"Sov'reigns are subjects to the master part; / The ruling passion still maintains its post, / Monarch o'er monarchs, and the mortal's lost."
— Pratt, Samuel Jackson [pseud. Courtney Melmoth] (1749-1814)
Date
1785
Metaphor
"Sov'reigns are subjects to the master part; / The ruling passion still maintains its post, / Monarch o'er monarchs, and the mortal's lost."
Metaphor in Context
As varying Pleasure darts her smiles around,
And strews her ruddiest rose-buds on the ground,
As shines Love's nectar in Youth's flattering glass,
And Nature gilds the minutes as they pass.
Swift glides the heart from Virtue's fair intent,
And faint Denial half implies consent.
'Twixt shame and passion floats the struggling mind,
To Virtue now, and now to vice inclin'd,
This frowns refusal, that persuades to yield,
Till Reason falls, and Passion takes the field,
Then guard, oh! noble youth, the sliding heart,
Sov'reigns are subjects to the master part;
The ruling passion still maintains its post,
Monarch o'er monarchs, and the mortal's lost.
And strews her ruddiest rose-buds on the ground,
As shines Love's nectar in Youth's flattering glass,
And Nature gilds the minutes as they pass.
Swift glides the heart from Virtue's fair intent,
And faint Denial half implies consent.
'Twixt shame and passion floats the struggling mind,
To Virtue now, and now to vice inclin'd,
This frowns refusal, that persuades to yield,
Till Reason falls, and Passion takes the field,
Then guard, oh! noble youth, the sliding heart,
Sov'reigns are subjects to the master part;
The ruling passion still maintains its post,
Monarch o'er monarchs, and the mortal's lost.
Provenance
Searching HDIS for "ruling passion"
Citation
Only 1 entry in ECCO and ESTC (1785).
See volume 1 of Miscellanies, by Mr. Pratt, in Four Volumes. (London : printed for T. Becket, in Pall-Mall, Bookseller to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and their Royal Highnesses the Princes, 1785). <Link to ECCO>
See volume 1 of Miscellanies, by Mr. Pratt, in Four Volumes. (London : printed for T. Becket, in Pall-Mall, Bookseller to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and their Royal Highnesses the Princes, 1785). <Link to ECCO>
Theme
Ruling Passion
Date of Entry
05/25/2004
Date of Review
07/19/2011
