"When in the venerable gothic hall, / Where fetters rattle, evidences bawl, / Puzzled in thought by equity or law, / Into their inner room his senses draw; / There, as they snore in consultation deep, / The foolish vulgar deem him fast asleep."
— Chatterton, Thomas (1752-1770)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Hamilton, Adams & Co.
Date
w. prior to April 1770; 1785, 1837, 1875
Metaphor
"When in the venerable gothic hall, / Where fetters rattle, evidences bawl, / Puzzled in thought by equity or law, / Into their inner room his senses draw; / There, as they snore in consultation deep, / The foolish vulgar deem him fast asleep."
Metaphor in Context
Few beings absolutely boast the man,
Few have the understanding of a Spanne;
Every idea of a city mind
Is to commercial incidents confined:
True! some exceptions to this general rule
Can show the merchant blended with the fool.
--- with magisterial air commits;
--- presides the chief of city wits;
In jigs and country-dances --- shines,
And --- slumbers over Mallet's lines:
His ample visage, oft on nothing bent,
Sleeps in vacuity of sentiment.
When in the venerable gothic hall,
Where fetters rattle, evidences bawl,
Puzzled in thought by equity or law,
Into their inner room his senses draw;
There, as they snore in consultation deep,
The foolish vulgar deem him fast asleep.
(ll. 432-448, pp. 151-2)
Few have the understanding of a Spanne;
Every idea of a city mind
Is to commercial incidents confined:
True! some exceptions to this general rule
Can show the merchant blended with the fool.
--- with magisterial air commits;
--- presides the chief of city wits;
In jigs and country-dances --- shines,
And --- slumbers over Mallet's lines:
His ample visage, oft on nothing bent,
Sleeps in vacuity of sentiment.
When in the venerable gothic hall,
Where fetters rattle, evidences bawl,
Puzzled in thought by equity or law,
Into their inner room his senses draw;
There, as they snore in consultation deep,
The foolish vulgar deem him fast asleep.
(ll. 432-448, pp. 151-2)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "soul" and "cell" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1785, 1789).
First 376 lines published as Supplement to Chatterton’s Miscellanies. Kew Gardens. (London, s.n., 1785?). <Link to ESTC>.
See also John Ross Dix and Thomas Chatterton, The Life of Thomas Chatterton (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co, 1837).
Text from The Poetical Works of Thomas Chatterton, (London: George Bell, 1875).
First 376 lines published as Supplement to Chatterton’s Miscellanies. Kew Gardens. (London, s.n., 1785?). <Link to ESTC>.
See also John Ross Dix and Thomas Chatterton, The Life of Thomas Chatterton (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co, 1837).
Text from The Poetical Works of Thomas Chatterton, (London: George Bell, 1875).
Date of Entry
08/17/2005
Date of Review
05/26/2011
