"Some dreadful Birth of Fate is near: / Or why, my Soul, unus'd to fear / With secret Horror dost thou shake? / Can Dreams such dire Impressions make!"
— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Jacob Tonson
Date
1707
Metaphor
"Some dreadful Birth of Fate is near: / Or why, my Soul, unus'd to fear / With secret Horror dost thou shake? / Can Dreams such dire Impressions make!"
Metaphor in Context
Enter King.
Some dreadful Birth of Fate is near:
Or why, my Soul, unus'd to fear
With secret Horror dost thou shake?
Can Dreams such dire Impressions make!
What means this solemn silent Show?
This Pomp of Death, this Scene of Woe!
Support me, Heav'n! What's this I read?
O Horror! Rosamond is dead.
What shall I say, or whither turn?
With Grief, and Rage, and Love, I burn:
From Thought to Thought my Soul is toss'd,
And in the Whirle of Passion lost.
Why did I not in Battle fall,
Crush'd with the Thunder of the Gauls
Why did the Spear my Bosom miss;
Ye Pow'rs, was I reserv'd for this!
Disracted with Woe
I'll rush on the Foe
To seek my Relief:
The Sword or the Dart
Shall pierce my sad Heart,
And finish my Grief!
(III.i, p. 31)
Some dreadful Birth of Fate is near:
Or why, my Soul, unus'd to fear
With secret Horror dost thou shake?
Can Dreams such dire Impressions make!
What means this solemn silent Show?
This Pomp of Death, this Scene of Woe!
Support me, Heav'n! What's this I read?
O Horror! Rosamond is dead.
What shall I say, or whither turn?
With Grief, and Rage, and Love, I burn:
From Thought to Thought my Soul is toss'd,
And in the Whirle of Passion lost.
Why did I not in Battle fall,
Crush'd with the Thunder of the Gauls
Why did the Spear my Bosom miss;
Ye Pow'rs, was I reserv'd for this!
Disracted with Woe
I'll rush on the Foe
To seek my Relief:
The Sword or the Dart
Shall pierce my sad Heart,
And finish my Grief!
(III.i, p. 31)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in Google Books
Citation
At least 11 entries in ESTC (1725, 1740, 1743, 1746, 1750, 1751, 1758, 1765, 1767).
See Joseph Addison, Rosamond. An Opera. Humbly Inscrib'd to Her Grace the Dutchess of Marlborough. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1707). <Link to Google Books>
See Joseph Addison, Rosamond. An Opera. Humbly Inscrib'd to Her Grace the Dutchess of Marlborough. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1707). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
06/12/2013
