"Alas! by diff'rent Passions I'm oppress'd! / Fierce Love and Hate contend within my Breast."
— Baker, Henry (1698-1774)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for D. Midwinter, A Bettesworth and C. Hitch, J. and J. Pemberton, R. Ware, C. Rivington, F. Clay, J. Batley and J. Wood, A. Ward, J. and P. Knapton, T. Longman, and R. Hett
Date
1737
Metaphor
"Alas! by diff'rent Passions I'm oppress'd! / Fierce Love and Hate contend within my Breast."
Metaphor in Context
Alas! by diff'rent Passions I'm oppress'd!
Fierce Love and Hate contend within my Breast:
My Bosom they divide, but Love I fear
Will prove too strong, and gain a Conquest there.
I'll strive to hate Thee; but if that should prove
A fruitless Strife, spite of myself I'll love.
The Bull dislikes the galling Yoke, but still
He bears the Thing he hates, against his Will.
I hate, I fly Thee, faithless Fair! in vain,
Thy Beauty ever brings me back again,
Thou in my Heart wilt always find a Place:
I hate thy Humour, but I love thy Face.
No Rest I to my tortur'd Soul can give,
Nor with Thee, nor without Thee, can I live.
Oh! that thy Mind We in thy Face could view!
Less lovely that Thou wer't, or else more true!
How diff'rent are thy Manners, and thy Sight?
Thy Deeds forbid Us, but thy Eyes invite.
Thy Actions shock Us, while thy Beauty moves:
And He who hates thy Faults, thy Person loves.
Ah! happy, ever happy should I be,
If I no Charms, or no Defects could see.-- (II, pp. 199, 201)
Fierce Love and Hate contend within my Breast:
My Bosom they divide, but Love I fear
Will prove too strong, and gain a Conquest there.
I'll strive to hate Thee; but if that should prove
A fruitless Strife, spite of myself I'll love.
The Bull dislikes the galling Yoke, but still
He bears the Thing he hates, against his Will.
I hate, I fly Thee, faithless Fair! in vain,
Thy Beauty ever brings me back again,
Thou in my Heart wilt always find a Place:
I hate thy Humour, but I love thy Face.
No Rest I to my tortur'd Soul can give,
Nor with Thee, nor without Thee, can I live.
Oh! that thy Mind We in thy Face could view!
Less lovely that Thou wer't, or else more true!
How diff'rent are thy Manners, and thy Sight?
Thy Deeds forbid Us, but thy Eyes invite.
Thy Actions shock Us, while thy Beauty moves:
And He who hates thy Faults, thy Person loves.
Ah! happy, ever happy should I be,
If I no Charms, or no Defects could see.-- (II, pp. 199, 201)
Provenance
Searching HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1737).
Medulla Poetarum Romanorum: or, the Most Beautiful and Instructive Passages of the Roman Poets. Being a Collection, (Disposed Under Proper Heads,) of Such Descriptions, Allusions, Comparisons, Characters, and Sentiments, As May Best Serve to Shew the Religion, Learning, Politicks, Arts, Customs, Opinions, Manners, and Circumstances of the Antients. With Translations of the Same in English Verse. By Mr. Henry Baker. 2 vols. (London: Printed for D. Midwinter, A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, J. and J. Pemberton, R. Ware, C. Rivington, F. Clay, J. Batley and J. Wood, A. Ward, J. and P. Knapton, T. Longman, and R. Hett, 1737). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books, Vol. I and Vol. II>
Medulla Poetarum Romanorum: or, the Most Beautiful and Instructive Passages of the Roman Poets. Being a Collection, (Disposed Under Proper Heads,) of Such Descriptions, Allusions, Comparisons, Characters, and Sentiments, As May Best Serve to Shew the Religion, Learning, Politicks, Arts, Customs, Opinions, Manners, and Circumstances of the Antients. With Translations of the Same in English Verse. By Mr. Henry Baker. 2 vols. (London: Printed for D. Midwinter, A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, J. and J. Pemberton, R. Ware, C. Rivington, F. Clay, J. Batley and J. Wood, A. Ward, J. and P. Knapton, T. Longman, and R. Hett, 1737). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books, Vol. I and Vol. II>
Theme
Psychomachia
Date of Entry
06/14/2004
Date of Review
01/11/2012
