"In the fairyland of fancy, genius may wander wild; there it has a creative power, and may reign arbitrarily over its own empire of chimeras."
— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
A. Millar and R. and J. Dodsley
Date
1759
Metaphor
"In the fairyland of fancy, genius may wander wild; there it has a creative power, and may reign arbitrarily over its own empire of chimeras."
Metaphor in Context
But here a caution is necessary against the most fatal of errors in those automaths, those self-taught philosophers of our age, who set up genius, and often, mere fancied genius, not only above human learning, but divine truth. I have called genius wisdom; but let it be remembered, that in the most renowned ages of the most refined heathen wisdom (and theirs is not Christian) "the world by wisdom knew not God, and it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those that believed." In the fairyland of fancy, genius may wander wild; there it has a creative power, and may reign arbitrarily over its own empire of chimeras. The wide field of nature also lies open before it, where it may range unconfined, make what discoveries it can, and sport with its infinite objects uncontrouled, as far as visible nature extends, painting them as wantonly as it will: But what painter of the most unbounded and exalted genius can give us the true portrait of a seraph? He can give us only what by his own, or others eyes, has been seen; tho' that indeed infinitely compounded, raised, burlesqued, dishonoured, or adorned: In like manner, who can give us divine truth unrevealed? Much less should any presume to set aside divine truth when revealed, as incongruous to their own sagacities. --Is this too serious for my subject? I shall be more so before I close.
(pp. 37-9)
(pp. 37-9)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 12 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1759, 1765, 1767, 1768, 1770, 1774, 1778, 1796, 1798).
See Conjectures on Original Composition. In a Letter to the Author of Sir Charles Grandison. (London: Printed for A. Millar, in The Strand; and R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, 1759). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
The text was initially drawn from RPO and Chadwyck-Healey's Literature Online (LION). The LION text claims to reproduce the 1759 printing but is marred by typographical errors and has been irregularly modernized. These entries checked against Google Books page images for accuracy and corrected for obvious errors, but italics and capitalization have not yet been uniformly transcribed.
See Conjectures on Original Composition. In a Letter to the Author of Sir Charles Grandison. (London: Printed for A. Millar, in The Strand; and R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, 1759). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
The text was initially drawn from RPO and Chadwyck-Healey's Literature Online (LION). The LION text claims to reproduce the 1759 printing but is marred by typographical errors and has been irregularly modernized. These entries checked against Google Books page images for accuracy and corrected for obvious errors, but italics and capitalization have not yet been uniformly transcribed.
Date of Entry
03/04/2014
