"When the situation is, what we would wish, nothing is so ill-timed as to hint at the circumstances which make it so: you thank Fortune, continued she--you had reason--the heart knew it, and was satisfied; and who but an English philosopher would have sent notices of it to the brain to reverse the judgment?"
— Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt
Date
1768
Metaphor
"When the situation is, what we would wish, nothing is so ill-timed as to hint at the circumstances which make it so: you thank Fortune, continued she--you had reason--the heart knew it, and was satisfied; and who but an English philosopher would have sent notices of it to the brain to reverse the judgment?"
Metaphor in Context
This certainly, fair lady! said I, raising her hand up a little lightly as I began, must be one of Fortune's whimsical doings: to take two utter strangers by their hands--of different sexes, and perhaps from different corners of the globe, and in one moment place them together in such a cordial situation, as Friendship herself could scarce have atchieved for them, had she projected it for a month--
--And your reflection upon it, shews how much, Monsieur, she has embarassed you by the adventure.--
When the situation is, what we would wish, nothing is so ill-timed as to hint at the circumstances which make it so: you thank Fortune, continued she--you had reason--the heart knew it, and was satisfied; and who but an English philosopher would have sent notices of it to the brain to reverse the judgment?
In saying this, she disengaged her hand with a look which I thought a sufficient commentary upon the text.
(I, pp. 50-1)
--And your reflection upon it, shews how much, Monsieur, she has embarassed you by the adventure.--
When the situation is, what we would wish, nothing is so ill-timed as to hint at the circumstances which make it so: you thank Fortune, continued she--you had reason--the heart knew it, and was satisfied; and who but an English philosopher would have sent notices of it to the brain to reverse the judgment?
In saying this, she disengaged her hand with a look which I thought a sufficient commentary upon the text.
(I, pp. 50-1)
Categories
Provenance
Searching HDIS (Prose)
Citation
Over 86 entries in ESTC (1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1778, 1779, 1780, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1787, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1798, 1800).
First edition published February 27, 1768, in two issues (standard paper and large "imperial" paper issue).
See A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy. By Mr. Yorick., 2 vols. 2nd ed. (London: Printed for T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, 1768). <Link to ESTC>
Reading Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey, ed. Paul Goring (New York and London: Penguin, 2001)
First edition published February 27, 1768, in two issues (standard paper and large "imperial" paper issue).
See A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy. By Mr. Yorick., 2 vols. 2nd ed. (London: Printed for T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, 1768). <Link to ESTC>
Reading Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey, ed. Paul Goring (New York and London: Penguin, 2001)
Date of Entry
11/24/2004
