Go, cruel tyrant of the human breast! / To other hearts, thy burning arrows bear; / Go, where fond hope, and fair illusion rest!"
— Smith, Charlotte (1749-1806)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Chichester
Publisher
Printed by Dennett Jaques
Date
1784
Metaphor
Go, cruel tyrant of the human breast! / To other hearts, thy burning arrows bear; / Go, where fond hope, and fair illusion rest!"
Metaphor in Context
Sonnet XXI.
Supposed to be Written by Werter
Go, cruel tyrant of the human breast!
To other hearts, thy burning arrows bear;
Go, where fond hope, and fair illusion rest!
Ah! why should love inhabit with despair!
Like the poor maniac I linger here,
Still haunt the scene, where all my treasure lies;
Still seek for flowers, where only thorns appear,
'And drink delicious poison from her eyes!'
Towards the deep gulph that opens on my sight
I hurry forward, passion's helplesss slave!
And scorning reason's mild and sober light,
Pursue the path that leads me to the grave!
So round the flame the giddy insect flies,
And courts the fatal fire, by which it dies!
Supposed to be Written by Werter
Go, cruel tyrant of the human breast!
To other hearts, thy burning arrows bear;
Go, where fond hope, and fair illusion rest!
Ah! why should love inhabit with despair!
Like the poor maniac I linger here,
Still haunt the scene, where all my treasure lies;
Still seek for flowers, where only thorns appear,
'And drink delicious poison from her eyes!'
Towards the deep gulph that opens on my sight
I hurry forward, passion's helplesss slave!
And scorning reason's mild and sober light,
Pursue the path that leads me to the grave!
So round the flame the giddy insect flies,
And courts the fatal fire, by which it dies!
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 15 entries in the ESTC (1784, 1786, 1787, 1789, 1790, 1792, 1795, 1797, 1800).
Text drawn and corrected from OCR of 1789 edition in Google Books. Reading and comparing The Poems of Charlotte Smith, ed. Stuart Curran (New York and Oxford: OUP, 1993).
Elegiac Sonnets, and Other Essays. By Charlotte Smith of Bignor Park, In Sussex, 2nd edition (Chichester: Printed by Dennett Jaques, 1784). <Link to ECCO>
See also Elegiac Sonnets and Other Poems, by Charlotte Smith, 9th edition, 2 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies, 1800). <Link to volume I in Google Books> <Link to volume II in ECCO> -- Note, Curran uses this edition as his base text for Sonnets 1 through 59.
Text drawn and corrected from OCR of 1789 edition in Google Books. Reading and comparing The Poems of Charlotte Smith, ed. Stuart Curran (New York and Oxford: OUP, 1993).
Elegiac Sonnets, and Other Essays. By Charlotte Smith of Bignor Park, In Sussex, 2nd edition (Chichester: Printed by Dennett Jaques, 1784). <Link to ECCO>
See also Elegiac Sonnets and Other Poems, by Charlotte Smith, 9th edition, 2 vols. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, Jun. and W. Davies, 1800). <Link to volume I in Google Books> <Link to volume II in ECCO> -- Note, Curran uses this edition as his base text for Sonnets 1 through 59.
Date of Entry
06/13/2013
