"The strong Impression / May break my Heart, but shall not bend my Mind."
— Sheffield, John, first duke of Buckingham and Normanby (1647-1721)
Place of Publication
London
Date
1723, 1740
Metaphor
"The strong Impression / May break my Heart, but shall not bend my Mind."
Metaphor in Context
BRUTUS.
Yes, of you, Cassius; if you can believe
I would receive a Favour from a Foe.
Is this a Time to be oblig'd by Cæsar?
Good Gods! had I not Doubts enough before?
Did I not struggle hard enough for Virtue?
That this last Tenderness of his is added
To shake my very Soul? The strong Impression
May break my Heart, but shall not bend my Mind.
Cassius in this is honour'd more than Brutus;
For, when our Country is so much debas'd,
Repulse is glorious, and Advancement Shame:
I'll not be rais'd by him who ruins her.
It was no private Injury provok'd me;
Frowns had not frighten'd me, nor shall his Favours,
With all their Syren Voice, entice me to him.
I must go on thro' Virtue's plainest Course;
In that smooth Path there is no Fear of Falling.
Yes, of you, Cassius; if you can believe
I would receive a Favour from a Foe.
Is this a Time to be oblig'd by Cæsar?
Good Gods! had I not Doubts enough before?
Did I not struggle hard enough for Virtue?
That this last Tenderness of his is added
To shake my very Soul? The strong Impression
May break my Heart, but shall not bend my Mind.
Cassius in this is honour'd more than Brutus;
For, when our Country is so much debas'd,
Repulse is glorious, and Advancement Shame:
I'll not be rais'd by him who ruins her.
It was no private Injury provok'd me;
Frowns had not frighten'd me, nor shall his Favours,
With all their Syren Voice, entice me to him.
I must go on thro' Virtue's plainest Course;
In that smooth Path there is no Fear of Falling.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "impression" and "mind" in HDIS (Poetry); found again "heart"; and again "soul"
Citation
Searching, finding 6 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1723, 1726, 1729, 1752, 1753).
Text from The Works of John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, Marquis of Normanby, and Duke of Buckingham. 2 vols., 3rd ed., Corrected (London: Printed for T. Wotton and D. Browne, 1740).
Play dated to 1722. Appears in The Works of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, 2 vols. (London: John Barber, 1723). <Link to ECCO>. Published individually in 1726.
See also reissue: The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Altered: With a Prologue and Chorus; by His Grace John Duke of Buckingham. (Glasgow: Printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis, 1752).
Text from The Works of John Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, Marquis of Normanby, and Duke of Buckingham. 2 vols., 3rd ed., Corrected (London: Printed for T. Wotton and D. Browne, 1740).
Play dated to 1722. Appears in The Works of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, 2 vols. (London: John Barber, 1723). <Link to ECCO>. Published individually in 1726.
See also reissue: The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Altered: With a Prologue and Chorus; by His Grace John Duke of Buckingham. (Glasgow: Printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis, 1752).
Date of Entry
05/15/2005
Date of Review
06/05/2011
