"Hail, holy souls, no more confin'd / To limbs and bones that clog the mind; / Ye have escap'd the snares, and left the chains behind."
— Watts, Isaac (1674-1748)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Richard Ford and Richard Hett
Date
1734
Metaphor
"Hail, holy souls, no more confin'd / To limbs and bones that clog the mind; / Ye have escap'd the snares, and left the chains behind."
Metaphor in Context
V.
Hail, holy souls, no more confin'd
To limbs and bones that clog the mind;
Ye have escap'd the snares, and left the chains behind.
We wretched prisoners here below,
What do we see, or learn or know,
But scenes of various folly, guilt and woe?
Life's buzzing sounds and flatt'ring colours play
Round our fond sense, and waste the day,
Inchant the fancy, vex the labouring soul;
Each rising sun, each lightsome hour,
Beholds the busy slavery we endure;
Nor is our freedom full, or contemplation pure,
When night and sacred silence overspread the pole.
Hail, holy souls, no more confin'd
To limbs and bones that clog the mind;
Ye have escap'd the snares, and left the chains behind.
We wretched prisoners here below,
What do we see, or learn or know,
But scenes of various folly, guilt and woe?
Life's buzzing sounds and flatt'ring colours play
Round our fond sense, and waste the day,
Inchant the fancy, vex the labouring soul;
Each rising sun, each lightsome hour,
Beholds the busy slavery we endure;
Nor is our freedom full, or contemplation pure,
When night and sacred silence overspread the pole.
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "chain" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Isaac Watts, Reliquiæ juveniles: miscellaneous thoughts in prose and verse, on natural, moral, and divine subjects; written chiefly in younger years. By I. Watts, D.D. (London: printed for Richard Ford at the Angel, and Richard Hett at the Bible and Crown, 1734). <Link to ECCO>
Text from The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D., 6 vols. (London: Printed by and for John Barfield, 1810).
Text from The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D., 6 vols. (London: Printed by and for John Barfield, 1810).
Date of Entry
07/20/2011
