"God is accustom'd seriously to show / To men (what often they conceal for shame) / Their future state i'th' mirrour of a dream."
— Clark, William (fl. 1663-1685)
Place of Publication
Edinburgh
Publisher
Printed by the Heir of Andrew Anderson
Date
1685
Metaphor
"God is accustom'd seriously to show / To men (what often they conceal for shame) / Their future state i'th' mirrour of a dream."
Metaphor in Context
[1]Yes, in a dream, for often-times I know,
God is accustom'd seriously to show
To men (what often they conceal for shame)
Their future state i'th' mirrour of a dream.
For when the active soul outwearied,
With toile o'th' day, at night is brought to bed
Of a sound sleep; then it begins to fly,
Then liberat from the bodies drudgery,
It soares aloft, and in another sphere
Begins to act: nay, then it doth appear,
To be, what we cannot imagine here.
For being then as fit for contemplation
Almost, as 'twill be after separation,
By vision intuitive it sees
The state of things to come, and by degrees
Becomes so subtile, and doth at that rate,
In contemplation then expatiate.
With such delight, as if it did not mean,
By natural Organs e're to act again:
But when some hours it has thus wandered,
And in that time God has discovered,
What for its profit he intends at large,
Then he commands it to its former charge.
God is accustom'd seriously to show
To men (what often they conceal for shame)
Their future state i'th' mirrour of a dream.
For when the active soul outwearied,
With toile o'th' day, at night is brought to bed
Of a sound sleep; then it begins to fly,
Then liberat from the bodies drudgery,
It soares aloft, and in another sphere
Begins to act: nay, then it doth appear,
To be, what we cannot imagine here.
For being then as fit for contemplation
Almost, as 'twill be after separation,
By vision intuitive it sees
The state of things to come, and by degrees
Becomes so subtile, and doth at that rate,
In contemplation then expatiate.
With such delight, as if it did not mean,
By natural Organs e're to act again:
But when some hours it has thus wandered,
And in that time God has discovered,
What for its profit he intends at large,
Then he commands it to its former charge.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "mirrour" ("mirror") in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
William Clark, The Grand Tryal: or, Poetical Exercitations upon the Book of Job. Wherein, Suitable to Each Text of that Sacred Book, a Modest Explanation, and Continuation of the Several Discourses contained in it, is Attempted by William Clark (Edinburgh: Andrew Anderson, 1685). <Link to EEBO-TCP>
Theme
Dreams
Date of Entry
11/30/2005
