The mind may be "so weakened by the continual Daggers that pierce it, that our Judgment is lost, and we hourly accuse ourselves for something we have done, or something we have omitted, condemning ourselves for what we cannot account for."
— Fielding, Sarah (1710-1768)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for A. Millar
Date
1744, 1753
Metaphor
The mind may be "so weakened by the continual Daggers that pierce it, that our Judgment is lost, and we hourly accuse ourselves for something we have done, or something we have omitted, condemning ourselves for what we cannot account for."
Metaphor in Context
To reverse the whole Face of Things--Day after Day with Fear and Trembling to enter those very Chambers we used to fly to for Comfort, and to fly from them with bleeding Hearts that can contain no longer without the Vent of Sighs and Tears--to wake from every short Sleep (obtained only by long watching) dreading even to ask for our Friends, and to receive the continual Answer, that they spent the Night in Pain--to have each Day bring the same mournful Prospect of being again Witness of that Pain--to have our Minds so weakened by the continual Daggers that pierce it, that our Judgment is lost, and we hourly accuse ourselves for something we have done, or something we have omitted, condemning ourselves for what we cannot account for-- this is a Scene of Misery, that, I believe, whoever has experienced, will think nothing in this World can equal; and a Scene I purposely chuse to mention in general Terms, lest if any gentle Reader has conceived an Affection for David and his Camilla, should I say, thus David, and thus Camilla felt, it might too much wring and grieve the tender Heart. But by passing quickly over all the Sorrows that affected David and his Camilla, I would not be understood as if they felt not the paternal Concern for such Children being torn from them. The true Reason why I dwell not on that Concern, is, that Words cannot reach it--the sympathizing Heart must imagine it--and the Heart that has no Sympathy, is not capable of receiving it. David was, on every tender Occasion, motionless with Grief; andCamilla, although her Mind was too humble to distort her Countenance, yet did the Tears flow in Streams from her Eyes, and she was at once a Picture of the highest Sorrow and the highest Resignation; for Clamour is rather a Proof of Affectation than of a Mind truly afflicted; and tender Sorrow neither seeks nor wants Language to express itself.
(pp. 199-200)
(pp. 199-200)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Prose)
Citation
At least 15 entries in ESTC (1740, 1744, 1753, 1758, 1761, 1772, 1775, 1782, 1788, 1792). [Note, Volume the Last published in 1753.]
The Adventures of David Simple: Containing an Account of his Travels through the Cities of London and Westminster, in the Search of a Real Friend. By a Lady, 2 vols. (London: A. Millar, 1744) <Link to ECCO>
The Adventures of David Simple: Containing an Account of his Travels through the Cities of London and Westminster, in the Search of a Real Friend. By a Lady, 2 vols. (London: A. Millar, 1744) <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
11/16/2004
Date of Review
07/18/2011
