The soul may leave "the reins in the wild hand of nature, who like a Phaeton, drives the fiery chariot, and sets the world on flame"
— Vanbrugh, Sir John (1664-1726)
Work Title
Date
1696
Metaphor
The soul may leave "the reins in the wild hand of nature, who like a Phaeton, drives the fiery chariot, and sets the world on flame"
Metaphor in Context
WORTHY
Endeavours we may use, but flesh and blood are got in t'other scale; and they are ponderous things.
AMANDA
Whate'er they are, there is a weight in resolution sufficient for their balance. The soul, I do confess, is usually so careless of its charge, so soft, and so indulgent to desire, it leaves the reins in the wild hand of nature, who like a Phaeton, drives the fiery chariot, and sets the world on flame. Yet still the sovereignty is in the mind, whene'er it pleases to exert its force. Perhaps you may not think it worth your while to take such mighty pains for my esteem; but that I leave to you.
You see the price I set upon my heart;
Perhaps 'tis dear: but spite of all your art
You'll find on cheaper terms we n'er shall part.
Endeavours we may use, but flesh and blood are got in t'other scale; and they are ponderous things.
AMANDA
Whate'er they are, there is a weight in resolution sufficient for their balance. The soul, I do confess, is usually so careless of its charge, so soft, and so indulgent to desire, it leaves the reins in the wild hand of nature, who like a Phaeton, drives the fiery chariot, and sets the world on flame. Yet still the sovereignty is in the mind, whene'er it pleases to exert its force. Perhaps you may not think it worth your while to take such mighty pains for my esteem; but that I leave to you.
You see the price I set upon my heart;
Perhaps 'tis dear: but spite of all your art
You'll find on cheaper terms we n'er shall part.
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Vanbrugh, John. The Relapse. ed. Bernard Harris. The New Mermaids. London and New York, A. & C. Black and W. W. Norton, 1971.
Date of Entry
03/24/2004
