"Had they mingled in the world, fed high their fancy with hope, and looked forward with expectation of enjoyment; had they been courted by the great, and offered with profusion adulation for their abilities, yet, even when starving, been offered nothing else!"

— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Payne and Son and T. Cadell
Date
1782
Metaphor
"Had they mingled in the world, fed high their fancy with hope, and looked forward with expectation of enjoyment; had they been courted by the great, and offered with profusion adulation for their abilities, yet, even when starving, been offered nothing else!"
Metaphor in Context
"They have known no other life. They are strangers, therefore, to the felicity of their lot. Had they mingled in the world, fed high their fancy with hope, and looked forward with expectation of enjoyment; had they been courted by the great, and offered with profusion adulation for their abilities, yet, even when starving, been offered nothing else!---had they seen an attentive circle wait all its entertainment from their powers, yet found themselves forgotten as soon as out of sight, and perceived themselves avoided when no longer buffoons!---Oh had they known and felt provocations such as these, how gladly would their resentful spirits turn from the whole unfeeling race, and how would they respect that noble and manly labour, which at once disentangles them from such subjugating snares, and enables them to fly the ingratitude they abhor! Without the contrast of vice, virtue unloved may be lovely; without the experience of misery, happiness is simply a dull privation of evil."
(IV, pp. 243-4)
Provenance
C-H Lion
Citation
At least 14 entries in ESTC (1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1790, 1791, 1793, 1795, 1796).

Frances Burney, Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress. By the Author of Evelina. 5 vols. (London: Printed for T. Payne and Son and T. Cadell, 1782). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
06/16/2013

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