"Had I the dread necessity explained, / That with resistless force my freedom chained; / Tore the sweet bands, by virtuous passion tied, / And stampt our constancy with parricide."
— Seward, Anna (1742-1809)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Lichfield
Publisher
Printed and sold by J. Jackson, and G. Robinson, London
Date
1784
Metaphor
"Had I the dread necessity explained, / That with resistless force my freedom chained; / Tore the sweet bands, by virtuous passion tied, / And stampt our constancy with parricide."
Metaphor in Context
The struggle past!--my peace!--my freedom given!
Thy anchor, Hope, on shoreless oceans driven!
What then to justice, or to love remained,
But to restore the heart, my vows had gained?
Wrench from Louisa's breast its cherished bane,
And nobly the last sacrifice sustain?
Renounce her pity, and inspire her hate,
In tenfold gloom though it involve my fate?
Teach her to think the villain-baseness mine,
That bows the venal heart at fortune's shrine?
So might the indignant sense of barter'd truth
Quench the disastrous passion of my youth;
Now doom'd to darken every hope, that cheers,
With shining promises, the rising years!
Had I the dread necessity explained,
That with resistless force my freedom chained;
Tore the sweet bands, by virtuous passion tied,
And stampt our constancy with parricide;
Then had Louisa fortified my soul,
And urged my ling'ring step to duty's goal;
Had given me back, with pity's softest brow,
Of love so ruinous, the ill-starred vow;
[end page 52]
A self-devoted exile fled my arms,
But sorrowing fled them, and resigned her charms
To fruitless constancy, and fond regret;
Ordained to mourn--unable to forget;
That pine in solitude the live-long day,
Feed on the heart, and steal the life away.
(pp. 52-3)
Thy anchor, Hope, on shoreless oceans driven!
What then to justice, or to love remained,
But to restore the heart, my vows had gained?
Wrench from Louisa's breast its cherished bane,
And nobly the last sacrifice sustain?
Renounce her pity, and inspire her hate,
In tenfold gloom though it involve my fate?
Teach her to think the villain-baseness mine,
That bows the venal heart at fortune's shrine?
So might the indignant sense of barter'd truth
Quench the disastrous passion of my youth;
Now doom'd to darken every hope, that cheers,
With shining promises, the rising years!
Had I the dread necessity explained,
That with resistless force my freedom chained;
Tore the sweet bands, by virtuous passion tied,
And stampt our constancy with parricide;
Then had Louisa fortified my soul,
And urged my ling'ring step to duty's goal;
Had given me back, with pity's softest brow,
Of love so ruinous, the ill-starred vow;
[end page 52]
A self-devoted exile fled my arms,
But sorrowing fled them, and resigned her charms
To fruitless constancy, and fond regret;
Ordained to mourn--unable to forget;
That pine in solitude the live-long day,
Feed on the heart, and steal the life away.
(pp. 52-3)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "stamp" and "mind" in HDIS (Poetry); found again "passion"
Citation
7 entries in ESTC (1784, 1789, 1792).
See Louisa, a Poetical Novel, in Four Epistles. By Miss Seward. (Lichfield: Printed and sold by J. Jackson, and G. Robinson, in Pater-Noster-Row, London, 1784). <Link to ESTC>
See Louisa, a Poetical Novel, in Four Epistles. By Miss Seward. (Lichfield: Printed and sold by J. Jackson, and G. Robinson, in Pater-Noster-Row, London, 1784). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
04/11/2005
Date of Review
08/17/2005
