"Knock on my Heart; for thou hast skill to find / If it sound solid, or be fill'd with Wind; / And, thro the veil of words, thou view'st the naked Mind."
— Dryden, John (1631-1700)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Jacob Tonson
Date
1693
Metaphor
"Knock on my Heart; for thou hast skill to find / If it sound solid, or be fill'd with Wind; / And, thro the veil of words, thou view'st the naked Mind."
Metaphor in Context
PERSIUS.
Tis not, indeed, my Talent to engage
In lofty Trifles, or to swell my Page
With Wind and Noise; but freely to impart,
As to a Friend, the Secrets of my heart:
And, in familiar Speech, to let thee know
How much I love thee; and how much I owe.
Knock on my Heart; for thou hast skill to find
If it sound solid, or be fill'd with Wind;
And, thro the veil of words, thou view'st the naked Mind.
For this a hundred Voices I desire;
To tell thee what an hundred Tongues wou'd tire;
Yet never cou'd be worthily exprest,
How deeply thou art seated in my Breast.
(p. 61, ll. 27-39)
Tis not, indeed, my Talent to engage
In lofty Trifles, or to swell my Page
With Wind and Noise; but freely to impart,
As to a Friend, the Secrets of my heart:
And, in familiar Speech, to let thee know
How much I love thee; and how much I owe.
Knock on my Heart; for thou hast skill to find
If it sound solid, or be fill'd with Wind;
And, thro the veil of words, thou view'st the naked Mind.
For this a hundred Voices I desire;
To tell thee what an hundred Tongues wou'd tire;
Yet never cou'd be worthily exprest,
How deeply thou art seated in my Breast.
(p. 61, ll. 27-39)
Categories
Provenance
Browsing in EEBO
Citation
From The Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. Made English By Mr. Dryden. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1693). 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
