"The quiet of Our mind destroys, / Or with a full spring-tide of joys, / Or a dead-ebb of grief. "
— Prior, Matthew (1664-1721)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Adrian Drift
Date
1740
Metaphor
"The quiet of Our mind destroys, / Or with a full spring-tide of joys, / Or a dead-ebb of grief. "
Metaphor in Context
While mad Ophelia we lament,
And Her distraction mourn,
Our grief's misplac'd, Our tears mispent,
Since what for Her condition's meant
More justly fits Our Own.
For if 'tis happiness to be,
From all the turns of Fate,
From dubious joy, and sorrow free;
Ophelia then is blest, and we
Misunderstand Her state.
The Fates may do whate'er they will,
They can't disturb her mind,
Insensible of good, or ill,
Ophelia is Ophelia still,
Be Fortune cross or kind.
Then make with reason no more noise,
Since what should give relief,
The quiet of Our mind destroys,
Or with a full spring-tide of joys,
Or a dead-ebb of grief.
(ll. 1-20, pp. 696-7)
And Her distraction mourn,
Our grief's misplac'd, Our tears mispent,
Since what for Her condition's meant
More justly fits Our Own.
For if 'tis happiness to be,
From all the turns of Fate,
From dubious joy, and sorrow free;
Ophelia then is blest, and we
Misunderstand Her state.
The Fates may do whate'er they will,
They can't disturb her mind,
Insensible of good, or ill,
Ophelia is Ophelia still,
Be Fortune cross or kind.
Then make with reason no more noise,
Since what should give relief,
The quiet of Our mind destroys,
Or with a full spring-tide of joys,
Or a dead-ebb of grief.
(ll. 1-20, pp. 696-7)
Categories
Provenance
HDIS
Citation
Prior, Matthew, The Literary Works of Matthew Prior. Ed. H. Bunker Wright and Monroe K. Spears. 2 vols. Second Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Date of Entry
01/05/2004
