"Is then the dire Achilles all your Care? / That Iron Heart, inflexibly severe."
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by W. Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott
Date
1715-1720
Metaphor
"Is then the dire Achilles all your Care? / That Iron Heart, inflexibly severe."
Metaphor in Context
Unpitying Pow'rs! how oft each holy Fane
Has Hector ting'd with Blood of Victims slain?
And can ye still his cold Remains pursue?
Still grudge his Body to the Trojans View?
Deny to Consort, Mother, Son, and Sire,
The last sad Honours of the fun'ral Fire?
Is then the dire Achilles all your Care?
That Iron Heart, inflexibly severe;
A Lion, not a Man, who slaughters wide
In Strength of Rage and Impotence of Pride,
Who hastes to murder with a savage Joy,
Invades around, and breathes but to destroy.
Shame is not of his Soul; nor understood,
The greatest Evil and the greatest Good
Still for one Loss he rages unresign'd,
Repugnant to the Lot of all Mankind;
To lose a Friend, a Brother, or a Son,
Heav'n dooms each Mortal, and its Will is done:
A while they sorrow, then dismiss their Care;
Fate gives the Wound, and Man is born to bear.
But this Insatiate the Commission giv'n
By Fate, exceeds; and tempts the Wrath of Heav'n:
Lo how his Rage dishonest drags along
Hector's dead Earth insensible of Wrong!
Brave tho' he be, yet by no Reason aw'd,
He violates the Laws of Man and God.
Has Hector ting'd with Blood of Victims slain?
And can ye still his cold Remains pursue?
Still grudge his Body to the Trojans View?
Deny to Consort, Mother, Son, and Sire,
The last sad Honours of the fun'ral Fire?
Is then the dire Achilles all your Care?
That Iron Heart, inflexibly severe;
A Lion, not a Man, who slaughters wide
In Strength of Rage and Impotence of Pride,
Who hastes to murder with a savage Joy,
Invades around, and breathes but to destroy.
Shame is not of his Soul; nor understood,
The greatest Evil and the greatest Good
Still for one Loss he rages unresign'd,
Repugnant to the Lot of all Mankind;
To lose a Friend, a Brother, or a Son,
Heav'n dooms each Mortal, and its Will is done:
A while they sorrow, then dismiss their Care;
Fate gives the Wound, and Man is born to bear.
But this Insatiate the Commission giv'n
By Fate, exceeds; and tempts the Wrath of Heav'n:
Lo how his Rage dishonest drags along
Hector's dead Earth insensible of Wrong!
Brave tho' he be, yet by no Reason aw'd,
He violates the Laws of Man and God.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "iron" in HDIS (Poetry); found again in ECCO-TCP
Citation
17 entries in ESTC (1715, 1718, 1720, 1721, 1729, 1732, 1736, 1738, 1754, 1767, 1770, 1790, 1791, 1796). Vol. 2 is dated 1716; vol. 3, 1717; vol. 4, 1718; vols. 5 and 6, 1720.
See The Iliad of Homer, Translated by Mr. Pope, 6 vols. (London: Printed by W. Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott, 1715-1720). <Link to ESTC><Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Vol. II><Vol. III><Vol. IV><Vol. V><Vol. VI>
See The Iliad of Homer, Translated by Mr. Pope, 6 vols. (London: Printed by W. Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott, 1715-1720). <Link to ESTC><Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Vol. II><Vol. III><Vol. IV><Vol. V><Vol. VI>
Date of Entry
06/07/2005
