"'Tis ever Nature's gen'rous view; / Great minds should noble ends pursue; / As the clear sun-beam, when most bright, / Warms, in proportion to its light."
— Williams, Helen Maria (1759-1827)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Cadell
Date
1788
Metaphor
"'Tis ever Nature's gen'rous view; / Great minds should noble ends pursue; / As the clear sun-beam, when most bright, / Warms, in proportion to its light."
Metaphor in Context
Shall Virtue's lips record, and claim
The fairest honors of thy name!
'Tis ever Nature's gen'rous view;
Great minds should noble ends pursue;
As the clear sun-beam, when most bright,
Warms, in proportion to its light.--
And RICHMOND, he! who, high in birth,
Adds the unfading rays of worth;
Who stoops, from scenes in radiance drest,
To east the mourner's aching breast;
The tale of private woe to hear,
And wipe the friendless orphan's tear!--
His bosom for the Captive bleeds,
He, Guardian of the injur'd! pleads
With all the force that Genius gives,
And warmth that but with Virtue lives;
For Virtue, with divine controul,
Collects the various powers of soul;
And lends, from her unsullied source,
The gems of thought their purest force.
(pp. 5-6, ll. 61-80)
The fairest honors of thy name!
'Tis ever Nature's gen'rous view;
Great minds should noble ends pursue;
As the clear sun-beam, when most bright,
Warms, in proportion to its light.--
And RICHMOND, he! who, high in birth,
Adds the unfading rays of worth;
Who stoops, from scenes in radiance drest,
To east the mourner's aching breast;
The tale of private woe to hear,
And wipe the friendless orphan's tear!--
His bosom for the Captive bleeds,
He, Guardian of the injur'd! pleads
With all the force that Genius gives,
And warmth that but with Virtue lives;
For Virtue, with divine controul,
Collects the various powers of soul;
And lends, from her unsullied source,
The gems of thought their purest force.
(pp. 5-6, ll. 61-80)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1788).
Helen Maria Williams, A Poem on the Bill Lately Passed for Regulating the Slave Trade (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1788). <Link to ECCO><Link to facsimile edition in Google Books>
Helen Maria Williams, A Poem on the Bill Lately Passed for Regulating the Slave Trade (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1788). <Link to ECCO><Link to facsimile edition in Google Books>
Date of Entry
09/02/2011
