"Fierce passions, so mismeasured to this scene, / Stretch'd out, like eagles' wings, beyond our nest, / Far, far beyond the worth of all below, / For earth too large, presage a nobler flight, / And evidence our title to the skies."
— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for G. Hawkins
Date
1744
Metaphor
"Fierce passions, so mismeasured to this scene, / Stretch'd out, like eagles' wings, beyond our nest, / Far, far beyond the worth of all below, / For earth too large, presage a nobler flight, / And evidence our title to the skies."
Metaphor in Context
"Know, all; know, infidels,--unapt to know!
"'Tis immortality your nature solves;
"'Tis immortality deciphers man,
"And opens all the mysteries of his make.
"Without it, half his instincts are a riddle;
"Without it, all his virtues are a dream.
"His very crimes attest his dignity.
"His sateless thirst of pleasure, gold, and fame,
"Declares him born for blessings infinite:
"What less than infinite makes un-absurd
"Passions, which all on earth but more inflames?
"Fierce passions, so mismeasured to this scene,
"Stretch'd out, like eagles' wings, beyond our nest,
"Far, far beyond the worth of all below,
"For earth too large, presage a nobler flight,
"And evidence our title to the skies."
(ll. 506-520, pp. 191-2)
"'Tis immortality your nature solves;
"'Tis immortality deciphers man,
"And opens all the mysteries of his make.
"Without it, half his instincts are a riddle;
"Without it, all his virtues are a dream.
"His very crimes attest his dignity.
"His sateless thirst of pleasure, gold, and fame,
"Declares him born for blessings infinite:
"What less than infinite makes un-absurd
"Passions, which all on earth but more inflames?
"Fierce passions, so mismeasured to this scene,
"Stretch'd out, like eagles' wings, beyond our nest,
"Far, far beyond the worth of all below,
"For earth too large, presage a nobler flight,
"And evidence our title to the skies."
(ll. 506-520, pp. 191-2)
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Uniform title published in 9 volumes, from 1742 to 1745. At least 133 reprintings after 1745 in ESTC (1747, 1748, 1749, 1750, 1751, 1752, 1755, 1756, 1757, 1758, 1760, 1761, 1762, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780, 1782, 1783, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1800).
Edward Young, Night the Seventh. Being the Second Part of the Infidel Reclaimed. Containing the Nature, Proof, and Importance, of Immortality. (London: Printed for G. Hawkins, 1744).
Text from The Complete Works, Poetry and Prose, of the Rev. Edward Young, LL.D., 2 vols. (London: William Tegg, 1854). <Link to Google Books>
Reading Edward Young, Night Thoughts, ed. Stephen Cornford (New York: Cambridge UP, 1989).
Edward Young, Night the Seventh. Being the Second Part of the Infidel Reclaimed. Containing the Nature, Proof, and Importance, of Immortality. (London: Printed for G. Hawkins, 1744).
Text from The Complete Works, Poetry and Prose, of the Rev. Edward Young, LL.D., 2 vols. (London: William Tegg, 1854). <Link to Google Books>
Reading Edward Young, Night Thoughts, ed. Stephen Cornford (New York: Cambridge UP, 1989).
Date of Entry
06/12/2013
