"Nor think thy force too small, too weak thy Mind / Because to Clay unequally confined; / Its Power is wondrous Great; how small a Mass / Of Gold or Gems, exceeds vast Heaps of Brass?"
— Manilius, Marcus (fl. 1st Century AD), Creech, Thomas (1659-1700)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
1697, 1700
Metaphor
"Nor think thy force too small, too weak thy Mind / Because to Clay unequally confined; / Its Power is wondrous Great; how small a Mass / Of Gold or Gems, exceeds vast Heaps of Brass?"
Metaphor in Context
When God his Mind in meaner things declares,
Should he neglect the Glory of the Stars?
Besides, the World is eager to be known,
Our search provoking still; for rouling on
It shews us all its parts, displays its Light,
And constantly intrudes upon our Sight:
His Face unvail'd, God doth so plainly shew,
That if we will but look, we needs must know:
He draws our Eyes, nor doth our search forbid;
What Powers he hides not, he would not have hid:
Then who can think it impiously bold
To search what we're encourag'd to behold?
Nor think thy force too small, too weak thy Mind
Because to Clay unequally confin'd;
Its Power is wondrous Great; how small a Mass
Of Gold or Gems, exceeds vast Heaps of Brass?
How little is the Apple of the Eye?
And yet at once, he takes in half the Sky:
Nor dreads the disproportion to the Sense,
The Organ small, the Object is immense:
And from the narrow limits of the Heart,
The Active Soul doth vigorous Life impart
To all the Limbs, its Sway the Members own,
Wide is its Empire from its petty Throne.
Man know thy Powers, and not observe thy Size,
Thy noble Power in piercing Reason lies,
And Reason conquers all, and rules the Skies.
Nor must you vainly doubt that Man's allow'd
To know Heaven's mind, since Man can make a God:
A Star new rais'd, the Skie enlarg'd contains,
And Heaven must still encrease whilst Caesar Reigns.
(Book IV, p. 42)
Should he neglect the Glory of the Stars?
Besides, the World is eager to be known,
Our search provoking still; for rouling on
It shews us all its parts, displays its Light,
And constantly intrudes upon our Sight:
His Face unvail'd, God doth so plainly shew,
That if we will but look, we needs must know:
He draws our Eyes, nor doth our search forbid;
What Powers he hides not, he would not have hid:
Then who can think it impiously bold
To search what we're encourag'd to behold?
Nor think thy force too small, too weak thy Mind
Because to Clay unequally confin'd;
Its Power is wondrous Great; how small a Mass
Of Gold or Gems, exceeds vast Heaps of Brass?
How little is the Apple of the Eye?
And yet at once, he takes in half the Sky:
Nor dreads the disproportion to the Sense,
The Organ small, the Object is immense:
And from the narrow limits of the Heart,
The Active Soul doth vigorous Life impart
To all the Limbs, its Sway the Members own,
Wide is its Empire from its petty Throne.
Man know thy Powers, and not observe thy Size,
Thy noble Power in piercing Reason lies,
And Reason conquers all, and rules the Skies.
Nor must you vainly doubt that Man's allow'd
To know Heaven's mind, since Man can make a God:
A Star new rais'd, the Skie enlarg'd contains,
And Heaven must still encrease whilst Caesar Reigns.
(Book IV, p. 42)
Categories
Provenance
Reading; following up on passage in Henry Baker's Medulla.
Citation
A verse translation of Manilius' Astronomicon. 2 entries in ESTC (1697, 1700).
See The Five Books of M. Manilius, Containing a System of the Ancient Astronomy and Astrology: Together With the Philosophy of the Stoicks. Done Into English Verse. With Notes. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, at the Judges Head near the Inner-Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet, 1697). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Lucretius His Six Books of Epicurean Philosophy and Manilius His Five Books. Containing a System of the Ancient Astronomy and Astrology Together With the Philosophy of the Stoicks. Both Translated Into English Verse With Notes by Mr. Tho. Creech; to Which Is Added the Several Parts of Lucretius, English'd by Mr. Dryden. (London: Printed and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, 1700). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO-TCP>
See The Five Books of M. Manilius, Containing a System of the Ancient Astronomy and Astrology: Together With the Philosophy of the Stoicks. Done Into English Verse. With Notes. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, at the Judges Head near the Inner-Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet, 1697). <Link to ESTC>
Text from Lucretius His Six Books of Epicurean Philosophy and Manilius His Five Books. Containing a System of the Ancient Astronomy and Astrology Together With the Philosophy of the Stoicks. Both Translated Into English Verse With Notes by Mr. Tho. Creech; to Which Is Added the Several Parts of Lucretius, English'd by Mr. Dryden. (London: Printed and sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster, 1700). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
07/01/2014
