Charles XII of Sweden has "A Frame of Adamant, a Soul of Fire, / No Dangers fright him, and no Labours tire."

— Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for R. Dodsley
Date
1749
Metaphor
Charles XII of Sweden has "A Frame of Adamant, a Soul of Fire, / No Dangers fright him, and no Labours tire."
Metaphor in Context
On what Foundation stands the Warrior's Pride?
How just his Hopes let Swedish Charles decide;
A Frame of Adamant, a Soul of Fire,
No Dangers fright him, and no Labours tire
;
O'er Love, o'er Force, extends his wide Domain,
Unconquer'd Lord of Pleasure and of Pain;
No Joys to him pacific Scepters yield,
War sounds the Trump, he rushes to the Field;
Behold surrounding Kings their Pow'r combine,
And One capitulate, and One resign;
Peace courts his Hand, but spread her Charms in vain;
"Think Nothing gain'd, he cries, till nought remain,
"On Moscow's Walls till Gothic Standards fly,
"And all is Mine beneath the Polar Sky."
The March begins in Military State,
And Nations on his Eye suspended wait;
Stern Famine guards the solitary Coast,
And Winter barricades the Realms of Frost;
He comes, nor Want nor Cold his Course delay;---
Hide, blushing Glory, hide Pultowa's Day:
The vanquish'd Hero leaves his broken Bands,
And shews his Miseries in distant Lands;
Condemn'd a needy Supplicant to wait,
While Ladies interpose, and Slaves debate.
But did not Chance at length her Error mend?
Did no subverted Empire mark his End?
Did rival Monarchs give the fatal Wound?
Or hostile Millions press him to the Ground?
His Fall was destin'd to a barren Strand,
A petty Fortress, and a dubious Hand;
He left the Name, at which the World grew pale,
To point a Moral, or adorn a Tale.
(p. 63, ll. 191-222)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 19 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1749, 1752, 1755, 1759, 1763, 1765, 1785, 1789, 1792, 1793, 1795, 1796, 1797). [Reprinted in Dodsley's miscellany.]

See The Vanity of Human Wishes. the Tenth Satire of Juvenal, Imitated by Samuel Johnson. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley at Tully’s Head in Pall-Mall, and sold by M. Cooper in Pater-Noster Row, 1749). <Link to ESTC>

Page and line numbers correspond to Samuel Johnson's Selected Poetry and Prose. Ed. Frank Brady and W. K. Wimsatt. Berkeley: U. of California Press, 1977. Text edited by Jack Lynch. <Link to Jack Lynch's online edition>
Date of Entry
06/22/2010

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.