"Mine [heart] open lies, without the least Defence; / No Guard of Art; but its own Innocence; / Under which Fort it could fierce Storms endure: / But from thy Wit I find no Fort secure."
— Barker, Jane (1675-1743)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for E. Curll and T. Payne
Date
1723
Metaphor
"Mine [heart] open lies, without the least Defence; / No Guard of Art; but its own Innocence; / Under which Fort it could fierce Storms endure: / But from thy Wit I find no Fort secure."
Metaphor in Context
When Friends Advice with Lovers Forces joyn,
They conquer Hearts more fortified than mine.
Mine open lies, without the least Defence;
No Guard of Art; but its own Innocence;
Under which Fort it could fierce Storms endure:
But from thy Wit I find no Fort secure.
Ah! why would'st thou assist mine Enemy,
Whose Merits were almost too strong for me?
For now thy Wit makes me almost adore,
And ready to pronounce him Conqueror:
But that his Kindness then would grow, I fear,
Too weighty for my weak Desert to bear:
I fear 'twou'd even to Extreams improve;
For Jealousy, they say's th' Extream of Love.
Even Thou, my dear Exilius, he'd suspect;
If I but look on thee, I him neglect.
Not only Men, as innocent as thou,
But Females he'd mistrust, and Heaven too.
Thus best things may be turn'd to greatest Harm,
As the Lord's Prayer said backward, proves a Charm. [...]
(p. 48)
They conquer Hearts more fortified than mine.
Mine open lies, without the least Defence;
No Guard of Art; but its own Innocence;
Under which Fort it could fierce Storms endure:
But from thy Wit I find no Fort secure.
Ah! why would'st thou assist mine Enemy,
Whose Merits were almost too strong for me?
For now thy Wit makes me almost adore,
And ready to pronounce him Conqueror:
But that his Kindness then would grow, I fear,
Too weighty for my weak Desert to bear:
I fear 'twou'd even to Extreams improve;
For Jealousy, they say's th' Extream of Love.
Even Thou, my dear Exilius, he'd suspect;
If I but look on thee, I him neglect.
Not only Men, as innocent as thou,
But Females he'd mistrust, and Heaven too.
Thus best things may be turn'd to greatest Harm,
As the Lord's Prayer said backward, proves a Charm. [...]
(p. 48)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in HDIS (Prose)
Citation
Only one entry in the ESTC (1723).
A Patch-Work Screen for the Ladies; or Love and Virtue Recommended: In a Collection of Instructive Novels. Related After a Manner Intirely New, and Interspersed with Rural Poems, describing the Innocence of a Country-Life. By Mrs. Jane Barker, of Wilsthorp, near Stamford, in Lincolnshire (London: Printed for E. Curll and T. Payne, 1723.) <Link to ECCO> <Link to Google>
A Patch-Work Screen for the Ladies; or Love and Virtue Recommended: In a Collection of Instructive Novels. Related After a Manner Intirely New, and Interspersed with Rural Poems, describing the Innocence of a Country-Life. By Mrs. Jane Barker, of Wilsthorp, near Stamford, in Lincolnshire (London: Printed for E. Curll and T. Payne, 1723.) <Link to ECCO> <Link to Google>
Date of Entry
07/20/2011
Date of Review
07/20/2011
