"The hidden lead indents the murderer's brain; / With one demoniac glance, as down he fell, / The soul starts furious from its vital cell."
— 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
"The hidden lead indents the murderer's brain; / With one demoniac glance, as down he fell, / The soul starts furious from its vital cell."
Metaphor in Context
Alarm'd, the villains quit their struggling prey,
And two, with terror struck, speed fast away.
Fiercer the third, the arm of blood extends;
The levell'd tube, in dire direction, bends!
Yet no cold fear arrests my vengeful force,
And his wing'd death-ball flies with erring course;
But not descends my nervous blow in vain,
The hidden lead indents the murderer's brain;
With one demoniac glance, as down he fell,
The soul starts furious from its vital cell.
Then tender pity and assiduous care,
Conduct me swiftly to the swooning fair.
The light, cool drops, scoop'd from the neighbouring spring,
O'er her pale brow solicitous I fling;
[end page 32]
Till life's warm tide, which long the heart detains,
Returns, slow purpling the forsaken veins.
In one deep sigh, as recollection came,
It wakens gratitude's impetuous flame.
(pp. 32-3)
And two, with terror struck, speed fast away.
Fiercer the third, the arm of blood extends;
The levell'd tube, in dire direction, bends!
Yet no cold fear arrests my vengeful force,
And his wing'd death-ball flies with erring course;
But not descends my nervous blow in vain,
The hidden lead indents the murderer's brain;
With one demoniac glance, as down he fell,
The soul starts furious from its vital cell.
Then tender pity and assiduous care,
Conduct me swiftly to the swooning fair.
The light, cool drops, scoop'd from the neighbouring spring,
O'er her pale brow solicitous I fling;
[end page 32]
Till life's warm tide, which long the heart detains,
Returns, slow purpling the forsaken veins.
In one deep sigh, as recollection came,
It wakens gratitude's impetuous flame.
(pp. 32-3)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "soul" and "cell" in HDIS (Poetry)
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
08/17/2005
