"Shall reason's voice impartial e'er condemn / The glorious purpose of so wise an aim?"
— Melmoth, William, the younger (bap. 1710, d. 1799)
Work Title
Date
1735, 1763
Metaphor
"Shall reason's voice impartial e'er condemn / The glorious purpose of so wise an aim?"
Metaphor in Context
Let satire blast with ev'ry mark of hate,
The vain aspirer, or dishonest great,
Whom love of wealth, or wild ambition's sway
Push forward, still regardless of the way;
High and more high who aim with restless pride,
Where neither reason, nor fair virtue guide:
And him, the wretch, who labors on with pain,
For the low lucre of an useless gain,
(Wise but to get, and active but to save)
May scorn deserv'd still follow to the grave.
But he who fond to raise a splendid name,
On life's ambitious height would fix his fame,
In active arts, or vent'rous arms would shine,
Yet shuns the paths which virtue bids decline;
Who dignifies his wealth by gen'rous use,
To raise th' oppress'd, or merit to produce--
Shall reason's voice impartial e'er condemn
The glorious purpose of so wise an aim?
(pp. 204-5)
The vain aspirer, or dishonest great,
Whom love of wealth, or wild ambition's sway
Push forward, still regardless of the way;
High and more high who aim with restless pride,
Where neither reason, nor fair virtue guide:
And him, the wretch, who labors on with pain,
For the low lucre of an useless gain,
(Wise but to get, and active but to save)
May scorn deserv'd still follow to the grave.
But he who fond to raise a splendid name,
On life's ambitious height would fix his fame,
In active arts, or vent'rous arms would shine,
Yet shuns the paths which virtue bids decline;
Who dignifies his wealth by gen'rous use,
To raise th' oppress'd, or merit to produce--
Shall reason's voice impartial e'er condemn
The glorious purpose of so wise an aim?
(pp. 204-5)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 10 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1735, 1748, 1751, 1755 1758, 1765, 1766, 1775, 1782).
See Of Active and Retired Life, An Epistle. (London: Printed for T. Cooper, 1735). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from Robert Dodsley's A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands (London: Printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763. <Link to ECCO-TCP>
See Of Active and Retired Life, An Epistle. (London: Printed for T. Cooper, 1735). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from Robert Dodsley's A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands (London: Printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763. <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
04/07/2014
