The passions may be at war
— Pilkington, Laetitia (c. 1709-1750)
Work Title
Date
1748
Metaphor
The passions may be at war
Metaphor in Context
Thou didst the jarring elements compose
Whence this harmonious universe arose;
O speak the tempest of the soul to peace,
Bid the tumultuous war of passion cease;
Receive me to thy kind paternal care,
And guard me from the horrors of despair.
And since no more I boast of a mother's name,
Nor in my children can a portion claim,
The helpless babes to thy protection take,
Nor punish for their hapless mother's sake:
Thus the poor bird, when frighted from her nest
With agonizing love and grief distressed,
Still fondly hovers o'er the much-loved place,
Though strengthless to protect her tender race;
In piercing notes she movingly complains,
And tells the unattending woods her pains.
(ll. 33-48, p. 140-1)
Whence this harmonious universe arose;
O speak the tempest of the soul to peace,
Bid the tumultuous war of passion cease;
Receive me to thy kind paternal care,
And guard me from the horrors of despair.
And since no more I boast of a mother's name,
Nor in my children can a portion claim,
The helpless babes to thy protection take,
Nor punish for their hapless mother's sake:
Thus the poor bird, when frighted from her nest
With agonizing love and grief distressed,
Still fondly hovers o'er the much-loved place,
Though strengthless to protect her tender race;
In piercing notes she movingly complains,
And tells the unattending woods her pains.
(ll. 33-48, p. 140-1)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Lonsdale, R. Ed. Eighteenth Century Women Poets. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Date of Entry
09/14/2009
