"Pursue, poor imp, th' imaginary charm, / Indulge gay Hope, and Fancy's pleasing fire: / Fancy and Hope too soon shall of themselves expire."
— Beattie, James (1735-1803)
Author
Date
1771, 1776
Metaphor
"Pursue, poor imp, th' imaginary charm, / Indulge gay Hope, and Fancy's pleasing fire: / Fancy and Hope too soon shall of themselves expire."
Metaphor in Context
XXXI
Yet couldst thou learn, that thus it fares with age,
When pleasure, wealth, or power, the bosom warm,
This baffled hope might tame thy manhood's rage,
And Disappointment of her sting disarm.---
But why should foresight thy fond heart alarm?
Perish the lore that deadens young desire!
Pursue, poor imp, th' imaginary charm,
Indulge gay Hope, and Fancy's pleasing fire:
Fancy and Hope too soon shall of themselves expire.
(Bk I, p. 11, ll. 271-9; cf. p. 17 in 1771 ed.)
Yet couldst thou learn, that thus it fares with age,
When pleasure, wealth, or power, the bosom warm,
This baffled hope might tame thy manhood's rage,
And Disappointment of her sting disarm.---
But why should foresight thy fond heart alarm?
Perish the lore that deadens young desire!
Pursue, poor imp, th' imaginary charm,
Indulge gay Hope, and Fancy's pleasing fire:
Fancy and Hope too soon shall of themselves expire.
(Bk I, p. 11, ll. 271-9; cf. p. 17 in 1771 ed.)
Categories
Provenance
C-H Lion (Poetry); confirmed in ECCO.
Citation
Over 20 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1771, 1772, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1779, 1782, 1784, 1785, 1792, 1794, 1795, 1797, 1799, 1800). Collected in The Muse's Pocket Companion, The Bouquet, A Selection of Poems, and A Classical Arrangement of Fugitive Poetry.
"Book The First" printed anonymously in 1771; reprinted in 1772, 1774, etc. The second book was first printed in 1774. See David Radcliffe's Spenser and the Tradition.
See The Minstrel; or, the Progress of Genius. A Poem. Book the First. (London: Printed for E. & C. Dilly, in the Poultry, and for A. Kincaid & J. Bell, Edinburgh, 1771). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Poems on Several Occasions, by James Beattie, LL. D. Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Aberdeen. (Edinburgh: Printed for W. Creech, 1776). <Link to ESTC>
"Book The First" printed anonymously in 1771; reprinted in 1772, 1774, etc. The second book was first printed in 1774. See David Radcliffe's Spenser and the Tradition.
See The Minstrel; or, the Progress of Genius. A Poem. Book the First. (London: Printed for E. & C. Dilly, in the Poultry, and for A. Kincaid & J. Bell, Edinburgh, 1771). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Poems on Several Occasions, by James Beattie, LL. D. Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Aberdeen. (Edinburgh: Printed for W. Creech, 1776). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
07/02/2013
