"Bid Rowe, bid Otway's magic softness rise, / Steal o'er his form, and languish in his eyes; / Melt in his voice, till Memory hints no more / The woes unreal; but, with forfeit power, / Resigns her empire o'er the yielding soul / To sighs and tears she ceases to controul."
— Seward, Anna (1742-1809)
Author
Place of Publication
Edinburgh
Publisher
Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for John Ballantyne and Co. London. Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme
Date
1810
Metaphor
"Bid Rowe, bid Otway's magic softness rise, / Steal o'er his form, and languish in his eyes; / Melt in his voice, till Memory hints no more / The woes unreal; but, with forfeit power, / Resigns her empire o'er the yielding soul / To sighs and tears she ceases to controul."
Metaphor in Context
With Nature's truth, be it the actor's care,
By turns, each passion's varied form to wear;
Assume the joy, the grief, the fear, the rage,
That charm, and thrill, and fire the scenic page;
Bid Rowe, bid Otway's magic softness rise,
Steal o'er his form, and languish in his eyes;
Melt in his voice, till Memory hints no more
The woes unreal; but, with forfeit power,
Resigns her empire o'er the yielding soul
To sighs and tears she ceases to controul.
By turns, each passion's varied form to wear;
Assume the joy, the grief, the fear, the rage,
That charm, and thrill, and fire the scenic page;
Bid Rowe, bid Otway's magic softness rise,
Steal o'er his form, and languish in his eyes;
Melt in his voice, till Memory hints no more
The woes unreal; but, with forfeit power,
Resigns her empire o'er the yielding soul
To sighs and tears she ceases to controul.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "empire" and "soul" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Seward, Anna. The Poetical Works of Anna Seward; with Extracts from Her Literary Correspondence. Ed. Walter Scott. 3 vols. Edinburgh: Printed by James Ballantyne and Co. for John Ballantyne and Co., 1810.
Date of Entry
08/11/2004
Date of Review
06/09/2010
