"Destructive eyes, false mirrors of the heart! / I, to my sorrow know the lies you've told me."
— Stockdale, Percival (1736-1811)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Davies
Date
1770
Metaphor
"Destructive eyes, false mirrors of the heart! / I, to my sorrow know the lies you've told me."
Metaphor in Context
DAPHNE.
What? didst thou never hear what Thyrsis wrote
In love's dehrium, on Lycoris' eyes?
When the poor shepherd, stung to amorous frenzy,
Roamed through the lonely woods, to feed his passion,
Object of pity to the nymphs, and swains:
And so extravagant his passion was,
Their pity was accompanied with mirth
But his warm verse was not ridiculous.
I read the lines myself, which he had written
On many a tree; and with the trees they grew.
"Destructive eyes, false mirrors of the heart!
I, to my sorrow know the lies you've told me:
Yet what avails it me to know your lies,
If I still wish to view the basilisk,
And catch fresh ruin from your fatal rays?"
What? didst thou never hear what Thyrsis wrote
In love's dehrium, on Lycoris' eyes?
When the poor shepherd, stung to amorous frenzy,
Roamed through the lonely woods, to feed his passion,
Object of pity to the nymphs, and swains:
And so extravagant his passion was,
Their pity was accompanied with mirth
But his warm verse was not ridiculous.
I read the lines myself, which he had written
On many a tree; and with the trees they grew.
"Destructive eyes, false mirrors of the heart!
I, to my sorrow know the lies you've told me:
Yet what avails it me to know your lies,
If I still wish to view the basilisk,
And catch fresh ruin from your fatal rays?"
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "mirror" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1770).
The Amyntas of Tasso. Translated from the Original Italian by Percival Stockdale. (London: Printed for T. Davies, in Russel-Street, Covent-Garden, 1770). <Link to ESTC>
The Amyntas of Tasso. Translated from the Original Italian by Percival Stockdale. (London: Printed for T. Davies, in Russel-Street, Covent-Garden, 1770). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
11/21/2005
