"Patience defends us from all outward Hap; / Of inward Life Thanksgiving is the Sap."
— Byrom, John (1692-1763)
Author
Place of Publication
Manchester
Publisher
J. Harrop
Date
1773
Metaphor
"Patience defends us from all outward Hap; / Of inward Life Thanksgiving is the Sap."
Metaphor in Context
O what a deal he said! and in the Light,
Wherein he plac'd it, all was really right:
But like good Doctrine, of some good Divine,
Which, while 'tis preach'd, is admirably fine,
When Doctor Gratitude had left the Spot,
All that he said was charming and forgot.
Your Doctor's Potion, Patience, and the Bark,
May hit both mental, and material Mark;
One serves to keep the Ague from the Mind,
As t'other does, from its corporeal Rind:
There is, methinks, in their respective Growth,
A fair Analogy betwixt 'em both.
For what the Bark is to the growing Tree,
To human Mind, that, Patience seems to be;
They hold the Principles of Growth together,
And blunt the Force of Accident, and Weather:
Bar'd of its Bark, a Tree, we may compute,
Will not remain much longer on its Root.
And Mind in Mortals, that are wisely will'd,
Will hardly bear to have its Patience peel'd:
Nothing, in fine, contributes more to Living,
Physic, or Food, than Patience and Thanksgiving;
Patience defends us from all outward Hap;
Of inward Life Thanksgiving is the Sap.
(p. 98)
Wherein he plac'd it, all was really right:
But like good Doctrine, of some good Divine,
Which, while 'tis preach'd, is admirably fine,
When Doctor Gratitude had left the Spot,
All that he said was charming and forgot.
Your Doctor's Potion, Patience, and the Bark,
May hit both mental, and material Mark;
One serves to keep the Ague from the Mind,
As t'other does, from its corporeal Rind:
There is, methinks, in their respective Growth,
A fair Analogy betwixt 'em both.
For what the Bark is to the growing Tree,
To human Mind, that, Patience seems to be;
They hold the Principles of Growth together,
And blunt the Force of Accident, and Weather:
Bar'd of its Bark, a Tree, we may compute,
Will not remain much longer on its Root.
And Mind in Mortals, that are wisely will'd,
Will hardly bear to have its Patience peel'd:
Nothing, in fine, contributes more to Living,
Physic, or Food, than Patience and Thanksgiving;
Patience defends us from all outward Hap;
Of inward Life Thanksgiving is the Sap.
(p. 98)
Categories
Provenance
Reading in Google Books
Citation
John Byrom, Miscellaneous Poems, 2 vols. (Manchester: J. Harrop, 1773). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
03/12/2012
