"The Man, whom Heaven appoints / To govern others, should himself first learn / To bend his Passions to the Sway of Reason."
— Thomson, James (1700-1748)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for A. Millar
Date
1745
Metaphor
"The Man, whom Heaven appoints / To govern others, should himself first learn / To bend his Passions to the Sway of Reason."
Metaphor in Context
SIGISMUNDA.
How! when I heard myself your full Consent
To the late King's so just and prudent Will?
Heard it before you read, in solemn Senate?
When I beheld you give your Royal Hand
To Her, whose Birth and Dignity, of Right,
Demands that high Alliance? Yes, my Lord,
You have done well. The Man, whom Heaven appoints
To govern others, should himself first learn
To bend his Passions to the Sway of Reason.
In all you have done well, but when you bid
My humbled Hopes look up to you again,
And sooth'd with wanton Cruelty my Weakness--
That too was well--My Vanity deserv'd
The sharp Rebuke, whose fond Extravagance
Could ever dream to balance your Repose,
Your Glory and the Welfare of a People.
(IV.ii)
How! when I heard myself your full Consent
To the late King's so just and prudent Will?
Heard it before you read, in solemn Senate?
When I beheld you give your Royal Hand
To Her, whose Birth and Dignity, of Right,
Demands that high Alliance? Yes, my Lord,
You have done well. The Man, whom Heaven appoints
To govern others, should himself first learn
To bend his Passions to the Sway of Reason.
In all you have done well, but when you bid
My humbled Hopes look up to you again,
And sooth'd with wanton Cruelty my Weakness--
That too was well--My Vanity deserv'd
The sharp Rebuke, whose fond Extravagance
Could ever dream to balance your Repose,
Your Glory and the Welfare of a People.
(IV.ii)
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
