"For this, fair hope leads on the' impassion'd soul / Through life's wild labyrinths to her distant goal; / Paints in each dream, to fan the genial flame, / The pomp of riches, and the pride of fame, / Or fondly gives reflection's cooler eye / A glance, an image, of a future sky."
— Cawthorn, James (1719-1761)
Author
Date
1755, 1771
Metaphor
"For this, fair hope leads on the' impassion'd soul / Through life's wild labyrinths to her distant goal; / Paints in each dream, to fan the genial flame, / The pomp of riches, and the pride of fame, / Or fondly gives reflection's cooler eye / A glance, an image, of a future sky."
Metaphor in Context
Whoever thinks must see that man was made
To face the storm, not languish in the shade;
Action's his sphere, and,for that sphere design'd,
Eternal pleasures open on his mind.
For this, fair hope leads on the' impassion'd soul
Through life's wild labyrinths to her distant goal;
Paints in each dream, to fan the genial flame,
The pomp of riches, and the pride of fame,
Or fondly gives reflection's cooler eye
A glance, an image, of a future sky.
Yet, though kind Heaven points out the' unerring road
That leads through nature up to bliss and God;
Spite of that God, and all his voice divine
Speaks in the heart, or teaches from the shrine,
Man, feebly vain, and impotently wise,
Disdains the manna sent him from the skies;
Tasteless of all that virtue gives to please,
For thought too active, and too mad for ease,
From wish to wish in life's mad vortex toss'd,
For ever struggling, and for ever lost;
He scorns religion, though her seraphs call,
And lives in rapture, or not lives at all.
(pp. 154-155)
To face the storm, not languish in the shade;
Action's his sphere, and,for that sphere design'd,
Eternal pleasures open on his mind.
For this, fair hope leads on the' impassion'd soul
Through life's wild labyrinths to her distant goal;
Paints in each dream, to fan the genial flame,
The pomp of riches, and the pride of fame,
Or fondly gives reflection's cooler eye
A glance, an image, of a future sky.
Yet, though kind Heaven points out the' unerring road
That leads through nature up to bliss and God;
Spite of that God, and all his voice divine
Speaks in the heart, or teaches from the shrine,
Man, feebly vain, and impotently wise,
Disdains the manna sent him from the skies;
Tasteless of all that virtue gives to please,
For thought too active, and too mad for ease,
From wish to wish in life's mad vortex toss'd,
For ever struggling, and for ever lost;
He scorns religion, though her seraphs call,
And lives in rapture, or not lives at all.
(pp. 154-155)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
"Spoken at the Anniversary Visitation of the Tunbridge School, 1755." At least 5 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1771, 1790, 1795, 1800).
See Poems, by the Rev. Mr. Cawthorn. Late Master of Tunbridge School. (London: Printed by W. Woodfall: and sold by S. Bladon, 1771). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from The Poems of Hill, Cawthorn, and Bruce (Chiswick: C. Whittinham, 1822). <Link to Google Books>
See Poems, by the Rev. Mr. Cawthorn. Late Master of Tunbridge School. (London: Printed by W. Woodfall: and sold by S. Bladon, 1771). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Text from The Poems of Hill, Cawthorn, and Bruce (Chiswick: C. Whittinham, 1822). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
07/25/2014
