"O for a joy from thy Philander's spring! / A spring perennial, rising in the breast, / And permanent as pure! no turbid stream / Of rapturous exultation, swelling high; / Which, like land-floods, impetuous pour awhile, / Then sink at once, and leave us in the mire."
— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for G. Hawkins
Date
1745
Metaphor
"O for a joy from thy Philander's spring! / A spring perennial, rising in the breast, / And permanent as pure! no turbid stream / Of rapturous exultation, swelling high; / Which, like land-floods, impetuous pour awhile, / Then sink at once, and leave us in the mire."
Metaphor in Context
Were all men happy, revellings would cease,
That opiate for inquietude within.
Lorenzo! never man was truly bless'd,
But it composed, and gave him such a cast,
As Folly might mistake for want of joy:
A cast unlike the triumph of the proud;
A modest aspect, and a smile at heart.
O for a joy from thy Philander's spring!
A spring perennial, rising in the breast,
And permanent as pure! no turbid stream
Of rapturous exultation, swelling high;
Which, like land-floods, impetuous pour awhile,
Then sink at once, and leave us in the mire.
What does the man who transient joy prefers?
What, but prefer the bubbles to the stream?
(p. 174, ll. 950-964)
That opiate for inquietude within.
Lorenzo! never man was truly bless'd,
But it composed, and gave him such a cast,
As Folly might mistake for want of joy:
A cast unlike the triumph of the proud;
A modest aspect, and a smile at heart.
O for a joy from thy Philander's spring!
A spring perennial, rising in the breast,
And permanent as pure! no turbid stream
Of rapturous exultation, swelling high;
Which, like land-floods, impetuous pour awhile,
Then sink at once, and leave us in the mire.
What does the man who transient joy prefers?
What, but prefer the bubbles to the stream?
(p. 174, ll. 950-964)
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
