"Till hard despair wring from the tyrant's soul / The iron tears out."
— Watts, Isaac (1674-1748)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by S. and D. Bridge, for John Lawrence
Date
1706
Metaphor
"Till hard despair wring from the tyrant's soul / The iron tears out."
Metaphor in Context
Princess, the world already owns thy name:
Go, mount the chariot of immortal fame,
Nor die to be renown'd: Fame's loudest breath
Too dear is purchas'd by an angel's death.
The vengeance of thy rod, with general joy,
Shall scourge rebellion and the rival boy:[1]
Thy sounding arms his Gallic patron hears
And speeds his flight; not overtakes his fears,
Till hard despair wring from the tyrant's soul
The iron tears out. Let thy frown control
Our angry jars at home, till wrath submit
Her impious banners to thy sacred feet.
Mad zeal and frenzy, with their murderous train,
Flee these sweet realms in thine auspicious reign,
Envy expire in rage, and treason bite the chain.
Go, mount the chariot of immortal fame,
Nor die to be renown'd: Fame's loudest breath
Too dear is purchas'd by an angel's death.
The vengeance of thy rod, with general joy,
Shall scourge rebellion and the rival boy:[1]
Thy sounding arms his Gallic patron hears
And speeds his flight; not overtakes his fears,
Till hard despair wring from the tyrant's soul
The iron tears out. Let thy frown control
Our angry jars at home, till wrath submit
Her impious banners to thy sacred feet.
Mad zeal and frenzy, with their murderous train,
Flee these sweet realms in thine auspicious reign,
Envy expire in rage, and treason bite the chain.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "soul" and "iron" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
36 entries in ESTC (1706, 1709, 1715, 1731, 1737, 1743, 1748, 1750, 1751, 1753, 1758, 1762, 1764, 1765, 1770, 1772, 1778, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1785, 1786, 1788, 1790, 1792, 1793, 1795, 1796, 1798, 1799).
See Horæ Lyricæ: Poems, Chiefly of the Lyric Kind. In Two books. (London: Printed by S. and D. Bridge, for John Lawrence, 1706). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
See also Isaac Watts, Horæ Lyricæ. Poems Chiefly of the Lyric Kind. In Three Books, 2nd ed. (London: Printed by J. Humfreys, for N. Cliff, 1709). <Link to ECCO>
Text from The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D., 6 vols. (London: Printed by and for John Barfield, 1810).
See Horæ Lyricæ: Poems, Chiefly of the Lyric Kind. In Two books. (London: Printed by S. and D. Bridge, for John Lawrence, 1706). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
See also Isaac Watts, Horæ Lyricæ. Poems Chiefly of the Lyric Kind. In Three Books, 2nd ed. (London: Printed by J. Humfreys, for N. Cliff, 1709). <Link to ECCO>
Text from The Works of the Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, D. D., 6 vols. (London: Printed by and for John Barfield, 1810).
Date of Entry
06/08/2005
