"Let inward beauty charm the mental sight; / Let godlike Reason, beaming bright, / Chase far away each gloomy shade, / Till VIRTUE's heav'nly form display'd / Alone shall captivate my soul, / And her divinest love possess me whole!"
— Mulso [later Chapone], Hester (1727-1801)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by S. Richardson
Date
1758
Metaphor
"Let inward beauty charm the mental sight; / Let godlike Reason, beaming bright, / Chase far away each gloomy shade, / Till VIRTUE's heav'nly form display'd / Alone shall captivate my soul, / And her divinest love possess me whole!"
Metaphor in Context
No longer let my fleeting joys depend
On social or domestic ties!
Superior let my spirit rise,
Not in the gentle counsels of a friend,
Nor in the smiles of love expect delight:
But teach me in MYSELF to find
Whate'er can please or fill my mind.
Let inward beauty charm the mental sight;
Let godlike Reason, beaming bright,
Chase far away each gloomy shade,
Till VIRTUE's heav'nly form display'd
Alone shall captivate my soul,
And her divinest love possess me whole!
(pp. 184-5)
On social or domestic ties!
Superior let my spirit rise,
Not in the gentle counsels of a friend,
Nor in the smiles of love expect delight:
But teach me in MYSELF to find
Whate'er can please or fill my mind.
Let inward beauty charm the mental sight;
Let godlike Reason, beaming bright,
Chase far away each gloomy shade,
Till VIRTUE's heav'nly form display'd
Alone shall captivate my soul,
And her divinest love possess me whole!
(pp. 184-5)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Text from Hester Chapone, Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, 3rd edition (London: Printed for E. and C. Dilly ... and J. Walter, 1777). <Link to 3rd edition in Google Books> <Link to version printed in Elizabeth Carter's translation of Epictetus, in Google Books>
Date of Entry
06/17/2011
