"[Y]ears steal / Fire from the mind as vigour from the limb."
— Byron, George Gordon Noel, sixth Baron Byron (1788-1824)
Date
1816
Metaphor
"[Y]ears steal / Fire from the mind as vigour from the limb."
Metaphor in Context
Something too much of this:--but now 'tis past,
And the spell closes with its silent seal--
Long absent Harold re-appears at last;
He of the breast which fain no more would feel,
Wrung with the wounds which kill not, but ne'er heal;
Yet Time, who changes all, had altered him
In soul and aspect as in age: years steal
Fire from the mind as vigour from the limb;
And Life's enchanted cup but sparkles near the brim.
(p. 865, ll. 64-72)
And the spell closes with its silent seal--
Long absent Harold re-appears at last;
He of the breast which fain no more would feel,
Wrung with the wounds which kill not, but ne'er heal;
Yet Time, who changes all, had altered him
In soul and aspect as in age: years steal
Fire from the mind as vigour from the limb;
And Life's enchanted cup but sparkles near the brim.
(p. 865, ll. 64-72)
Categories
Provenance
Reading in Perkins. Text from HDIS
Citation
Perkins, David, ed. English Romantic Writers. 2nd ed. Harcourt Brace Publishers, 1995.
Date of Entry
05/27/2008
Date of Review
05/27/2008
