"And oft the bard's elastic mind / To lighter images inclined; / In concord with Anacreon's measure, / Courts the jovial gods of pleasure."
— Stockdale, Percival (1736-1811)
Work Title
Date
1777, 1810
Metaphor
"And oft the bard's elastic mind / To lighter images inclined; / In concord with Anacreon's measure, / Courts the jovial gods of pleasure."
Metaphor in Context
And oft the bard's elastic mind
To lighter images inclined;
In concord with Anacreon's measure,
Courts the jovial gods of pleasure;
For livelier aid invokes the tuneful maids;
And feels a modern Cyprus in thy shades.
Then ideas fair, and gay
Chace the rapid hours away;
Then, created by the muse,
A festal groupe the poet views;
Of dance, of song, of love, the powers,
Their sprightly revels hold amid thy bowers:
Bacchus, and his train are there;
Rosy Cupids, light as air,
Meet his warm, enamoured eye,
Scattering odours as they fly.
He hears the flute's relaxing sound;
A purple glory spreads around:
The graces, and the Cyprian queen
Advance and dignify the scene;
The graces model beauty's pride,
Their lustre to her charms apply,
Direct the lightning of her eye,
Wave her celestial robe, and o'er her steps preside.
Through all his frame he feels her soft controul;
Each motion charms the sight; each look pervades the soul.
(ll. 25-50)
To lighter images inclined;
In concord with Anacreon's measure,
Courts the jovial gods of pleasure;
For livelier aid invokes the tuneful maids;
And feels a modern Cyprus in thy shades.
Then ideas fair, and gay
Chace the rapid hours away;
Then, created by the muse,
A festal groupe the poet views;
Of dance, of song, of love, the powers,
Their sprightly revels hold amid thy bowers:
Bacchus, and his train are there;
Rosy Cupids, light as air,
Meet his warm, enamoured eye,
Scattering odours as they fly.
He hears the flute's relaxing sound;
A purple glory spreads around:
The graces, and the Cyprian queen
Advance and dignify the scene;
The graces model beauty's pride,
Their lustre to her charms apply,
Direct the lightning of her eye,
Wave her celestial robe, and o'er her steps preside.
Through all his frame he feels her soft controul;
Each motion charms the sight; each look pervades the soul.
(ll. 25-50)
Categories
Provenance
Reading in LION
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1777). [Note, ESTC does not provide any attribution for the work.]
Text from The Poetical Works of Percival Stockdale. 2 vols. (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and W. Clarke, By W. Pople, 1810).
See also Poetical excursions in the Isle of Wight. (London: Printed for N. Conant (successor to Mr. Whiston), in Fleet-Street, 1777). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Poetical Works of Percival Stockdale. 2 vols. (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and W. Clarke, By W. Pople, 1810).
See also Poetical excursions in the Isle of Wight. (London: Printed for N. Conant (successor to Mr. Whiston), in Fleet-Street, 1777). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
10/26/2013
