"'Tis thy pure spirit warms my Anna's mind. / Beams thro' the pensive softness of her form, / And holds its altar--on her spotless heart!"
— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
J. Dodsley
Date
1786
Metaphor
"'Tis thy pure spirit warms my Anna's mind. / Beams thro' the pensive softness of her form, / And holds its altar--on her spotless heart!"
Metaphor in Context
Sonnet XXVIII.
To Friendship
Oh thou! whose name too often is profan'd!
Whose charms, celestial! few have hearts to feel!
Unknown to folly--and by pride disdain'd!
--To thy soft solace may my sorrows steal!
Like the fair Moon, thy mild and genuine ray,
Thro' life's long evening shall unclouded last;
While pleasure's frail attachments fleet away,
As fades the rainbow from the northern blast!
Tis thine, oh Nymph! with 'balmy hands to bind'
The wounds inflicted in misfortune's storm,
And blunt severe affliction's sharpest dart!
--'Tis thy pure spirit warms my Anna's mind.
Beams thro' the pensive softness of her form,
And holds its altar--on her spotless heart!
To Friendship
Oh thou! whose name too often is profan'd!
Whose charms, celestial! few have hearts to feel!
Unknown to folly--and by pride disdain'd!
--To thy soft solace may my sorrows steal!
Like the fair Moon, thy mild and genuine ray,
Thro' life's long evening shall unclouded last;
While pleasure's frail attachments fleet away,
As fades the rainbow from the northern blast!
Tis thine, oh Nymph! with 'balmy hands to bind'
The wounds inflicted in misfortune's storm,
And blunt severe affliction's sharpest dart!
--'Tis thy pure spirit warms my Anna's mind.
Beams thro' the pensive softness of her form,
And holds its altar--on her spotless heart!
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 13 entries in the ESTC (1786, 1787, 1789, 1790, 1792, 1795, 1797, 1800).
Text drawn and corrected from OCR of 1789 edition in Google Books. Reading and comparing The Poems of Charlotte Smith, ed. Stuart Curran (New York and Oxford: OUP, 1993).
See Elegiac Sonnets by Charlotte Smith. 4th ed, corr. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, H. Gardner, and J. Bew, 1786).
See also Elegiac Sonnets and Other Poems, by Charlotte Smith, 9th edition, 2 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies, 1800). <Link to volume I in Google Books> <Link to volume II in ECCO> -- Note, Curran uses this edition as his base text for Sonnets 1 through 59.
Text drawn and corrected from OCR of 1789 edition in Google Books. Reading and comparing The Poems of Charlotte Smith, ed. Stuart Curran (New York and Oxford: OUP, 1993).
See Elegiac Sonnets by Charlotte Smith. 4th ed, corr. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, H. Gardner, and J. Bew, 1786).
See also Elegiac Sonnets and Other Poems, by Charlotte Smith, 9th edition, 2 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies, 1800). <Link to volume I in Google Books> <Link to volume II in ECCO> -- Note, Curran uses this edition as his base text for Sonnets 1 through 59.
Date of Entry
06/13/2013
