"Why dancing is his ruling passion."
— Murphy, Arthur (1727-1805)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for P. Vaillant
Date
1764
Metaphor
"Why dancing is his ruling passion."
Metaphor in Context
CARELESS.
Spirits! with one foot in the grave, he dances about the world, as if he was bit by a tarantula.
WISELY.
Why dancing is his ruling passion.
CARELESS.
So much, that he runs about to all the country assemblies, and is a beau garçon with all human infirmities.
WISELY.
He is very harmless and good-natur'd.
CARELESS.
Yes; but not a single idea but what is derived from dancing. If you ask him what sort of a place such a town is, "They have a very good Monday-night assembly." Or, if you desire to know what kind of people, "They very often dance thirty couple."
WISELY.
You have him exactly.
(I.i)
Spirits! with one foot in the grave, he dances about the world, as if he was bit by a tarantula.
WISELY.
Why dancing is his ruling passion.
CARELESS.
So much, that he runs about to all the country assemblies, and is a beau garçon with all human infirmities.
WISELY.
He is very harmless and good-natur'd.
CARELESS.
Yes; but not a single idea but what is derived from dancing. If you ask him what sort of a place such a town is, "They have a very good Monday-night assembly." Or, if you desire to know what kind of people, "They very often dance thirty couple."
WISELY.
You have him exactly.
(I.i)
Provenance
Searching HDIS for "ruling passion"
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1764).
No One's Enemy but His Own. A Comedy in Three Acts, As It Is Performed at the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden. (London: Printed for P. Vaillant, facing Southampton-Street, in the Strand, 1764). <Link to ESTC>
No One's Enemy but His Own. A Comedy in Three Acts, As It Is Performed at the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden. (London: Printed for P. Vaillant, facing Southampton-Street, in the Strand, 1764). <Link to ESTC>
Theme
Ruling Passion
Date of Entry
06/01/2004
