"[H]is heart was shod with a metal much harder than iron, which he was afraid nothing but hell-fire would be able to melt."
— Smollett, Tobias (1721-1777)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for the author
Date
1751
Metaphor
"[H]is heart was shod with a metal much harder than iron, which he was afraid nothing but hell-fire would be able to melt."
Metaphor in Context
The mendicant, who bore an inveterate grudge against this son of Æsculapius, ever since he had made so free with the catholic religion, replied with great bitterness, that he was a wretch with whom no Christian ought to communicate; that the vengeance of heaven would one day overtake him, on account of his profanity; and that his heart was shod with a metal much harder than iron, which he was afraid nothing but hell-fire would be able to melt.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "iron" in HDIS (Prose)
Citation
33 entries in ESTC (1751, 1758, 1763, 1765, 1769, 1773, 1775, 1776, 1778, 1779, 1781, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1791, 1793, 1794, 1798, 1799, 1800).
Smollett, Tobias. The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. In which are included, Memoirs of a Lady of Quality., 4 vols. (London: Printed for the author, 1751). <Link to ESTC>
Smollett, Tobias. The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. In which are included, Memoirs of a Lady of Quality., 4 vols. (London: Printed for the author, 1751). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
06/07/2005
