,
Since all we act, and all we know, is vain.
(i, pp. 65-6)
Nor maze your Minds, nor break your Chain of Peace.
Make Truce with Leisure for awhile, and view
What empty Nothings your Desires pursue.
Remember Adam's fatal Itch, to know,
Was the first bitter Spring of human Woe.
Think how presumptuous 'tis for breathing Clay,
To tread Heav'n's winding Paths, and lose its Way:
Think what short Limits Understanding boasts,
And shun th' Enticements of her shoaly Coasts.
With Solomon, that prudent Sage! and Me,
From fruitless Labour set your Spirits free:
Bind up bold Thought, in Slumber's silky Chain,
Since all we act, and all we know, is vain.
(i, pp. 65-6)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "chain" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Joseph Mitchell, Poems on Several Occasions, 2 vols. (London: Harmen Noorthouck, 1732). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
07/18/2011
