"Were there a window in my breast, / The keenest eye I should not fear
T'indulge its curious prying there." — Combe, William (1742 -1823)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
1820
Metaphor
"Were there a window in my breast, / The keenest eye I should not fear T'indulge its curious prying there."
Metaphor in Context
'Tis said that children at the breast Will often cry themselves to rest; And elder folk may find relief From the wakeful hours of grief, By talking o'er their cares till sleep Does on the weary senses creep. --Thus Syntax when he went to bed With his last frolic in his head, While shame forbore not to impart Some awkward feeling to his heart, Tried in all ways, in ev'ry shape, From self-reproaches to escape: But all in vain his pleadings strove Th'accusing spirit to remove, Which charg'd his guilt as petty treason Against the sov'reign power of reason, Whose justice, by its mildest rule, Must set him down a harmless fool. --"Well," he exclaim'd, "no ill was meant: Law, rigid Law, looks to th'intent Of what we do; and I protest, Were there a window in my breast, The keenest eye I should not fear T'indulge its curious prying there. Vagaries may, perhaps, maintain Their frolic season in my brain: Nay I must own that folly's power Has thus enslav'd me for an hour, And did my careless footing get Entangled in its gaudy net, A scene that I shall ne'er forget. But while I dare, Heav'n knows 'tis true Expose my naked heart to view, And call or friend or foe to pry Into my thoughts with busy eye; Why need I toss and tumble here, Oppress'd with doubt, alarm'd with fear? --O Nature, my complaints forgive, Let me thy soft embrace receive; Make me forget in thy repose, The folly of my fancied woes!"
Categories
Provenance
Searching "window" and "breast" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Text from 1869 edition of the Three Tours. See also The Three Tours of Doctor Syntax (London: A. Murray, 1871). <Link to Hathi Trust>
Theme
Momus Glass
Date of Entry
06/09/2005
