"Lo these were they, whose souls the Furies steel'd, / And curs'd with hearts unknowing how to yield."
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
1717, 1736
Metaphor
"Lo these were they, whose souls the Furies steel'd, / And curs'd with hearts unknowing how to yield."
Metaphor in Context
But thou, false guardian of a charge too good,
Thou, mean deserter of thy brother's blood!
See on these ruby lips the trembling breath,
These cheeks, now fading at the blast of death;
Cold is that breast which warm'd the world before,
And those love-darting eyes must roll no more.
Thus, if Eternal justice rules the ball,
Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall:
On all the line a sudden vengeance waits,
And frequent herses shall besiege your gates.
There passengers shall stand, and pointing say,
(While the long fun'rals blacken all the way)
Lo these were they, whose souls the Furies steel'd,
And curs'd with hearts unknowing how to yield.
Thus unlamented pass the proud away,
The gaze of fools, and pageant of a day!
So perish all, whose breast ne'er learn'd to glow
For others good, or melt at others woe.
(pp. 262-3, ll. 29-46)
Thou, mean deserter of thy brother's blood!
See on these ruby lips the trembling breath,
These cheeks, now fading at the blast of death;
Cold is that breast which warm'd the world before,
And those love-darting eyes must roll no more.
Thus, if Eternal justice rules the ball,
Thus shall your wives, and thus your children fall:
On all the line a sudden vengeance waits,
And frequent herses shall besiege your gates.
There passengers shall stand, and pointing say,
(While the long fun'rals blacken all the way)
Lo these were they, whose souls the Furies steel'd,
And curs'd with hearts unknowing how to yield.
Thus unlamented pass the proud away,
The gaze of fools, and pageant of a day!
So perish all, whose breast ne'er learn'd to glow
For others good, or melt at others woe.
(pp. 262-3, ll. 29-46)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry); found again "sou"
Citation
At least 86 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1717, 1736, 1740, 1743, 1744, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, 1756, 1757, 1760, 1764, 1766, 1767, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1773, 1774, 1776, 1777, 1779, 1780, 1782, 1783, 1785, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1800).
First published in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope. (London: printed by W. Bowyer, for Jacob Tonson at Shakespear’s Head in the Strand, and Bernard Lintot between the Temple-Gates in Fleetstreet, 1717).<Link to ESTC>
Text from The Works of Alexander Pope. (London: Printed for B. Lintot, Lawton Gilliver, H. Lintot, L. Gilliver, and J. Clarke, 1736). <Link to LION>
Reading The Poems of Alexander Pope. A One-Volume Edition of the Twickenham Text with Selected Annotations. Ed. John Butt. (New Haven: Yale UP, 1963).
First published in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope. (London: printed by W. Bowyer, for Jacob Tonson at Shakespear’s Head in the Strand, and Bernard Lintot between the Temple-Gates in Fleetstreet, 1717).<Link to ESTC>
Text from The Works of Alexander Pope. (London: Printed for B. Lintot, Lawton Gilliver, H. Lintot, L. Gilliver, and J. Clarke, 1736). <Link to LION>
Reading The Poems of Alexander Pope. A One-Volume Edition of the Twickenham Text with Selected Annotations. Ed. John Butt. (New Haven: Yale UP, 1963).
Date of Entry
06/10/2005
