"Labour and Want (unhospitable twain) / Chill not the current in Life's salient vein; / Nor damp the spirits, else of sprightly cast, / Nor check the nobler passions of the breast; / Nor blunt the fine Sensation's tender edge, / Which man's chief pride philosophers allege. / Thus some fair shoot, in spreading foliage gay, / Drinks youth and vigour from the golden day, / Because no worm gnaws at its root below, / Colds nip above, or forky lightnings glow."
— Stevenson, William (1730-1783)
Place of Publication
Edinburgh
Date
1761, 1765
Metaphor
"Labour and Want (unhospitable twain) / Chill not the current in Life's salient vein; / Nor damp the spirits, else of sprightly cast, / Nor check the nobler passions of the breast; / Nor blunt the fine Sensation's tender edge, / Which man's chief pride philosophers allege. / Thus some fair shoot, in spreading foliage gay, / Drinks youth and vigour from the golden day, / Because no worm gnaws at its root below, / Colds nip above, or forky lightnings glow."
Metaphor in Context
Happy the man, to whom a well-spread board
An ample Independence can afford,
Leisure to study, quiet, peace, and ease,
Born rather to be pleas'd, than others please;
A little sov'reign, though without a crown,
Courted his smile, nor dreaded less his frown!
Spring opens all her treasures to his view,
To be admir'd with more than common goo.
Labour and Want (unhospitable twain)
Chill not the current in Life's salient vein;
Nor damp the spirits, else of sprightly cast,
Nor check the nobler passions of the breast;
Nor blunt the fine Sensation's tender edge,
Which man's chief pride philosophers allege.
Thus some fair shoot, in spreading foliage gay,
Drinks youth and vigour from the golden day,
Because no worm gnaws at its root below,
Colds nip above, or forky lightnings glow.
A taste, improv'd by Education, finds
Pleasures where none appear to ruder minds;
Scenes, where the croud but few attractions see,
Affect it in an exquisite degree:
As telescopes, the finer ground, convey
More striking beauties by the visual ray;
Or magnets, as prepar'd the more exact,
Objects around more forcibly attract.
(pp. 92-93, ll. 139-264)
An ample Independence can afford,
Leisure to study, quiet, peace, and ease,
Born rather to be pleas'd, than others please;
A little sov'reign, though without a crown,
Courted his smile, nor dreaded less his frown!
Spring opens all her treasures to his view,
To be admir'd with more than common goo.
Labour and Want (unhospitable twain)
Chill not the current in Life's salient vein;
Nor damp the spirits, else of sprightly cast,
Nor check the nobler passions of the breast;
Nor blunt the fine Sensation's tender edge,
Which man's chief pride philosophers allege.
Thus some fair shoot, in spreading foliage gay,
Drinks youth and vigour from the golden day,
Because no worm gnaws at its root below,
Colds nip above, or forky lightnings glow.
A taste, improv'd by Education, finds
Pleasures where none appear to ruder minds;
Scenes, where the croud but few attractions see,
Affect it in an exquisite degree:
As telescopes, the finer ground, convey
More striking beauties by the visual ray;
Or magnets, as prepar'd the more exact,
Objects around more forcibly attract.
(pp. 92-93, ll. 139-264)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 4 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1761, 1765, 1780).
Text from Original Poems on Several Subjects. In Two Volumes. By William Stevenson (Edinburgh: Printed by A. Donaldson and J. Reid. Sold by Alexander Donaldson, in London and Edinburgh, 1765). <Link to ESTC>
See Vertumnus; or, The Progress of Spring: A Poetical Essay. (Glasgow : Printed for Robert Urie, 1761). [published anonymously, ESTC does not give Stevenson as author.] <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
See also Vertumnus; or the Progress of Spring: A Poetical Essay. (Glasgow: printed by R. and T. Duncan, 1780). 1761). [Published anonymously, ESTC does not give Stevenson as author, not in ECCO and not consulted.] <Link to ESTC>
Text from Original Poems on Several Subjects. In Two Volumes. By William Stevenson (Edinburgh: Printed by A. Donaldson and J. Reid. Sold by Alexander Donaldson, in London and Edinburgh, 1765). <Link to ESTC>
See Vertumnus; or, The Progress of Spring: A Poetical Essay. (Glasgow : Printed for Robert Urie, 1761). [published anonymously, ESTC does not give Stevenson as author.] <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
See also Vertumnus; or the Progress of Spring: A Poetical Essay. (Glasgow: printed by R. and T. Duncan, 1780). 1761). [Published anonymously, ESTC does not give Stevenson as author, not in ECCO and not consulted.] <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
08/28/2014
