"[T]hus pale revenge / Unsheaths her murderous dagger; and the hands / Of lust and rapine, with unholy arts, / Watch to o'erturn the barrier of the laws / That keeps them from their prey: thus all the plagues / The wicked bear, or o'er the trembling scene / The tragic muse discloses, under shapes / Of honour, safety, pleasure, ease or pomp, / Stole first into the mind."
The Pleasures of Imagination
Over 33 entries in the ESTC (1744, 1748, 1754, 1758, 1759, 1763, 1765, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1771, 1775, 1777, 1780, 1786, 1788, 1794, 1795, 1796).<br>
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Text from Mark Akenside, <u>The Poems Of Mark Akenside</u> (London: W. Bowyer and J. Nichols, 1772).<br>
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Compare the poem as first published: Mark Akenside, <u>The Pleasures of Imagination: A Poem. In Three Books.</u> (London: Printed for R. Dodsley 1744). &lt;<a href="http://name.umdl.umich.edu/004832460.0001.000">Link to ECCO-TCP</a>&gt; &lt;<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=vy0GAAAAQAAJ">Link to Google Books</a>&gt;<br>
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Also reading <u>The Pleasures of Imagination</u> (Otley, England: Woodstock Books, 2000), which reprints <u>The Pleasures of Imagination. By Mark Akenside, M.D. to Which Is Prefixed a Critical Essay on the Poem, by Mrs. Barbauld.</u> (London: Printed for T. Cadell, jun. and W. Davies, (successors to Mr. Cadell), 1795). &lt;<a href="http://estc.bl.uk/T85421">Link to ESTC</a>&gt;