"O cruel thou! some fury sure has steel'd / That stubborn soul, by toil untaught to yield!"
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744), Broome, W. and Fenton, E.
Place of Publication
London
Date
1725-6
Metaphor
"O cruel thou! some fury sure has steel'd / That stubborn soul, by toil untaught to yield!"
Metaphor in Context
O cruel thou! some fury sure has steel'd
That stubborn soul, by toil untaught to yield!
From sleep debarr'd, we sink from woes to woes;
And cruel, enviest thou a short repose?
Still must we restless rove, new seas explore,
The sun descending, and so near the shore?
And lo! the night begins her gloomy reign,
And doubles all the terrors of the main.
Oft in the dead of night loud winds arise,
Lash the wild surge, and bluster in the skies;
Oh should the fierce south-west his rage display,
And toss with rising storms the wat'ry way,
Tho' Gods descend from heav'n's aereal plain
To lend us aid, the Gods descend in vain:
Then while the night displays her awful shade,
Sweet time of slumber! be the night obey'd!
Haste ye to land! and when the morning ray
Sheds her bright beam, pursue the destin'd way.
A sudden joy in every bosom rose;
So will'd some Demon, minister of woes!
That stubborn soul, by toil untaught to yield!
From sleep debarr'd, we sink from woes to woes;
And cruel, enviest thou a short repose?
Still must we restless rove, new seas explore,
The sun descending, and so near the shore?
And lo! the night begins her gloomy reign,
And doubles all the terrors of the main.
Oft in the dead of night loud winds arise,
Lash the wild surge, and bluster in the skies;
Oh should the fierce south-west his rage display,
And toss with rising storms the wat'ry way,
Tho' Gods descend from heav'n's aereal plain
To lend us aid, the Gods descend in vain:
Then while the night displays her awful shade,
Sweet time of slumber! be the night obey'd!
Haste ye to land! and when the morning ray
Sheds her bright beam, pursue the destin'd way.
A sudden joy in every bosom rose;
So will'd some Demon, minister of woes!
Categories
Provenance
Searching "soul" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Over 30 entries in ESTC (1725, 1726, 1745, 1752, 1753, 1758, 1760, 1761, 1763, 1766, 1767, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1773, 1778, 1790, 1792, 1795, 1796).
The Odyssey of Homer. Translated from the Greek, 5 vols. (London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, 1725-26).
The Odyssey of Homer. Translated from the Greek, 5 vols. (London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, 1725-26).
Date of Entry
06/12/2005
