"Ambition!--not that emulative zeal Which wings the tow'ring souls of godlike men! / But bold, oppressive, self-created pow'r, / That, trampling o'er the barrier of the laws, / And scattering wide the tender shoots of pity, / Strikes at the root of reason, and confines / Nature itself in bondage!"
— Robinson [Née Darby], Mary [Perdita] (1758-1800)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
1796, 1806
Metaphor
"Ambition!--not that emulative zeal
Which wings the tow'ring souls of godlike men! / But bold, oppressive, self-created pow'r, / That, trampling o'er the barrier of the laws, / And scattering wide the tender shoots of pity, / Strikes at the root of reason, and confines / Nature itself in bondage!"
Metaphor in Context
HONORIA
Ambition!--not that emulative zeal
Which wings the tow'ring souls of godlike men!
But bold, oppressive, self-created pow'r,
That, trampling o'er the barrier of the laws,
And scattering wide the tender shoots of pity,
Strikes at the root of reason, and confines
Nature itself in bondage! Oh! 'tis vile!
But, thank the Gods! no spells can curb the mind,
While splendour's proudest claim is less than virtue!
Ambition!--not that emulative zeal
Which wings the tow'ring souls of godlike men!
But bold, oppressive, self-created pow'r,
That, trampling o'er the barrier of the laws,
And scattering wide the tender shoots of pity,
Strikes at the root of reason, and confines
Nature itself in bondage! Oh! 'tis vile!
But, thank the Gods! no spells can curb the mind,
While splendour's proudest claim is less than virtue!
Provenance
Searching "bond" and "reason" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Text from The Poetical Works of the Late Mrs Mary Robinson: Including Many Pieces Never Before Published. 3 vols. (London: Printed for Richard Phillips, 1806). <Link to vol. I in Google Books><Vol. II><Vol. III>
[titled "The Sicilian Lover, A Dramatic Poem"]
See also The Sicilian Lover. A Tragedy. In Five Acts. By Mary Robinson, Author of Poems, Angllina, &c. &c. (London: Printed for the author, by Hookham and Carpenter, New Bond Street, 1796). <Link to ECCO>
[titled "The Sicilian Lover, A Dramatic Poem"]
See also The Sicilian Lover. A Tragedy. In Five Acts. By Mary Robinson, Author of Poems, Angllina, &c. &c. (London: Printed for the author, by Hookham and Carpenter, New Bond Street, 1796). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
01/09/2012
