"Wisdom, blest beam! / The brightness of the everlasting light! / The spotlesss mirror of the pow'r of GOD! / The reflex image of th' all-perfect mind!"
— More, Hannah (1745-1833)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Cadell
Date
1782
Metaphor
"Wisdom, blest beam! / The brightness of the everlasting light! / The spotlesss mirror of the pow'r of GOD! / The reflex image of th' all-perfect mind!"
Metaphor in Context
DANIEL.
By earnest pray'r.
Solicit first the wisdom from above;
Wisdom whose fruits are purity and pleace!
Wisdom! that bright intelligence, which sat
Supreme, when with his golden compasses
Th' Eternal plann'd the fabric of the world,
Produc'd his fair idea into light,
And said, that all was good! Wisdom, blest beam!
The brightness of the everlasting light!
The spotlesss mirror of the pow'r of GOD!
The reflex image of th' all-perfect mind!
A stream translucent, flowing from the source
Of glory infinite; a cloudless light!
Defilement cannot touch, nor sin pollute
Her unstain'd purity! Not Ophir's gold,
Nor Ethiopia's gems can match her price!
The diamond of the mine is pale before her!
And, like the oil Elisha's bounty bless'd,
She is a treasure which doth grow by use,
And multiply by spending! She contains,
Within herself, the sum of excellence.
(Part II, pp. 204-5)
By earnest pray'r.
Solicit first the wisdom from above;
Wisdom whose fruits are purity and pleace!
Wisdom! that bright intelligence, which sat
Supreme, when with his golden compasses
Th' Eternal plann'd the fabric of the world,
Produc'd his fair idea into light,
And said, that all was good! Wisdom, blest beam!
The brightness of the everlasting light!
The spotlesss mirror of the pow'r of GOD!
The reflex image of th' all-perfect mind!
A stream translucent, flowing from the source
Of glory infinite; a cloudless light!
Defilement cannot touch, nor sin pollute
Her unstain'd purity! Not Ophir's gold,
Nor Ethiopia's gems can match her price!
The diamond of the mine is pale before her!
And, like the oil Elisha's bounty bless'd,
She is a treasure which doth grow by use,
And multiply by spending! She contains,
Within herself, the sum of excellence.
(Part II, pp. 204-5)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "mirror" in ECCO-TCP
Citation
16 entries in the ESTC (1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1789, 1791, 1793, 1796, 1798, 1799, 1800).
See Hannah More, Sacred Dramas: Chiefly Intended for Young Persons: the Subjects Taken from the Bible. To which is Added, Sensibility, a Poem. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1782.) <Link to ECCO-TCP>
See Hannah More, Sacred Dramas: Chiefly Intended for Young Persons: the Subjects Taken from the Bible. To which is Added, Sensibility, a Poem. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1782.) <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/16/2013
