Chiefly one Charm / He in his graceful Character observes: / That tho' his Passions burn with high Impatience, / And sometimes, from a noble Heat of Nature, / Are ready to fly off, yet the least Check / Of ruling Reason brings them back to Temper, / And gentle Softness."
— Thomson, James (1700-1748)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for A. Millar
Date
1745
Metaphor
Chiefly one Charm / He in his graceful Character observes: / That tho' his Passions burn with high Impatience, / And sometimes, from a noble Heat of Nature, / Are ready to fly off, yet the least Check / Of ruling Reason brings them back to Temper, / And gentle Softness."
Metaphor in Context
LAURA.
He says that, tho' he were not nobly born,
Nature has form'd him noble, generous, brave,
Truely magnanimous, and warmly scorning
Whatever bears the smallest Taint of Baseness:
That every easy Virtue is his own;
Not learnt by painful Labour, but inspir'd,
Implanted in his Soul--Chiefly one Charm
He in his graceful Character observes:
That tho' his Passions burn with high Impatience,
And sometimes, from a noble Heat of Nature,
Are ready to fly off, yet the least Check
Of ruling Reason brings them back to Temper,
And gentle Softness.
(I.i)
He says that, tho' he were not nobly born,
Nature has form'd him noble, generous, brave,
Truely magnanimous, and warmly scorning
Whatever bears the smallest Taint of Baseness:
That every easy Virtue is his own;
Not learnt by painful Labour, but inspir'd,
Implanted in his Soul--Chiefly one Charm
He in his graceful Character observes:
That tho' his Passions burn with high Impatience,
And sometimes, from a noble Heat of Nature,
Are ready to fly off, yet the least Check
Of ruling Reason brings them back to Temper,
And gentle Softness.
(I.i)
Provenance
C-H Lion
Citation
At least 29 entries in ESTC (1745, 1748, 1749, 1752, 1755, 1758, 1759, 1761, 1764, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1770, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1779, 1784, 1787, 1790, 1792). [Robert Hume lists among the "few considerable new plays mounted" between 1737 and 1760.]
See Tancred and Sigismunda. A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal In Drury-Lane, By His Majesty's Servants. By James Thomson (London: Printed for A. Millar, 1745). <Link to ECCO>
See Tancred and Sigismunda. A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal In Drury-Lane, By His Majesty's Servants. By James Thomson (London: Printed for A. Millar, 1745). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
06/28/2013
