"Tormenting Doubts my troubled Soul perplex, / But my steel'd Breast no certain Fears can vex."
— Hughes, Jabez (1685-1731)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Watts; And Sold by W. Meres
Date
1714, 1723
Metaphor
"Tormenting Doubts my troubled Soul perplex, / But my steel'd Breast no certain Fears can vex."
Metaphor in Context
Whom busy'd thus, the Scandal of his Race,
Sextus approach'd, and thus accosts: O Grace
Of Thessaly, accustom'd here t' expound
All dark Events, and for thy Skill renown'd:
When lab'ring Fates push onward to their End,
Thou can'st arrest their Course, and often dost suspend.
O sage Enchantress, freely now declare
The dubious Fortune of the cruel War:
And know, that of no common Line I am,
But the great Pompey for my Father claim:
His Doom I follow, either, Lord of all,
With him I triumph, or with him I fall.
Tormenting Doubts my troubled Soul perplex,
But my steel'd Breast no certain Fears can vex.
Let not capricious Chance this Pow'r obtain,
T' oppress me blindly: try the Heav'nly Reign:
Or spare the Gods; and from the Ghosts below,
The Truth discover, and the Secret know.
Unlock th' Elysian Seats, and from his Cell
The griesly Figure of grim Death compel;
Make him reveal, whom, in the fatal Day,
He marks for Ruin, and designs his Prey.
Great is the Task desir'd, and worthy Thee,
To trace so dread a Doom in dark Futurity.
(Cf. p. 100 in 1714 ed.)
Sextus approach'd, and thus accosts: O Grace
Of Thessaly, accustom'd here t' expound
All dark Events, and for thy Skill renown'd:
When lab'ring Fates push onward to their End,
Thou can'st arrest their Course, and often dost suspend.
O sage Enchantress, freely now declare
The dubious Fortune of the cruel War:
And know, that of no common Line I am,
But the great Pompey for my Father claim:
His Doom I follow, either, Lord of all,
With him I triumph, or with him I fall.
Tormenting Doubts my troubled Soul perplex,
But my steel'd Breast no certain Fears can vex.
Let not capricious Chance this Pow'r obtain,
T' oppress me blindly: try the Heav'nly Reign:
Or spare the Gods; and from the Ghosts below,
The Truth discover, and the Secret know.
Unlock th' Elysian Seats, and from his Cell
The griesly Figure of grim Death compel;
Make him reveal, whom, in the fatal Day,
He marks for Ruin, and designs his Prey.
Great is the Task desir'd, and worthy Thee,
To trace so dread a Doom in dark Futurity.
(Cf. p. 100 in 1714 ed.)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "soul" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
3 entries in ESTC (1714, 1716, 1723).
Text from The Rape of Proserpine, From Claudian. In Three Books. With the Episode of Sextus and Erichtho, From Lucan's Pharsalia, Book VI. Translated by Mr. Jabez Hughes. The Second Edition, Corrected and Enlarg'd with Notes (London: Printed for J. Watts; And Sold by W. Meres, 1723).
See also The Rape of Proserpine, from Claudian. in Three Books. With the Story of Sextus and Erichtho, from Lucan’s Pharsalia, Book 6. Translated by Mr. Jabez Hughes. (London: Printed by J. D. and sold by Ferd. Burleigh in Amen-Corner, 1714). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Rape of Proserpine, From Claudian. In Three Books. With the Episode of Sextus and Erichtho, From Lucan's Pharsalia, Book VI. Translated by Mr. Jabez Hughes. The Second Edition, Corrected and Enlarg'd with Notes (London: Printed for J. Watts; And Sold by W. Meres, 1723).
See also The Rape of Proserpine, from Claudian. in Three Books. With the Story of Sextus and Erichtho, from Lucan’s Pharsalia, Book 6. Translated by Mr. Jabez Hughes. (London: Printed by J. D. and sold by Ferd. Burleigh in Amen-Corner, 1714). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
06/12/2005
