"And the prince of this latter tribe may be proved to have been a great frequenter of the wood and river banks, where he consumed abundance of his breath, suffered his fancy to evaporate, and reduced the vehemence both of his spirit and voice."
— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
John Morphew
Date
1710, 1714
Metaphor
"And the prince of this latter tribe may be proved to have been a great frequenter of the wood and river banks, where he consumed abundance of his breath, suffered his fancy to evaporate, and reduced the vehemence both of his spirit and voice."
Metaphor in Context
It is remarkable in all great wits that they have owned this practice of ours, and generally described themselves as a people liable to sufficient ridicule for their great loquacity by themselves and their profound taciturnity in company. Not only the poet and philosopher, but the orator himself was wont to have recourse to our method. And the prince of this latter tribe may be proved to have been a great frequenter of the wood and river banks, where he consumed abundance of his breath, suffered his fancy to evaporate, and reduced the vehemence both of his spirit and voice. If other authors find nothing which invites them to these recesses, it is because their genius is not of force enough, or, though it be, their character, they may imagine, will hardly bear them out. For to be surprised in the odd actions, gestures or tones which are proper to such ascetics, I must own would be an ill adventure for a man of the world. But, with poets and philosophers, it is a known case: Either the man is crazy or else he makes verses.
(p. 73)
(p. 73)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
A complicated publication history. At least 10 entries in ESTC (1710, 1711, 1714, 1733, 1744, 1751, 1757, 1758, 1773, 1790).
See Soliloquy, or Advice to an Author (London: John Morphew, 1710). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
See also "Soliloquy, or Advice to an Author" in Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times. In Three Volumes. (London: John Darby, 1711). <Link to ESTC>
Some text drawn from ECCO and Google Books; also from Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury. Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, ed. Lawrence E. Klein (Cambridge: CUP, 2001). Klein's text is based on the British Library's copy of the second edition of 1714. [Texts to be collated.]
See Soliloquy, or Advice to an Author (London: John Morphew, 1710). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
See also "Soliloquy, or Advice to an Author" in Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times. In Three Volumes. (London: John Darby, 1711). <Link to ESTC>
Some text drawn from ECCO and Google Books; also from Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury. Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, ed. Lawrence E. Klein (Cambridge: CUP, 2001). Klein's text is based on the British Library's copy of the second edition of 1714. [Texts to be collated.]
Theme
Soliloquy
Date of Entry
11/06/2003
