"My Bosom is to Fear a Stranger; / The Prize is more enhanc'd by Danger"
— Whyte, Samuel (1733-1811)
Author
Place of Publication
Dublin
Publisher
Printed by R. Marchbank
Date
1772
Metaphor
"My Bosom is to Fear a Stranger; / The Prize is more enhanc'd by Danger"
Metaphor in Context
By good Advice, I hither came,
To keep up my continual Claim:
The Duty's not confin'd to Place;
But, every where, affects your Grace;
Which, being personal on You,
No Deputy, my Lord, can do.
'But, hold:' say some, 'His Situation
'Is chang'd; consider his high Station.'[1]
Can Station, or can Titles add
To Dorset more than Dorset had?
Let others, void of native Grace,
Derive faint Honour from a Place;
His Greatness to himself he owes;
Nor borrows Lustre, but bestows.
'That's true: But, still, you answer wide--
'How can he lay his State aside?
'Then think betimes; Can your weak Sight
'Support that wondrous Burst of Light?
'Will you not sicken, as you gaze?
'Nay, haply, perish in the Blaze?
'Remember Semele, who dy'd,
'A fatal Victim to her Pride.'
Glorious Example!--How it fires me!--
I burn!--and all the God inspires me!
My Bosom is to Fear a Stranger;
The Prize is more enhanc'd by Danger;
I bless the Wound, when given by you;
And hug the Bolt, though Death ensue.
To keep up my continual Claim:
The Duty's not confin'd to Place;
But, every where, affects your Grace;
Which, being personal on You,
No Deputy, my Lord, can do.
'But, hold:' say some, 'His Situation
'Is chang'd; consider his high Station.'[1]
Can Station, or can Titles add
To Dorset more than Dorset had?
Let others, void of native Grace,
Derive faint Honour from a Place;
His Greatness to himself he owes;
Nor borrows Lustre, but bestows.
'That's true: But, still, you answer wide--
'How can he lay his State aside?
'Then think betimes; Can your weak Sight
'Support that wondrous Burst of Light?
'Will you not sicken, as you gaze?
'Nay, haply, perish in the Blaze?
'Remember Semele, who dy'd,
'A fatal Victim to her Pride.'
Glorious Example!--How it fires me!--
I burn!--and all the God inspires me!
My Bosom is to Fear a Stranger;
The Prize is more enhanc'd by Danger;
I bless the Wound, when given by you;
And hug the Bolt, though Death ensue.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "bosom" and "stranger" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
5 entries in the ESTC (1773, 1774, 1772, 1782).
See The Shamrock: or, Hibernian Cresses. A Collection of Poems, Songs, Epigrams, &c. Latin as well as English, The Original Production of Ireland. (Dublin: Printed by R. Marchbank, 1772). <Link to ECCO> <Link to 1774 edition in Google Books>
See The Shamrock: or, Hibernian Cresses. A Collection of Poems, Songs, Epigrams, &c. Latin as well as English, The Original Production of Ireland. (Dublin: Printed by R. Marchbank, 1772). <Link to ECCO> <Link to 1774 edition in Google Books>
Date of Entry
03/06/2006
