"I have a mind more equal, not of steel / My heart is form'd, but much to pity inclined."
— Cowper, William (1731-1800)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Joseph Johnson
Date
1791
Metaphor
"I have a mind more equal, not of steel / My heart is form'd, but much to pity inclined."
Metaphor in Context
Thou dost asperse me rudely, and excuse
Of ignorance hast none, far better taught;
What words were these? How could'st thou thus reply?
Now hear me, Earth, and the wide Heaven above!
Hear, too, ye waters of the Stygian stream
Under the earth, (by which the blessed Gods
Swear trembling, and revere the aweful oath!)
That future mischief I intend thee none.
No, my designs concerning thee are such
As, in an exigence resembling thine,
Myself, most sure, should for myself conceive.
I have a mind more equal, not of steel
My heart is form'd, but much to pity inclined.
Of ignorance hast none, far better taught;
What words were these? How could'st thou thus reply?
Now hear me, Earth, and the wide Heaven above!
Hear, too, ye waters of the Stygian stream
Under the earth, (by which the blessed Gods
Swear trembling, and revere the aweful oath!)
That future mischief I intend thee none.
No, my designs concerning thee are such
As, in an exigence resembling thine,
Myself, most sure, should for myself conceive.
I have a mind more equal, not of steel
My heart is form'd, but much to pity inclined.
Categories
Provenance
Found again searching "heart" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1791, 1792).
Text from The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated Into English Blank Verse, by W. Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq., 2 vols. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, No 72, St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1791). <Link to ESTC>
Text from The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated Into English Blank Verse, by W. Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq., 2 vols. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, No 72, St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1791). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
06/09/2005
