Subtlety may steal "insidious empire o'er [the] weaken'd heart"
— Burges, Sir James Bland (1752-1824)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by C. Roworth, for T. Egerton [etc.]
Date
1801
Metaphor
Subtlety may steal "insidious empire o'er [the] weaken'd heart"
Metaphor in Context
"'Tis transport worthy of infernal skill,
"To view the struggling and half-vanquish'd soul,
"Led on from crime to crime, entangled still,
"And still compell'd to own our high controul:
"To hear man curse the subtlety which stole
"Insidious empire o'er his weaken'd heart;
"Still framing new pretences, to console
"For added sin, yet by our potent art
"From virtue's bound'ry forc'd still further to depart.
"To view the struggling and half-vanquish'd soul,
"Led on from crime to crime, entangled still,
"And still compell'd to own our high controul:
"To hear man curse the subtlety which stole
"Insidious empire o'er his weaken'd heart;
"Still framing new pretences, to console
"For added sin, yet by our potent art
"From virtue's bound'ry forc'd still further to depart.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "empire" and "heart" in HDIS (Poetry)
Date of Entry
08/22/2004
