"While in high life our hearts the fashions steel, / Too gay to listen, and too fine to feel--"
— Cumberland, Richard (1732-1811)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for C. Dilly
Date
1785
Metaphor
"While in high life our hearts the fashions steel, / Too gay to listen, and too fine to feel--"
Metaphor in Context
While in high life our hearts the fashions steel,
Too gay to listen, and too fine to feel--
Honest John Bull--before a sturdy elf--
Now claims no right of judging for himself;
To Puffs from Theatres gives up his vote,
And kindly thinks all true--because 'tis wrote;
For when no plaudits strike our duller ear,
The papers hear a voice we cannot hear--
And when for seats no beauties disagree,
They see a croud, alas! we cannot see;
--And while you clamber o'er the empty rows,
In sweet ADVERTISEMENT--the House o'erflows!
Puff is the word: where fame is not a breath,
--How many an Actress Puff has sav'd from death!
And Actors for whom Mutes were full enough,
Have risen Alexanders--from a Puff!
While generous paragraphs all-lavish give
Sums Total, which our Treasurers ne'er receive.
Too gay to listen, and too fine to feel--
Honest John Bull--before a sturdy elf--
Now claims no right of judging for himself;
To Puffs from Theatres gives up his vote,
And kindly thinks all true--because 'tis wrote;
For when no plaudits strike our duller ear,
The papers hear a voice we cannot hear--
And when for seats no beauties disagree,
They see a croud, alas! we cannot see;
--And while you clamber o'er the empty rows,
In sweet ADVERTISEMENT--the House o'erflows!
Puff is the word: where fame is not a breath,
--How many an Actress Puff has sav'd from death!
And Actors for whom Mutes were full enough,
Have risen Alexanders--from a Puff!
While generous paragraphs all-lavish give
Sums Total, which our Treasurers ne'er receive.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "steel" in HDIS (Drama)
Citation
At least 8 entries in the ESTC (1785, 1792, 1794)
The Natural Son: a Comedy. Performed at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. (London: Printed for C. Dilly, 1785).
The Natural Son: a Comedy. Performed at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. (London: Printed for C. Dilly, 1785).
Date of Entry
06/13/2005
