"'Tis Pride, or Emptiness, applies the straw / That tickles little minds to mirth effuse; / Of grief approaching, the portentous sign!"
— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for G. Hawkins
Date
1745
Metaphor
"'Tis Pride, or Emptiness, applies the straw / That tickles little minds to mirth effuse; / Of grief approaching, the portentous sign!"
Metaphor in Context
Dost call the bowl, the viol, and the dance,
Loud mirth, mad laughter? Wretched comforters!
Physicians, more than half of thy disease!
Laughter, though never censured yet as sin,
(Pardon a thought that only seems severe,)
Is half-immoral: is it much indulged?
By venting spleen, or dissipating thought,
It shows a scorner, or it makes a fool;
And sins, as hurting others or ourselves.
'Tis Pride, or Emptiness, applies the straw
That tickles little minds to mirth effuse;
Of grief approaching, the portentous sign!
The house of laughter makes a house of woe.
A man triumphant is a monstrous sight;
A man dejected is a sight as mean.
What cause for triumph where such ills abound?
What for dejection, where presides a Power
Who call'd us into being to be bless'd?
So grieve, as conscious grief may rise to joy;
So joy, as conscious joy to grief may fall.
Most true, a wise man never will be sad:
But neither will sonorous, bubbling mirth
A shallow stream of happiness betray:
Too happy to be sportive, he's serene.
(pp. 169-70, ll. 745-768)
Loud mirth, mad laughter? Wretched comforters!
Physicians, more than half of thy disease!
Laughter, though never censured yet as sin,
(Pardon a thought that only seems severe,)
Is half-immoral: is it much indulged?
By venting spleen, or dissipating thought,
It shows a scorner, or it makes a fool;
And sins, as hurting others or ourselves.
'Tis Pride, or Emptiness, applies the straw
That tickles little minds to mirth effuse;
Of grief approaching, the portentous sign!
The house of laughter makes a house of woe.
A man triumphant is a monstrous sight;
A man dejected is a sight as mean.
What cause for triumph where such ills abound?
What for dejection, where presides a Power
Who call'd us into being to be bless'd?
So grieve, as conscious grief may rise to joy;
So joy, as conscious joy to grief may fall.
Most true, a wise man never will be sad:
But neither will sonorous, bubbling mirth
A shallow stream of happiness betray:
Too happy to be sportive, he's serene.
(pp. 169-70, ll. 745-768)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Uniform title published in 9 volumes, from 1742 to 1745. At least 133 reprintings after 1745 in ESTC (1747, 1748, 1749, 1750, 1751, 1752, 1755, 1756, 1757, 1758, 1760, 1761, 1762, 1764, 1765, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780, 1782, 1783, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1800).
Edward Young, The Complaint. Or, Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality. Night the Eighth. Virtue's Apology: Or, The Man of the World Answer'd. (London: Printed for G. Hawkins, 1745).
Text from The Complete Works, Poetry and Prose, of the Rev. Edward Young, LL.D., 2 vols. (London: William Tegg, 1854). <Link to Google Books>
Reading Edward Young, Night Thoughts, ed. Stephen Cornford (New York: Cambridge UP, 1989).
Edward Young, The Complaint. Or, Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality. Night the Eighth. Virtue's Apology: Or, The Man of the World Answer'd. (London: Printed for G. Hawkins, 1745).
Text from The Complete Works, Poetry and Prose, of the Rev. Edward Young, LL.D., 2 vols. (London: William Tegg, 1854). <Link to Google Books>
Reading Edward Young, Night Thoughts, ed. Stephen Cornford (New York: Cambridge UP, 1989).
Date of Entry
09/02/2013
