"Fancy leads the fetter'd senses / Captives to her fond controul; / Merit may have rich pretences, / But 'tis Fancy fires the soul."
— Cunningham, John (1729-1773)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for the Author
Date
1766
Metaphor
"Fancy leads the fetter'd senses / Captives to her fond controul; / Merit may have rich pretences, / But 'tis Fancy fires the soul."
Metaphor in Context
I.
Fancy leads the fetter'd senses
Captives to her fond controul;
Merit may have rich pretences,
But 'tis Fancy fires the soul.
II.
Far beyond the bonds of meaning
Fancy flies, a Fairy queen!
Fancy, wit, and worth disdaining,
Gives the prize to Harlequin.
III.
If the virgin's false, forgive her;
Fancy was your only foe:
Cupid claims the dart and quiver,
But 'tis Fancy twangs the bow.
(p. 45)
Fancy leads the fetter'd senses
Captives to her fond controul;
Merit may have rich pretences,
But 'tis Fancy fires the soul.
II.
Far beyond the bonds of meaning
Fancy flies, a Fairy queen!
Fancy, wit, and worth disdaining,
Gives the prize to Harlequin.
III.
If the virgin's false, forgive her;
Fancy was your only foe:
Cupid claims the dart and quiver,
But 'tis Fancy twangs the bow.
(p. 45)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in Google Books; confirmed in 1766 edition
Citation
At least 11 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1766, 1771, 1790, 1793, 1797).
See John Cunningham, Poems, Chiefly Pastoral (London: Printed for the Author, 1766). <Link to ESTC> <Link to ECCO> [A reissue of a 1766 Newcastle edition, with a new title page.]
Chadwyck-Healey draws from the second edition of 1771. Republished in Bell's Poets (1793): Link to Google Books. See also The Poetical Works of Jo. Cunningham (London: Printed for, and under the direction of, G. Cawthorn, 1797), 147-8. <Link to Google Books>
Searches in ECCO hit The Chearful Linnet (1771), The Musical Miscellany (1790), the Works of the English Poets (1790).
See John Cunningham, Poems, Chiefly Pastoral (London: Printed for the Author, 1766). <Link to ESTC> <Link to ECCO> [A reissue of a 1766 Newcastle edition, with a new title page.]
Chadwyck-Healey draws from the second edition of 1771. Republished in Bell's Poets (1793): Link to Google Books. See also The Poetical Works of Jo. Cunningham (London: Printed for, and under the direction of, G. Cawthorn, 1797), 147-8. <Link to Google Books>
Searches in ECCO hit The Chearful Linnet (1771), The Musical Miscellany (1790), the Works of the English Poets (1790).
Date of Entry
10/06/2011
