"But hold, my Soul, / Thy steady Purpose--Tost by various Passions, / To this eternal Anchor keep--There is, / Can be, no Public without Private Virtue."
— Thomson, James (1700-1748)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for A. Millar
Date
1745
Metaphor
"But hold, my Soul, / Thy steady Purpose--Tost by various Passions, / To this eternal Anchor keep--There is, / Can be, no Public without Private Virtue."
Metaphor in Context
TANCRED.
There is! and thou hast touch'd it.
Rise, rise, Siffredi --Oh! Thou hast undone me,
Unkind old Man!--O ill-entreated Tancred!
Which Way soe'er I turn, Dishonour rears
Her hideous Front--and Misery and Ruin!
Was it for This you took such Care to form me?
For This imbued me with the quickest Sense
Of Shame; these finer Feelings, that ne'er vex
The common Mass of Mortals, dully happy
In blest Insensibility? O rather
You should have fear'd my Heart; taught me that Power
And splendid Interest lord it still o'er Virtue;
That, gilded by Prosperity and Pride,
There is no Shame, no Meanness: temper'd thus,
I had been fit to rule a venal World.
Alas! what meant thy Wantonness of Prudence?
Why have you rais'd this miserable Conflict
Betwixt the Duties of the King and Man?
Set Virtue against Virtue?--Ah Siffredi!
'Tis thy superfluous, thy unfeeling Wisdom,
That has involv'd me in a Maze of Error,
Almost beyond Retreat--But hold, my Soul,
Thy steady Purpose--Tost by various Passions,
To this eternal Anchor keep--There is,
Can be, no Public without Private Virtue--
Then mark me well, observe what I command;
It is the sole Expedient now remaining--
To-morrow, when the Senate meets again,
Unfold the whole, unravel the Deceit;
Nor That alone, try to repair it's Mischief;
There all thy Power, thy Eloquence and Interest,
Exert, to reinstate me in my Rights,
And from thy own dark Snares to disembroil me--
Start not, my Lord--This must and shall be done!
Or here our Friendship ends--Howe'er disguis'd,
Whatever thy Pretence, thou art a Traitor!
(II.viii, ll. 139-174)
There is! and thou hast touch'd it.
Rise, rise, Siffredi --Oh! Thou hast undone me,
Unkind old Man!--O ill-entreated Tancred!
Which Way soe'er I turn, Dishonour rears
Her hideous Front--and Misery and Ruin!
Was it for This you took such Care to form me?
For This imbued me with the quickest Sense
Of Shame; these finer Feelings, that ne'er vex
The common Mass of Mortals, dully happy
In blest Insensibility? O rather
You should have fear'd my Heart; taught me that Power
And splendid Interest lord it still o'er Virtue;
That, gilded by Prosperity and Pride,
There is no Shame, no Meanness: temper'd thus,
I had been fit to rule a venal World.
Alas! what meant thy Wantonness of Prudence?
Why have you rais'd this miserable Conflict
Betwixt the Duties of the King and Man?
Set Virtue against Virtue?--Ah Siffredi!
'Tis thy superfluous, thy unfeeling Wisdom,
That has involv'd me in a Maze of Error,
Almost beyond Retreat--But hold, my Soul,
Thy steady Purpose--Tost by various Passions,
To this eternal Anchor keep--There is,
Can be, no Public without Private Virtue--
Then mark me well, observe what I command;
It is the sole Expedient now remaining--
To-morrow, when the Senate meets again,
Unfold the whole, unravel the Deceit;
Nor That alone, try to repair it's Mischief;
There all thy Power, thy Eloquence and Interest,
Exert, to reinstate me in my Rights,
And from thy own dark Snares to disembroil me--
Start not, my Lord--This must and shall be done!
Or here our Friendship ends--Howe'er disguis'd,
Whatever thy Pretence, thou art a Traitor!
(II.viii, ll. 139-174)
Categories
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
