"Unknown, unfriended, to the Regal Bed: / For in the secret closet of her breast, / Constantia her imperial birth supprest"
— Brooke, Henry (c. 1703-1783)
Author
Date
1792
Metaphor
"Unknown, unfriended, to the Regal Bed: / For in the secret closet of her breast, / Constantia her imperial birth supprest"
Metaphor in Context
But Donnegilda, cruel, crafty dame,
Great Alla's mother, over-fond of fame,
She, (as all antique parents, wondrous sage,
For youth project the inappetence of age,
Each sense endearing and humane despise,
And on the Mammon feast their down-cast eyes)
Malevolent beheld a Stranger led,
Unknown, unfriended, to the Regal Bed:
For in the secret closet of her breast,
Constantia her imperial birth supprest,
Till Heaven should perfect the connubial band,
And with her Royal Offspring bless the land.
"Ah! ill-timed caution! were this truth declared,
"What a vast cost of future woe was spared!
"But where Heaven's will the unequal cause supplies,
"To set the world on fire a spark may well suffice."
Great Alla's mother, over-fond of fame,
She, (as all antique parents, wondrous sage,
For youth project the inappetence of age,
Each sense endearing and humane despise,
And on the Mammon feast their down-cast eyes)
Malevolent beheld a Stranger led,
Unknown, unfriended, to the Regal Bed:
For in the secret closet of her breast,
Constantia her imperial birth supprest,
Till Heaven should perfect the connubial band,
And with her Royal Offspring bless the land.
"Ah! ill-timed caution! were this truth declared,
"What a vast cost of future woe was spared!
"But where Heaven's will the unequal cause supplies,
"To set the world on fire a spark may well suffice."
Categories
Provenance
Searching "breast" and "closet" in HDIS (Poetry)
Theme
Inwardness
Date of Entry
09/07/2005
