"For Love, in the Minds of Men, hath one Quality at least of a Fever, which is to prefer Coldness in the Object. Confess, dear Will, is there not something vastly refreshing in the cool Air of a Prude."
— Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for A. Millar
Date
1752
Metaphor
"For Love, in the Minds of Men, hath one Quality at least of a Fever, which is to prefer Coldness in the Object. Confess, dear Will, is there not something vastly refreshing in the cool Air of a Prude."
Metaphor in Context
The many bitter Reflections which every bad Action costs a Mind in which there are any Remains of Goodness, are not to be compensated by the highest Pleasures which such an Action can produce.
So it happened to Mr. Booth . Repentance never failed to follow his Transgressions; and yet so perverse is our Judgment, and so slippery is the Descent of Vice, when once we are entered into it; the same Crime which he now repented of, became a Reason for doing that which was to cause his future Repentance; and he continued to sin on, because he had begun. His Repentance however returned still heavier and heavier, till at last it flung him into a Melancholy, which Miss Mathews plainly perceived, and at which she could not avoid expressing some Resentment in obscure Hints, and ironical Compliments on Amelia's Superiority to her whole Sex, who could not cloy a gay young Fellow by many Years Possession. She would then repeat the Compliments which others had made to her own Beauty--and could not forbear once crying out: 'Upon my Soul! my dear Billy, I believe the chief Disadvantage on my Side, is in my superior Fondness; for Love, in the Minds of Men, hath one Quality at least of a Fever, which is to prefer Coldness in the Object. Confess, dear Will, is there not something vastly refreshing in the cool Air of a Prude'-- Booth fetched a deep Sigh, and begged her never more to mention Amelia's Name--'O Will, ' cries she, 'did that Request proceed from the Motive I could wish, I should be the happiest of Womankind. --You would not sure, Madam,' said Booth, 'desire a Sacrifice, which I must be a Villain to make to any? Desire!' answered she, 'are there any Bounds to the Desires of Love! Have not I been sacrificed? Hath not my first Love been torn from my bleeding Heart? --I claim a prior Right--As for Sacrifices, I can make them too; and would sacrifice the whole World at the least Call of my Love.'
(II.iv.2)
So it happened to Mr. Booth . Repentance never failed to follow his Transgressions; and yet so perverse is our Judgment, and so slippery is the Descent of Vice, when once we are entered into it; the same Crime which he now repented of, became a Reason for doing that which was to cause his future Repentance; and he continued to sin on, because he had begun. His Repentance however returned still heavier and heavier, till at last it flung him into a Melancholy, which Miss Mathews plainly perceived, and at which she could not avoid expressing some Resentment in obscure Hints, and ironical Compliments on Amelia's Superiority to her whole Sex, who could not cloy a gay young Fellow by many Years Possession. She would then repeat the Compliments which others had made to her own Beauty--and could not forbear once crying out: 'Upon my Soul! my dear Billy, I believe the chief Disadvantage on my Side, is in my superior Fondness; for Love, in the Minds of Men, hath one Quality at least of a Fever, which is to prefer Coldness in the Object. Confess, dear Will, is there not something vastly refreshing in the cool Air of a Prude'-- Booth fetched a deep Sigh, and begged her never more to mention Amelia's Name--'O Will, ' cries she, 'did that Request proceed from the Motive I could wish, I should be the happiest of Womankind. --You would not sure, Madam,' said Booth, 'desire a Sacrifice, which I must be a Villain to make to any? Desire!' answered she, 'are there any Bounds to the Desires of Love! Have not I been sacrificed? Hath not my first Love been torn from my bleeding Heart? --I claim a prior Right--As for Sacrifices, I can make them too; and would sacrifice the whole World at the least Call of my Love.'
(II.iv.2)
Categories
Provenance
HDIS (Prose)
Citation
13 entries in ESTC (1752, 1762, 1771, 1775, 1777, 1780, 1790, 1793).
See Amelia. By Henry Fielding, 4 vols. (London: A. Millar, 1752). <Link to ECCO>
Reading Henry Fielding, Amelia, ed. David Blewett (London: Penguin Books, 1987).
See Amelia. By Henry Fielding, 4 vols. (London: A. Millar, 1752). <Link to ECCO>
Reading Henry Fielding, Amelia, ed. David Blewett (London: Penguin Books, 1987).
Date of Entry
09/14/2009
