"As thus to touch his iron heart they try'd, / The Cyclops smiling, scornful thus reply'd:"
— Wilkie, William (1721-1772)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Edinburgh
Publisher
Printed by Hamilton, Balfour, & Neill
Date
1757, 1769
Metaphor
"As thus to touch his iron heart they try'd, / The Cyclops smiling, scornful thus reply'd:"
Metaphor in Context
As thus to touch his iron heart they try'd,
The Cyclops smiling, scornful thus reply'd:
The praise of mercy well your words proclaim;
And vengeance mark, tho' merited, with blame.
Well have you spoken; therefore, from my hand,
More favor hope than any of your band;
They, on the desart shore expos'd and bare,
The wolves shall feast and ev'ry bird of air;
But ye, prefer'd above the rest, shall have
This body for your monument and grave.
The Cyclops smiling, scornful thus reply'd:
The praise of mercy well your words proclaim;
And vengeance mark, tho' merited, with blame.
Well have you spoken; therefore, from my hand,
More favor hope than any of your band;
They, on the desart shore expos'd and bare,
The wolves shall feast and ev'ry bird of air;
But ye, prefer'd above the rest, shall have
This body for your monument and grave.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "iron" in HDIS (Poetry); confirmed in 1757 edition in ECCO
Citation
4 entries in ESTC (1757, 1759, 1769).
See The Epigoniad. A Poem. In Nine Books. (Edinburgh: Printed by Hamilton, Balfour, & Neill, 1757). <Link to ESTC>
Text from 2nd edition: The Epigoniad. A Poem. In Nine Books. By William Wilkie, The Second Edition, Carefully Corrected and Improved. To which is Added, A Dream. In the Manner of Spenser. (London: J. Murray, 1769). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
See The Epigoniad. A Poem. In Nine Books. (Edinburgh: Printed by Hamilton, Balfour, & Neill, 1757). <Link to ESTC>
Text from 2nd edition: The Epigoniad. A Poem. In Nine Books. By William Wilkie, The Second Edition, Carefully Corrected and Improved. To which is Added, A Dream. In the Manner of Spenser. (London: J. Murray, 1769). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
06/07/2005
