"Lord! whatsoever Sorrows Rack my Breast, / Till Crime removes too, let me find no Rest."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed and Sold by J. Brotherton, T. Payne, W. Mears
Date
1722, 1723
Metaphor
"Lord! whatsoever Sorrows Rack my Breast, / Till Crime removes too, let me find no Rest."
Metaphor in Context
This was honestly spoken, indeed; and there really were such visible Tokens of Sincerity in all his Discourse, that I could not suspect him: On some of our Discourses on this Subject, he pull'd out a little Dirty Paper Book, in which he had wrote down such a Prayer in Verse, as I doubt few Christians in the World could Subscribe to; and I cannot but Record it, because I never saw any thing like it in my Life, the Lines are as follows:

Lord! whatsoever Sorrows Rack my Breast,
Till Crime removes too, let me find no Rest
;
How Dark so e'er, my State, or sharp my Pain,
O! let not Troubles Cease, and Sin Remain.
For Jesus sake, remove not my Distress,
Till free Triumphant Grace shall Reposess
The Vacant Throne; from whence my Sins Depart,
And make a willing Captive of my Heart;
Till Grace Compleatly shall my Soul Subdue,
Thy Conquest full, and my Subjection True.

There were more Lines on the same Subject, but these were the beginning; and these touching me so sensibly, I have remember'd them distinctly ever since, and have I believe repeated them to my self a Thousand times.
(pp. 208-9)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Prose)
Citation
At least 9 entries in the ESTC (1722, 1723, 1724, 1738, 1739, 1740, 1741, 1743, 1747)

Text from The History and Remarkable Life of the Truly Honourable Col. Jacque, Commonly Call'd Col. Jack, Who Was Born a Gentleman, Put 'Prentice to a Pick-Pocket, Was Six and Twenty Years a Thief, and then Kidnapp'd to Virginia, Came Back a Merchant; Was Five Times Married to Four Whores; Went Into the Wars, Behav'd Bravely, Got Preferment, Was Made Colonel of a Regiment, Came over, and Fled With the Chevalier, Is Still Abroad Compleating a Life of Wonders, and Resolves to Dye a General. 2nd edition (London: Printed and Sold by J. Brotherton, T. Payne, W. Mears, 1723). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
06/07/2011

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