"But I have err'd; and, with delirious aim, / Would picture motion, and imprison flame. / He, who can light'ning's flash, to colours, bind, / May paint love's influence, on the burning mind."
— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
1726, 1753
Metaphor
"But I have err'd; and, with delirious aim, / Would picture motion, and imprison flame. / He, who can light'ning's flash, to colours, bind, / May paint love's influence, on the burning mind."
Metaphor in Context
Thus have I vainly strove, with strokes too faint,
Love, in his known, and outward marks, to paint;
Unmindful, that, of old, they veil'd his face,
And wisely cover'd, what they could not trace.
Lovely creator of my soul's soft pain,
Pity the pencil, that aspir'd in vain:
Vers'd in love's pangs, and taught his pow'r, by you,
Skill'd, I presum'd, that what I felt, I drew;
But I have err'd; and, with delirious aim,
Would picture motion, and imprison flame.
He, who can light'ning's flash, to colours, bind,
May paint love's influence, on the burning mind.
Then, when we master him, and give him law,
Then may we chain him, and his image draw:
But who would bind this god, must, captive take,
A power, which all mankind can captive make;
I am too weak of heart; yet, I can tell
Those, who dare seize him, where he loves to dwell.
I see him now; in his own heav'n, he lies,
Close at sweet ambush, in Miranda 's eyes.
(pp. 171-190; cf. pp. 203-4)
Love, in his known, and outward marks, to paint;
Unmindful, that, of old, they veil'd his face,
And wisely cover'd, what they could not trace.
Lovely creator of my soul's soft pain,
Pity the pencil, that aspir'd in vain:
Vers'd in love's pangs, and taught his pow'r, by you,
Skill'd, I presum'd, that what I felt, I drew;
But I have err'd; and, with delirious aim,
Would picture motion, and imprison flame.
He, who can light'ning's flash, to colours, bind,
May paint love's influence, on the burning mind.
Then, when we master him, and give him law,
Then may we chain him, and his image draw:
But who would bind this god, must, captive take,
A power, which all mankind can captive make;
I am too weak of heart; yet, I can tell
Those, who dare seize him, where he loves to dwell.
I see him now; in his own heav'n, he lies,
Close at sweet ambush, in Miranda 's eyes.
(pp. 171-190; cf. pp. 203-4)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 4 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1726, 1753, 1754).
See Miscellaneous Poems and Translations. By Several Hands. Publish’d by Richard Savage, Son of the Late Earl Rivers. (London: Printed for Samuel Chapman, at the Angel in Pall-Mall, 1726). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Works of the Late Aaron Hill, Esq; in Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, and of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious. With an Essay on the Art of Acting. (London: Printed for the benefit of the family, 1753). <Link to ESTC>
See Miscellaneous Poems and Translations. By Several Hands. Publish’d by Richard Savage, Son of the Late Earl Rivers. (London: Printed for Samuel Chapman, at the Angel in Pall-Mall, 1726). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Works of the Late Aaron Hill, Esq; in Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, and of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious. With an Essay on the Art of Acting. (London: Printed for the benefit of the family, 1753). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
06/11/2014
