"Its anodyne powers [Miss George's singing] the sick'ning make cheery, / And tears off the chain from the mind of the weary."
— Williams, John [pseud. Anthony Pasquin] (1754-1818)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
J. Strahan, W. Creech, J. Potts, P. Byrne, and the Author
Date
1786, 1787, 1788; 1789
Metaphor
"Its anodyne powers [Miss George's singing] the sick'ning make cheery, / And tears off the chain from the mind of the weary."
Metaphor in Context
Miss GEORGE.
See George in the sweet paths of Melody tread,
By dull, frigid Insensibility led:
Tho' careless to please, her meek essays delight,
For she charms the rude throng, e'en in Dullness' despite.--
Had her gentle strains join'd the Syrens' fell band,
Ulysses had row'd to their dangerous land;
His Prudence had fled, and, his Wisdom had slept,
And Juno had rav'd, and Minerva had wept:
Then his name had not shone in the immortal story,
And Ithaca's matron had sigh'd for his glory.
Its anodyne powers the sick'ning make cheery,
And tears off the chain from the mind of the weary;
By her soft, blissful sonnets, all bosoms inspiring,
Even Spleen grows diseas'd--and, Despair lies expiring.
As the lark chaunts at sun-rise his diurnal pray'r,
All her loud liquid notes charge the babbling air;
The sounds were not sweeter when Thebes' famous wall
Obey'd the soft magic of Harmony's call;
For spells may be said to exist in that tone,
Whose graces can conquer all hearts--but her own.
Cecilia thus warbled the heaven-fraught line,
For her song was ador'd ere the nymph was divine.
See George in the sweet paths of Melody tread,
By dull, frigid Insensibility led:
Tho' careless to please, her meek essays delight,
For she charms the rude throng, e'en in Dullness' despite.--
Had her gentle strains join'd the Syrens' fell band,
Ulysses had row'd to their dangerous land;
His Prudence had fled, and, his Wisdom had slept,
And Juno had rav'd, and Minerva had wept:
Then his name had not shone in the immortal story,
And Ithaca's matron had sigh'd for his glory.
Its anodyne powers the sick'ning make cheery,
And tears off the chain from the mind of the weary;
By her soft, blissful sonnets, all bosoms inspiring,
Even Spleen grows diseas'd--and, Despair lies expiring.
As the lark chaunts at sun-rise his diurnal pray'r,
All her loud liquid notes charge the babbling air;
The sounds were not sweeter when Thebes' famous wall
Obey'd the soft magic of Harmony's call;
For spells may be said to exist in that tone,
Whose graces can conquer all hearts--but her own.
Cecilia thus warbled the heaven-fraught line,
For her song was ador'd ere the nymph was divine.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "chains" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Published in parts: the first in 1786, the second in 1787, and the third in 1788. At least 9 entries in ECCO, LION, and ESTC (1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1792).
See The Children of Thespis. A Poem. Part First. (London: Printed by Denew and Grant, No 91, Wardour-Street, Soho; and sold by J. Bew; T. Hookman; and R. Jameson, 1786). <Link to ESTC>
And The Children of Thespis. A Poem. By Anthony Pasquin, Esq. Part the Second. (London: Printed by Denew & Grant; and sold by J. Bew; and J. Strahan, 1787). <Link to ESTC>
And The Children of Thespis. A Poem. By Anthony Pasquin, Esq. Part the Third. (London: Printed for J. Strahan, No. 67, near the Adelphi, Strand, 1788). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Poems: By Anthony Pasquin, 2nd ed. (London: Printed for J. Strahan, No. 67, Near the Adelphi, Strand; W. Creech, Edinburgh; J. Potts, and P. Byrne, Dublin; and the author, [London] No. 125, Strand, 1789). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link to Google Books>
See The Children of Thespis. A Poem. Part First. (London: Printed by Denew and Grant, No 91, Wardour-Street, Soho; and sold by J. Bew; T. Hookman; and R. Jameson, 1786). <Link to ESTC>
And The Children of Thespis. A Poem. By Anthony Pasquin, Esq. Part the Second. (London: Printed by Denew & Grant; and sold by J. Bew; and J. Strahan, 1787). <Link to ESTC>
And The Children of Thespis. A Poem. By Anthony Pasquin, Esq. Part the Third. (London: Printed for J. Strahan, No. 67, near the Adelphi, Strand, 1788). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Poems: By Anthony Pasquin, 2nd ed. (London: Printed for J. Strahan, No. 67, Near the Adelphi, Strand; W. Creech, Edinburgh; J. Potts, and P. Byrne, Dublin; and the author, [London] No. 125, Strand, 1789). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
07/20/2011
