"Rouse thee, for Shame! and if a Spark of Virtue / Lies slumbering in thy Soul, bid it blaze forth; / Nor sink unequal to the glorious Lesson, / This Day thy Lover gave thee from his Throne."
— Thomson, James (1700-1748)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for A. Millar
Date
1745
Metaphor
"Rouse thee, for Shame! and if a Spark of Virtue / Lies slumbering in thy Soul, bid it blaze forth; / Nor sink unequal to the glorious Lesson, / This Day thy Lover gave thee from his Throne."
Metaphor in Context
SIFFREDI.
Absence and Time, the Softner of our Passions,
Will conquer This. Mean time, I hope from Thee
A generous great Effort; that Thou wilt now
Exert thy utmost Force, nor languish thus
Beneath the vain Extravagance of Love.
Let not thy Father blush to hear it said,
His Daughter was so weak, e'er to admit
A Thought so void of Reason, that a King
Should to his Rank, his Honour and his Glory,
The high important Duties of a Throne,
Even to his Throne itself, madly prefer
A wild romantic Passion, the fond Child
Of youthful dreaming Thought and vacant Hours;
That He should quit his Heaven-appointed Station,
Desert his awful Charge, the Care of all
The toiling Millions which this Isle contains;
Nay more, shall plunge them into War and Ruin:
And all to sooth a sick Imagination,
A miserable Weakness--Must for thee,
To make Thee blest, Sicilia be unhappy?
The King himself, lost to the nobler Sense
Of manly Praise, become the piteous Heroe
Of some soft Tale, and rush on sure Destruction?
Canst thou, my Daughter, let the monstrous Thought
Possess one Moment thy perverted Fancy?
Rouse thee, for Shame! and if a Spark of Virtue
Lies slumbering in thy Soul, bid it blaze forth;
Nor sink unequal to the glorious Lesson,
This Day thy Lover gave thee from his Throne.
(III.ii)
Absence and Time, the Softner of our Passions,
Will conquer This. Mean time, I hope from Thee
A generous great Effort; that Thou wilt now
Exert thy utmost Force, nor languish thus
Beneath the vain Extravagance of Love.
Let not thy Father blush to hear it said,
His Daughter was so weak, e'er to admit
A Thought so void of Reason, that a King
Should to his Rank, his Honour and his Glory,
The high important Duties of a Throne,
Even to his Throne itself, madly prefer
A wild romantic Passion, the fond Child
Of youthful dreaming Thought and vacant Hours;
That He should quit his Heaven-appointed Station,
Desert his awful Charge, the Care of all
The toiling Millions which this Isle contains;
Nay more, shall plunge them into War and Ruin:
And all to sooth a sick Imagination,
A miserable Weakness--Must for thee,
To make Thee blest, Sicilia be unhappy?
The King himself, lost to the nobler Sense
Of manly Praise, become the piteous Heroe
Of some soft Tale, and rush on sure Destruction?
Canst thou, my Daughter, let the monstrous Thought
Possess one Moment thy perverted Fancy?
Rouse thee, for Shame! and if a Spark of Virtue
Lies slumbering in thy Soul, bid it blaze forth;
Nor sink unequal to the glorious Lesson,
This Day thy Lover gave thee from his Throne.
(III.ii)
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
