"The Pict no shelter now shall find / Within his parti-colour'd mind; / But from this valour sad / Shrink underneath the plaid."
— Marvell, Andrew (1621-1678)
Author
Date
1681?
Metaphor
"The Pict no shelter now shall find / Within his parti-colour'd mind; / But from this valour sad / Shrink underneath the plaid."
Metaphor in Context
What may not others fear
If thus he crown each year!
A Cæsar he ere long to Gaul,
To Italy an Hannibal,
And to all states not free,
Shall climacteric be.
The Pict no shelter now shall find
Within his parti-colour'd mind;
But from this valour sad
Shrink underneath the plaid,
Happy if in the tufted brake
The English hunter him mistake,
Nor lay his hounds in near
The Caledonian deer.
But thou, the war's and fortune's son,
March indefatigably on;
And for the last effect
Still keep thy sword erect;
Besides the force it has to fright
The spirits of the shady night,
The same arts that did gain
A pow'r, must it maintain.
If thus he crown each year!
A Cæsar he ere long to Gaul,
To Italy an Hannibal,
And to all states not free,
Shall climacteric be.
The Pict no shelter now shall find
Within his parti-colour'd mind;
But from this valour sad
Shrink underneath the plaid,
Happy if in the tufted brake
The English hunter him mistake,
Nor lay his hounds in near
The Caledonian deer.
But thou, the war's and fortune's son,
March indefatigably on;
And for the last effect
Still keep thy sword erect;
Besides the force it has to fright
The spirits of the shady night,
The same arts that did gain
A pow'r, must it maintain.
Categories
Provenance
Reading Norton Critical Edition of Seventeenth Century British Poetry, 1603-1660
Date of Entry
12/15/2006
Date of Review
12/03/2008
