"When once the hard-mouth'd Horse has got the Rein, / He's past thy Pow'r to stop; Young Phaeton, / By the Wild Coursers of his Fancy drawn, / From East to North, irregularly hurl'd, / First set on Fire himself, and then the World."
— Dryden, John (1631-1700) [Poem ascribed to]
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Jacob Tonson
Date
1693
Metaphor
"When once the hard-mouth'd Horse has got the Rein, / He's past thy Pow'r to stop; Young Phaeton, / By the Wild Coursers of his Fancy drawn, /
From East to North, irregularly hurl'd, / First set on Fire himself, and then the World."
Metaphor in Context
If a Rich Wife he Marries, in her Bed
She's found by Dagger or by Poison, Dead.
While Merchants make long Voyages by Sea
To get Estates, he cuts a shorter Way.
In mighty Mischiefs little Labour lies:
I never Counsel'd this the Father cries:
But still, base Man, he Copy'd this from Thee:
Thine was the Prime, Original Villany.
For he who covets Gain to such excess,
Does by dumb Signs himself as much express,
As if in Words at lngth he showd his Mind:
The bad Example made him Sin by Kind.
But who can Youth, let loose to Vice, restrain?
When once the hard-mouth'd Horse has got the Rein,
He's past thy Pow'r to stop; Young Phaeton,
By the Wild Coursers of his Fancy drawn,
From East to North, irregularly hurl'd,
First set on Fire himself, and then the World.
(p. 287, ll. 283-301)
She's found by Dagger or by Poison, Dead.
While Merchants make long Voyages by Sea
To get Estates, he cuts a shorter Way.
In mighty Mischiefs little Labour lies:
I never Counsel'd this the Father cries:
But still, base Man, he Copy'd this from Thee:
Thine was the Prime, Original Villany.
For he who covets Gain to such excess,
Does by dumb Signs himself as much express,
As if in Words at lngth he showd his Mind:
The bad Example made him Sin by Kind.
But who can Youth, let loose to Vice, restrain?
When once the hard-mouth'd Horse has got the Rein,
He's past thy Pow'r to stop; Young Phaeton,
By the Wild Coursers of his Fancy drawn,
From East to North, irregularly hurl'd,
First set on Fire himself, and then the World.
(p. 287, ll. 283-301)
Categories
Provenance
Browsing in EEBO
Citation
See The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse By Mr. Dryden and Several other Eminent Hands. Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1693). <Link to EEBO>
Date of Entry
07/11/2013
