"They compared this with the foregoing circumstance of the figure and the light which had appeared; their imaginations kindled wild conjectures, and they submitted their opinions to Madame, entreating her to inform them sincerely, whether she believed that disembodied spirits were ever permitted to visit this earth."
— Radcliffe [née Ward], Ann (1764-1823)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Hookham
Date
1790
Metaphor
"They compared this with the foregoing circumstance of the figure and the light which had appeared; their imaginations kindled wild conjectures, and they submitted their opinions to Madame, entreating her to inform them sincerely, whether she believed that disembodied spirits were ever permitted to visit this earth."
Metaphor in Context
Influenced by these considerations, she endeavoured to prevail on Emilia and Julia, to await in silence some confirmation of their surmises, but their terror made this a very difficult task. They acquiesced, however, so far with her wishes, as to agree to conceal the preceding circumstances from every person but their brother, without whose protecting presence they declared it utterly impossible to pass another night in the apartments. For the remainder of this night they resolved to watch. To beguile the tediousness of the time they endeavoured to converse, but the minds of Emilia and Julia were too much affected by the late occurrence to wander from the subject. They compared this with the foregoing circumstance of the figure and the light which had appeared; their imaginations kindled wild conjectures, and they submitted their opinions to Madame, entreating her to inform them sincerely, whether she believed that disembodied spirits were ever permitted to visit this earth.
(I.ii, pp. 81-2; pp. 35-6 in OUP edition)
(I.ii, pp. 81-2; pp. 35-6 in OUP edition)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 6 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1790, 1791, 1792, 1795, 1796).
Text from A Sicilian Romance. By The Authoress of The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne 2 vols. (London: Printed for T. Hookham, 1790). <Link to volume I, 2nd edition in Google Books><Volume II>
Reading in A Sicilian Romance, ed. Alison Milbank (Oxford and New York: OUP, 1993).
Text from A Sicilian Romance. By The Authoress of The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne 2 vols. (London: Printed for T. Hookham, 1790). <Link to volume I, 2nd edition in Google Books><Volume II>
Reading in A Sicilian Romance, ed. Alison Milbank (Oxford and New York: OUP, 1993).
Date of Entry
05/31/2013
