"Amazing Power of Guilt! one great Offence / Benumbs the Mind, and stupifys the Sense, / Binds fast reluctant Conscience with its Charms, / And of its Sting the Worm within disarms."
— Blackmore, Sir Richard (1654-1729)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Awnsham and John Churchil and Jacob Tonson
Date
1697
Metaphor
"Amazing Power of Guilt! one great Offence / Benumbs the Mind, and stupifys the Sense, / Binds fast reluctant Conscience with its Charms, / And of its Sting the Worm within disarms."
Metaphor in Context
Here Clovis interrupting her reply'd,
Oh Merula have you your God deny'd,
Have you renounc'd the Christians solemn Vow,
And learnt before the Pagan Shrines to bow,
And are you in your Guilt so stupid grown,
So like the Gods you worship, Wood and Stone,
That to my Presence you thus boldly press
No inward Gripes and no Remorse express?
Should not your Crime in Crimson Blushes glow?
Should not your Eyes Shame and Confusion show?
Amazing Power of Guilt! one great Offence
Benumbs the Mind, and stupifys the Sense,
Binds fast reluctant Conscience with its Charms,
And of its Sting the Worm within disarms.
But, Merula , your Message tell, prepare
Your Golden Bait, and spread th'alluring Snare.
(Bk VIII, p. 211, ll. 233-248)
Oh Merula have you your God deny'd,
Have you renounc'd the Christians solemn Vow,
And learnt before the Pagan Shrines to bow,
And are you in your Guilt so stupid grown,
So like the Gods you worship, Wood and Stone,
That to my Presence you thus boldly press
No inward Gripes and no Remorse express?
Should not your Crime in Crimson Blushes glow?
Should not your Eyes Shame and Confusion show?
Amazing Power of Guilt! one great Offence
Benumbs the Mind, and stupifys the Sense,
Binds fast reluctant Conscience with its Charms,
And of its Sting the Worm within disarms.
But, Merula , your Message tell, prepare
Your Golden Bait, and spread th'alluring Snare.
(Bk VIII, p. 211, ll. 233-248)
Categories
Provenance
C-H Lion
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1697).
First published in 1695 in ten books as Prince Arthur. Reprinted 1696, 1714.
See Richard Blackmore. King Arthur, An Heroick Poem. In Twelve Books. By Richard Blackmore. To which is Annexed, An Index, Explaining the Names of Countrys, Citys, and Rivers, &c. (London: Printed for Awnsham, John Churchil, and Jacob Tonson, 1697). <Link to ESTC>
First published in 1695 in ten books as Prince Arthur. Reprinted 1696, 1714.
See Richard Blackmore. King Arthur, An Heroick Poem. In Twelve Books. By Richard Blackmore. To which is Annexed, An Index, Explaining the Names of Countrys, Citys, and Rivers, &c. (London: Printed for Awnsham, John Churchil, and Jacob Tonson, 1697). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
07/02/2013
