"Maronides had got the first hundred Lines of Virgil's 'Æneis' printed upon his Memory so perfectly, that he knew not only the Order and Number of every Verse from one to a hundred in Perfection, but the Order and Number of every Word in each Verse also."
— Watts, Isaac (1674-1748)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for James Brackstone
Date
1741
Metaphor
"Maronides had got the first hundred Lines of Virgil's 'Æneis' printed upon his Memory so perfectly, that he knew not only the Order and Number of every Verse from one to a hundred in Perfection, but the Order and Number of every Word in each Verse also."
Metaphor in Context
When you would remember new Things or Words, endeavour to associate and connect them with some Words or Things which you have well known before, and which are fixed and established in your Memory. This Association of Ideas is of great Importance and Force, and may be of excellent Use in many Instances of Human Life. One Idea which is familiar to the Mind connected with others which are new and strange, will bring those new Ideas into easy Remembrance. Maronides had got the first hundred Lines of Virgil's Æneis printed upon his Memory so perfectly, that he knew not only the Order and Number of every Verse from one to a hundred in Perfection, but the Order and Number of every Word in each Verse also; and by this Means he would undertake to remember two or three hundred Names of Persons or Things by some rational or fantastic Connexion between some Word in the verse, and some Letter, Syllable, Property, or Accident of the Name or Thing to be remembered, even tho' they had been repeated over but once or twice at most in his Hearing. Animanto practised much the same Art of Memory by getting the Latin Names of twenty two Animals into his Head according to the Alphabet, viz. Asinus, Basilicus, Canis, Draco, Elephas, Felis, Gryfus, Hircus, Juvencus, Leo, Mulus, Noctua, Ovis, Panthera, Quadrupes, Rhinoceros, Simia, Taurus, Ursus, Xiphias, Hyæna or Yœna, Zibetta. Most of these he divided also into four Parts, viz. Head and Body, Feet, Fins or Wings and Tail, and by some arbitrary or chimerical Attachment of each of these to a Word or Thing which he desired to remember, he committed them to the Care of his Memory, and that with good Success.
(pp. 273-4)
(pp. 273-4)
Categories
Provenance
Searching and Reading in Google Books
Citation
32 entries in ESTC (1741, 1743, 1753, 1754, 1761, 1768, 1773, 1782, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1798, 1799, 1800).
Most text drawn from Google Books. See The Improvement of the Mind: or, a Supplement to the Art of Logick: Containing a Variety of Remarks and Rules for the Attainment and Communication of Useful Knowledge, in Religion, in the Sciences, and in Common Life. By I. Watts, D.D. (London: Printed for James Brackstone, at the Globe in Cornhill, 1741). <Link to ESTC><Link to 2nd edition in Google Books>
Most text drawn from Google Books. See The Improvement of the Mind: or, a Supplement to the Art of Logick: Containing a Variety of Remarks and Rules for the Attainment and Communication of Useful Knowledge, in Religion, in the Sciences, and in Common Life. By I. Watts, D.D. (London: Printed for James Brackstone, at the Globe in Cornhill, 1741). <Link to ESTC><Link to 2nd edition in Google Books>
Date of Entry
02/05/2014
