lines from neo

8/20/2019 Lines From Neo

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Lines from Neo-classicist Thomas Parnell’s “An Elegy, to an Old Beauty”

n !ain, "oor nym"h, to "lease our youthful sight

#ou slee" in cream and frontlets all the night,

#our face $ith "atches soil, $ith "aint re"air,

%ress $ith gay go$ns, and shade $ith foreign hair&

f truth, in s"ite of manners, must 'e told,

(hy really )fty-)!e is something old&

Once you $ere young* or one, $hose life’s so long

+he might ha!e 'orne my mother, tells me $rong&

And once since en!y’s dead 'efore you die,

The $omen o$n you "layed $ith a s"ar.ling eye,

Taught the light foot a modish little tri",

And "outed $ith the "rettiest "ur"le li"/&

01oes on for another 23 lines4

5rom Neo-classicist +amuel 6ohnson’s yes, he $rote "oetry, too “The 7anity of8uman (ishes” 9:;<

Let o'ser!ation $ith e=tensi!e !ie$

+ur!ey man.ind from >hina to Peru*

?emar. each an=ious toil, each eager strife,

And $atch the 'usy scenes of cro$ded life*

Then say ho$ ho"e and fear, desire and hate,

O’!er s"read $ith snares the cro$ded ma@e of fate,

(here $a!’ring man, 'etrayed 'y !enturous "ride

To tread the dreary "aths $ithout a guide,

As treach’rous "hantoms in the mist delude,

+hun’s fancied ills, or chases airy good/&



0t goes on for four more "ages4n 9:<2, one of the )rst ?omantic "oets, +amuel Taylor >oleridge, $rote one of themost famous "oems in the English language, “u'la han&”

n anadu did u'la han

A stately "leasure-dome decreeC(here Al"h, the sacred ri!er, ran

Through ca!erns measureless to man%o$n to a sunless sea&+o t$ice )!e miles of fertile ground(ith $alls and to$ers $ere girdled roundCAnd here $ere gardens 'right $ith sinuous rills(here 'lossomed many an incense-'earing tree*And here $ere forests ancient as the hills,Enfolding sunny s"ots of greenery&But ohD that dee" romantic chasm $hich slanted%o$n the green hill ath$art a cedarn co!erD

A sa!age "laceD as holy and enchantedAs eer 'eneath a $aning moon $as hauntedBy $oman $ailing for her demon-lo!erD

And from this chasm, $ith ceaseless turmoil seething,As if this earth in fast thic. "ants $ere 'reathing,A mighty fountain momently $as forced*Amid $hose s$ift half-intermitted 'urst8uge fragments !aulted li.e re'ounding hail,Or chaFy grain 'eneath the threshers GailCAnd mid these dancing roc.s at once and e!ert Gung u" momently the sacred ri!er&

5i!e miles meandering $ith a ma@y motion Through $ood and dale the sacred ri!er ran, Then reached the ca!erns measureless to man,And san. in tumult to a lifeless oceanCAnd mid this tumult u'la heard from farAncestral !oices "ro"hesying $arD

The shado$ of the dome of "leasure5loated mid$ay on the $a!esC(here $as heard the mingled measure5rom the fountain and the ca!es&t $as a miracle of rare de!ice,A sunny "leasure-dome $ith ca!es of iceDA damsel $ith a dulcimern a !ision once sa$Ct $as an A'yssinian maid,And on her dulcimer she "layed,+inging of Hount A'ora&>ould re!i!e $ithin me8er sym"hony and song,



To such a dee" delight t $ould $in me That $ith music loud and long, $ould 'uild that dome in air,

That sunny domeD those ca!es of iceDAnd all $ho heard should see them there,And all should cry, Be$areD Be$areD

8is Gashing eyes, his Goating hairD(ea!e a circle round him thrice,And close your eyes $ith holy dread,5or he on honey-de$ hath fed,And drun. the mil. of Paradise&?omantic "oet (illiam (ords$orth, $ho transformed "oetry 'y turning into a"ersonal reGection, $rote “ >om"osed I"on (estminster Bridge, +e"tem'er 2,9J3K ”Earth has not anything to sho$ more fairC %ull $ould he 'e of soul $ho could "ass'y A sight so touching in its maestyC This >ity no$ doth, li.e a garment, $ear The'eauty of the morning* silent, 'are, +hi"s, to$ers, domes, theatres, and tem"les lieO"en unto the )elds, and to the s.y* All 'right and glittering in the smo.eless air&

Ne!er did sun more 'eautifully stee" n his )rst s"lendour, !alley, roc., or hill* Neersa$ , ne!er felt, a calm so dee"D The ri!er glideth at his o$n s$eet $illC %ear 1odDthe !ery houses seem aslee"* And all that mighty heart is lying stillD n 9J9J, PercyBysshe +helley, another famous ?omantic, "u'lished “O@ymandias”C

met a Tra!eler from an antiMue land,(ho said, T$o !ast and trun.less legs of stone+tand in the desart& Near them, on the sand,8alf sun., a shattered !isage lies, $hose fro$n,And $rin.led li", and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its scul"tor $ell those "assions read,(hich yet sur!i!e, stam"ed on these lifeless things,

The hand that moc.ed them and the heart that fedCAnd on the "edestal these $ords a""earCHy name is O#HAN%A+, ing of ings&Loo. on my $or.s ye Highty, and des"airDNo thing 'eside remains& ?ound the decayOf that >olossal (rec., 'oundless and 'are,

The lone and le!el sands stretch far a$ay&

A fe$ decades later, in 9J9 (alt (hitman carried these ?omantic "rinci"les e!enfurther, $ith his "oem entitled, “A child said, (hat is the grassQ”

A child said, (hat is the grassQ fetching it to me $ith full hands*

8o$ could ans$er the childQ& & & & do not .no$ $hat it is any more than he&

guess it must 'e the Gag of my dis"osition, out of ho"eful green stuF $o!en&

Or guess it is the hand.erchief of the Lord,

A scented gift and remem'rancer designedly dro""ed,



Bearing the o$ners name some$ay in the corners, that $e may see and remar.,and say (hoseQ

Or guess the grass is itself a child& & & the "roduced 'a'e of the !egetation&

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