Jago, Richard (1715-1781)

Edge-Hill, A Poem, in Four Books [from Poems, Moral and Descriptive]

London

Printed for J. Dodsley

1784

"Thy piercing thought / Unaided saw each movement of the mind, / As skilful artists view the small machine, / The secret springs and nice dependencies, / And to thy mimic scenes, by fancy wrought / To such a wond'rous shape, th'impassion'd breast / In floods of grief, or peals of laughter bow'd, / Obedient to the wonder-working strain, / Like the tun'd string responsive to the touch, / Or to the wizard's charm, the passive storm."

And thou, whose birth these walls unrival'd boast,
That mock'st the rules of the proud Stagyrite,
And Learning's tedious toil, hail mighty Bard!
Thou great Magician hail! Thy piercing thought
Unaided saw each movement of the mind,
As skilful artists view the small machine,
The secret springs and nice dependencies,
And to thy mimic scenes, by fancy wrought
To such a wond'rous shape, th'impassion'd breast
In floods of grief, or peals of laughter bow'd,
Obedient to the wonder-working strain,
Like the tun'd string responsive to the touch,
Or to the wizard's charm, the passive storm.
Humour and wit, the tragic pomp, or phrase
Familiar flow'd, spontaneous from thy tongue,
As flowers from Nature's lap.--Thy potent spells
From their bright seats aerial sprites detain'd,
Or from their unseen haunts, and slumb'ring shades
Awak'd the fairy tribes, with jocund step
The circled green, and leafy hall to tread:
While, from his dripping caves, old Avon sent
His willing Naiads to their harmless rout.

Motion::Movement Machine::Springs Liquid::Floods Music::Tuning Music::Instrument::Stringed Instrument Weather::Storm

Searching "mind" and "machine" in HDIS (Poetry)

Only 1 entry in ECCO and ESTC (1784).

Text from 2nd edition "Corrected and Enlarged," published in Poems, Moral and Descriptive. By the Late Richard Jago (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1784). <Link to ECCO>

11/11/2013