"Life's records rise on ev'ry side, / And Conscience spreads those volumes wide; / Which faithful registers were brought / By pale-ey'd Fear and busy Thought. / Those faults which artful men conceal, / Stand here engrav'd with pen of steel, / By Conscience, that impartial scribe!"
— Cotton, Nathaniel, the elder (1705-1788)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for R. Dodsley and M. Cooper
Date
1752, 1791
Metaphor
"Life's records rise on ev'ry side, / And Conscience spreads those volumes wide; / Which faithful registers were brought / By pale-ey'd Fear and busy Thought. / Those faults which artful men conceal, / Stand here engrav'd with pen of steel, / By Conscience, that impartial scribe!"
Metaphor in Context
A rising whirlwind shakes the poles,
And lightning glares, and thunder rolls.
The Monarch and his train prepare
To range the foul tempestuous air.
Strait to his shoulders he applies
Two pinions of enormous size!
Methought I saw the ghastly form
Stretch his black wings, and mount the storm.
When Fancy's airy horse I strode,
And join'd the army on the road.
As the grim conqu'ror urg'd his way,
He scatter'd terror and dismay.
Thousands a pensive aspect wore,
Thousands who sneer'd at Death before.
Life's records rise on ev'ry side,
And Conscience spreads those volumes wide;
Which faithful registers were brought
By pale-ey'd Fear and busy Thought.
Those faults which artful men conceal,
Stand here engrav'd with pen of steel,
By Conscience, that impartial scribe!
Whose honest palm disdains a bribe.
Their actions all like critics view,
And all like faithful critics too.
As guilt had stain'd life's various stage,
What tears of blood bedew'd the page!
All shudder'd at the black account,
And scarce believ'd the vast amount!
All vow'd a sudden change of heart,
Would Death relent, and sheathe his dart.
But, when the awful foe withdrew,
All to their follies fled anew.
(cf. pp. 119-120 in 1752 ed.)
And lightning glares, and thunder rolls.
The Monarch and his train prepare
To range the foul tempestuous air.
Strait to his shoulders he applies
Two pinions of enormous size!
Methought I saw the ghastly form
Stretch his black wings, and mount the storm.
When Fancy's airy horse I strode,
And join'd the army on the road.
As the grim conqu'ror urg'd his way,
He scatter'd terror and dismay.
Thousands a pensive aspect wore,
Thousands who sneer'd at Death before.
Life's records rise on ev'ry side,
And Conscience spreads those volumes wide;
Which faithful registers were brought
By pale-ey'd Fear and busy Thought.
Those faults which artful men conceal,
Stand here engrav'd with pen of steel,
By Conscience, that impartial scribe!
Whose honest palm disdains a bribe.
Their actions all like critics view,
And all like faithful critics too.
As guilt had stain'd life's various stage,
What tears of blood bedew'd the page!
All shudder'd at the black account,
And scarce believ'd the vast amount!
All vow'd a sudden change of heart,
Would Death relent, and sheathe his dart.
But, when the awful foe withdrew,
All to their follies fled anew.
(cf. pp. 119-120 in 1752 ed.)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
20 entries in ESTC (1752, 1753, 1755, 1760, 1767, 1771, 1776, 1781, 1782, 1786, 1787, 1790, 1794, 1798).
Text from Various Pieces in Verse and Prose, 2 vols. (London: J. Dodsley, 1791). <Link to Google Books>
Text confirmed in Nathaniel Cotton, Visions in Verse, for the Entertainment and Instruction of Younger Minds, 3rd ed. rev. (London: R. Dodsley and M. Cooper, 1752). <Link to EECO>
See also Visions in Verse: For the Entertainment and Instruction of Younger Minds. A New Edition. (London: J. Dodsley, 1790). <Link to Google Books>
The revised and enlarged 3rd edition adds a new, ninth vision: "Death. Vision the Last"
Text from Various Pieces in Verse and Prose, 2 vols. (London: J. Dodsley, 1791). <Link to Google Books>
Text confirmed in Nathaniel Cotton, Visions in Verse, for the Entertainment and Instruction of Younger Minds, 3rd ed. rev. (London: R. Dodsley and M. Cooper, 1752). <Link to EECO>
See also Visions in Verse: For the Entertainment and Instruction of Younger Minds. A New Edition. (London: J. Dodsley, 1790). <Link to Google Books>
The revised and enlarged 3rd edition adds a new, ninth vision: "Death. Vision the Last"
Date of Entry
07/05/2012
