"When all at once / A thousand anxious Thoughts that slept by Day, / Swarm'd in my Brain, 'till it resembled Hell, / Hot, dark and hot: my sick Imagination, / Assisted by the Shades of Night, would give / A gloomy turn to each Idea there."
— Jeffreys, George (1678-1755)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed, and Sold by T. Woodward, J.Walthoe, J.Peele, and T.Wood
Date
1724
Metaphor
"When all at once / A thousand anxious Thoughts that slept by Day, / Swarm'd in my Brain, 'till it resembled Hell, / Hot, dark and hot: my sick Imagination, / Assisted by the Shades of Night, would give / A gloomy turn to each Idea there."
Metaphor in Context
ALBERT.
I call to witness all my leisure Hours,
Spent in Retirement and the thought of You;
And when the Court and Camp by turns amus'd me,
'Twas but a faint Relief to heighten Care:
For oh the Torment when I went to Rest,
And clos'd my Eyes in vain! When all at once
A thousand anxious Thoughts that slept by Day,
Swarm'd in my Brain, 'till it resembled Hell,
Hot, dark and hot: my sick Imagination,
Assisted by the Shades of Night, would give
A gloomy turn to each Idea there:
The prospect then of Joys to come, revers'd,
Grew less and less, and doubtful and remote.
Remembrance haunted me with past Endearments;
But most, the Image of some happy Rival.
At length when Nature, harrass'd to Repose,
Forc'd on my half-shut Eyes a Minute's Slumber;
The beatings of an aking Heart would wake me
From some black Dream of Horror and Despair;
'Till Morning Sleep reliev'd my weary Soul;
And Hope, the Daughter of the Dawn, return'd.
(II.i, p. 27)
I call to witness all my leisure Hours,
Spent in Retirement and the thought of You;
And when the Court and Camp by turns amus'd me,
'Twas but a faint Relief to heighten Care:
For oh the Torment when I went to Rest,
And clos'd my Eyes in vain! When all at once
A thousand anxious Thoughts that slept by Day,
Swarm'd in my Brain, 'till it resembled Hell,
Hot, dark and hot: my sick Imagination,
Assisted by the Shades of Night, would give
A gloomy turn to each Idea there:
The prospect then of Joys to come, revers'd,
Grew less and less, and doubtful and remote.
Remembrance haunted me with past Endearments;
But most, the Image of some happy Rival.
At length when Nature, harrass'd to Repose,
Forc'd on my half-shut Eyes a Minute's Slumber;
The beatings of an aking Heart would wake me
From some black Dream of Horror and Despair;
'Till Morning Sleep reliev'd my weary Soul;
And Hope, the Daughter of the Dawn, return'd.
(II.i, p. 27)
Categories
Provenance
C-H Lion
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1724).
Edwin: A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. By Geo. Jeffreys. (London: Printed, and Sold by T. Woodward, J.Walthoe, J.Peele, and T.Wood, 1724). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
Edwin: A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. By Geo. Jeffreys. (London: Printed, and Sold by T. Woodward, J.Walthoe, J.Peele, and T.Wood, 1724). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
06/29/2013
