"Is one spark of the fire, which has so long smouldered within my bosom, and consumed my peace, alive!"

— Radcliffe [née Ward], Ann (1764-1823)

Author

Radcliffe [née Ward], Ann (1764-1823)

Work Title

The Italian, or the Confessional of the Black Penitents. A Romance

Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Cadell and Davies
Date
1797
Metaphor
"Is one spark of the fire, which has so long smouldered within my bosom, and consumed my peace, alive!"
Metaphor in Context
While he was yet unable to baffle the new emotion by evil passions, he despised that which conquered him. 'And shall the weakness of a girl,' said he, 'subdue the resolution of a man! Shall the view of her transient sufferings unnerve my firm heart, and compel me to renounce the lofty plans I have so ardently, so laboriously imagined, at the very instant when they are changing into realities! Am I awake! Is one spark of the fire, which has so long smouldered within my bosom, and consumed my peace, alive! Or am I tame and abject as my fortunes? hah! as my fortunes! Shall the spirit of my family yield for ever to circumstances! The question rouses it, and I feel its energy revive within me.'
(II.viii, p. 259)
Categories
Fire::Smoldering Fire::Spark
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 7 entries in the ESTC (1797)

Radcliffe, Ann. The Italian, ed. Robert Miles (New York: Penguin, 2000). <Google Books: vol. I, vol. II, vol. III>
Date of Entry
06/04/2013

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