"Not all their cruelty (the fair rejoin'd) / Shall ever boast a conquest o'er my mind"
— Jerningham, Edward (1727-1812)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Robson
Date
1773
Metaphor
"Not all their cruelty (the fair rejoin'd) / Shall ever boast a conquest o'er my mind"
Metaphor in Context
'For this are daughters born, (Faldoni cried)
'To fall the victims of parental pride!
'When nature, youth, and sympathy unite,
'Say, shall a father's voice forbid the rite?
'Shall he, with cruel and relentless hands,
'O'erthrow the altar? tear the nuptial bands?
'But thou with love and virtue shall combine,
'To break the law that bids thee not be mine:
'Still shall the lov'd Teresa be my bride:
'Not Fortune's gifts to which thou art allied,
'In my attachment claim'd their venal part,
'I sought what love requires, a tender heart:
'Tho' wreck'd, despoil'd, of Fortune's golden store,
'Rich only in thy heart, I prize thee more.
'With me ascend yon Alpinean height,
'Let Italy's bright sun illume our flight,
'There, haply there, at our disastrous tale,
'In some kind breast compassion may prevail!
'In vain--for busy apprehension still
'Alarms my love, and traverses my will:
'Worn with the labours of the length'ning way,
'Should'st thou sink down to weariness a prey:
'If in that moment, by thy father led,
'Of Ruffians thou should'st hear the thund'ring tread,
'What wou'd my rage, by love impell'd, avail,
'If, as the coward numbers shou'd prevail,
'(Thou most ador'd, thou blest with every charm)
'They still shou'd tear thee from this vanquish'd arm,
'Not all their cruelty (the fair rejoin'd)
'Shall ever boast a conquest o'er my mind,
'Ne'er shall they wrest this heart, still uncontrol'd,
'From Constancy's embrace, and Passion's hold:
'If to the law that bids me not be thine,
'One more severe, a father, shou'd adjoin,
'To rescue still my soul from that distress,
'A thought, enbosom'd in this heart's recess,
'Shou'd, rising into act--Ah spare the rest!--
'Say can't thy fancy my resolve suggest?--
'This poniard--
'To fall the victims of parental pride!
'When nature, youth, and sympathy unite,
'Say, shall a father's voice forbid the rite?
'Shall he, with cruel and relentless hands,
'O'erthrow the altar? tear the nuptial bands?
'But thou with love and virtue shall combine,
'To break the law that bids thee not be mine:
'Still shall the lov'd Teresa be my bride:
'Not Fortune's gifts to which thou art allied,
'In my attachment claim'd their venal part,
'I sought what love requires, a tender heart:
'Tho' wreck'd, despoil'd, of Fortune's golden store,
'Rich only in thy heart, I prize thee more.
'With me ascend yon Alpinean height,
'Let Italy's bright sun illume our flight,
'There, haply there, at our disastrous tale,
'In some kind breast compassion may prevail!
'In vain--for busy apprehension still
'Alarms my love, and traverses my will:
'Worn with the labours of the length'ning way,
'Should'st thou sink down to weariness a prey:
'If in that moment, by thy father led,
'Of Ruffians thou should'st hear the thund'ring tread,
'What wou'd my rage, by love impell'd, avail,
'If, as the coward numbers shou'd prevail,
'(Thou most ador'd, thou blest with every charm)
'They still shou'd tear thee from this vanquish'd arm,
'Not all their cruelty (the fair rejoin'd)
'Shall ever boast a conquest o'er my mind,
'Ne'er shall they wrest this heart, still uncontrol'd,
'From Constancy's embrace, and Passion's hold:
'If to the law that bids me not be thine,
'One more severe, a father, shou'd adjoin,
'To rescue still my soul from that distress,
'A thought, enbosom'd in this heart's recess,
'Shou'd, rising into act--Ah spare the rest!--
'Say can't thy fancy my resolve suggest?--
'This poniard--
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "conque" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
3 entries in ESTC (1773).
Text from Faldoni and Teresa. By Mr. Jerningham (London: Printed for J. Robson, 1773).
Text from Faldoni and Teresa. By Mr. Jerningham (London: Printed for J. Robson, 1773).
Date of Entry
02/06/2005
