"Her's [Gaul's] was the earliest boast with lenient care / To form soft Courtesy's attractive air; / Throw o'er the willing mind Politeness' chains, / And raise that empire which she yet maintains."
— Pye, Henry James (1745-1813)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for John Stockdale
Date
1787
Metaphor
"Her's [Gaul's] was the earliest boast with lenient care / To form soft Courtesy's attractive air; / Throw o'er the willing mind Politeness' chains, / And raise that empire which she yet maintains."
Metaphor in Context
In GAUL the contrast strongly mark'd appears
Of Reason's force, and Error's gloomy fears:
With fond delight her partial eye surveys
Each hallow'd prejudice of earlier days,
Yet though her sons with ancient rite adore
The legendary saints that liv'd of yore,
Oft arm'd by hate though Persecution stood,
And drench'd LUTETIA's walls with native blood;
Her's was the earliest boast with lenient care
To form soft Courtesy's attractive air;
Throw o'er the willing mind Politeness' chains,
And raise that empire which she yet maintains.
(vol. ii, pp. 143-4)
Of Reason's force, and Error's gloomy fears:
With fond delight her partial eye surveys
Each hallow'd prejudice of earlier days,
Yet though her sons with ancient rite adore
The legendary saints that liv'd of yore,
Oft arm'd by hate though Persecution stood,
And drench'd LUTETIA's walls with native blood;
Her's was the earliest boast with lenient care
To form soft Courtesy's attractive air;
Throw o'er the willing mind Politeness' chains,
And raise that empire which she yet maintains.
(vol. ii, pp. 143-4)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "chain" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Only 1 entry in the ESTC (1787).
See Poems on Various Subjects. By Henry James Pye, 2 vols. (London: John Stockdale, 1787). <Link to ECCO> <Link to vol. ii in Google Books>
See Poems on Various Subjects. By Henry James Pye, 2 vols. (London: John Stockdale, 1787). <Link to ECCO> <Link to vol. ii in Google Books>
Date of Entry
07/19/2011
