"Mean while Medea, seiz'd with fierce Desire, / By Reason strives to quench the raging Fire; / But strives in vain!"
— Tate, Nahum (c. 1652-1715)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Jacob Tonson
Date
1704
Metaphor
"Mean while Medea, seiz'd with fierce Desire, / By Reason strives to quench the raging Fire; / But strives in vain!"
Metaphor in Context
Mean while Medea, seiz'd with fierce Desire,
By Reason strives to quench the raging Fire;
But strives in vain!--Some God (said she) withstands,
And Reason's baffl'd Council countermands.
What unseen Pow'r does this Disorder move?
'Tis Love,--at least 'tis like what Men call Love.
Else wherefore shou'd the King's Commands appear
To me too hard?--But so indeed they are.
Why shou'd I for a Stranger fear, lest he
Shou'd perish, whom I did but lately see?
His Death or Safety what are they to me?
Wretch, from thy Virgin-Breast this Flame expel,
And soon--Oh cou'd I, all wou'd then be well!
But Love, resistless Love my Soul invades;
Discretion this, Affection that perswades.
I see the Right, and I approve it too,
Condemn the Wrong,--and yet the Wrong pursue.
Why, Royal Maid, shou'dst thou desire to wed
A Wanderer, and court a Foreign Bed?
Thy Native Land, tho' barb'rous, can present
A Bridegroom worth a Royal Bride's Consent:
And whether this Advent'rer lives or dies,
In Fate and Fortune's fickle Pleasure lies.
Yet may he live! for to the Pow'rs above,
A Virgin, led by no Impulse of Love,
So just a Suit may, for the guiltless, move.
(pp. 143-4)
By Reason strives to quench the raging Fire;
But strives in vain!--Some God (said she) withstands,
And Reason's baffl'd Council countermands.
What unseen Pow'r does this Disorder move?
'Tis Love,--at least 'tis like what Men call Love.
Else wherefore shou'd the King's Commands appear
To me too hard?--But so indeed they are.
Why shou'd I for a Stranger fear, lest he
Shou'd perish, whom I did but lately see?
His Death or Safety what are they to me?
Wretch, from thy Virgin-Breast this Flame expel,
And soon--Oh cou'd I, all wou'd then be well!
But Love, resistless Love my Soul invades;
Discretion this, Affection that perswades.
I see the Right, and I approve it too,
Condemn the Wrong,--and yet the Wrong pursue.
Why, Royal Maid, shou'dst thou desire to wed
A Wanderer, and court a Foreign Bed?
Thy Native Land, tho' barb'rous, can present
A Bridegroom worth a Royal Bride's Consent:
And whether this Advent'rer lives or dies,
In Fate and Fortune's fickle Pleasure lies.
Yet may he live! for to the Pow'rs above,
A Virgin, led by no Impulse of Love,
So just a Suit may, for the guiltless, move.
(pp. 143-4)
Categories
Provenance
Searching Tonson's Miscellanies in Google Books
Citation
Poetical Miscellanies: The Fifth Part. Containing a Collection of Original Poems, With Several New Translations. By the most Eminent Hands. (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1704), pp. 141-9. <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
06/12/2013
