"'Tis false! The thinking Soul is somewhat more / Than Symmetry of Atoms well dispos'd, / The Harmony of Matter."
— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Bernard Lintott
Date
1715
Metaphor
"'Tis false! The thinking Soul is somewhat more / Than Symmetry of Atoms well dispos'd, / The Harmony of Matter."
Metaphor in Context
EARL OF PEMBROKE.
Yes, I will go--For see! Behold who comes!
Oh, Guilford, hide me, shield me from her Sight;
Ev'ry mad Passion kindles up again,
Love, Rage, Despair--and yet I will be Master--
I will Remember Thee--Oh, my torn Heart!
I have a Thousand thousand Things to say,
But cannot, dare not stay to look on her.
Thus gloomy Ghosts, whene'er the breaking Morn
Gives notice of the chearful Sun's Return,
Fade at the Light, with Horror stand Opprest,
And shrink before the Purple-dawning East;
Swift with the fleeting Shades they wing their way,
And dread the Brightness of the Rising Day.
[Exeunt Lord Guilford Dudley and Earl of Pembroke.
Enter Lady Jane, Reading.]
LADY JANE GRAY.
'Tis false! The thinking Soul is somewhat more
Than Symmetry of Atoms well dispos'd,
The Harmony of Matter. Farewel else
The Hope of all hereafter, that New Life,
That separate Intellect, which must survive,
When this fine Frame is moulder'd into Dust.
[Enter Guilford.]
LORD GUILFORD DUDLEY.
What read'st thou there, my Queen?
LADY JANE GRAY.
'Tis Plato's Phædon,
Where Dying Socrates takes leave of Life,
With such an easy, careless, calm Indifference,
As if the Trifle were of no Account,
Mean in it self, and only to be worn
In honour of the Giver.
LORD GUILFORD DUDLEY.
Shall thy Soul
Still scorn the World, still flie the Joys that court
Thy blooming Beauty, and thy tender Youth?
Still shall she soar on Contemplation's Wing,
And mix with nothing meaner than the Stars;
As Heaven and Immortality alone
Were Objects worthy to employ her Faculties.
LADY JANE GRAY.
Bate but thy Truth, what is there here below
Deserves the least Regard? Is it not time
To bid our Souls look out, explore hereafter,
And seek some better, sure-abiding Place;
When all around our gathering Foes come on,
To drive, to sweep us from this World at once?
(IV.i, pp. 45-47)
Yes, I will go--For see! Behold who comes!
Oh, Guilford, hide me, shield me from her Sight;
Ev'ry mad Passion kindles up again,
Love, Rage, Despair--and yet I will be Master--
I will Remember Thee--Oh, my torn Heart!
I have a Thousand thousand Things to say,
But cannot, dare not stay to look on her.
Thus gloomy Ghosts, whene'er the breaking Morn
Gives notice of the chearful Sun's Return,
Fade at the Light, with Horror stand Opprest,
And shrink before the Purple-dawning East;
Swift with the fleeting Shades they wing their way,
And dread the Brightness of the Rising Day.
[Exeunt Lord Guilford Dudley and Earl of Pembroke.
Enter Lady Jane, Reading.]
LADY JANE GRAY.
'Tis false! The thinking Soul is somewhat more
Than Symmetry of Atoms well dispos'd,
The Harmony of Matter. Farewel else
The Hope of all hereafter, that New Life,
That separate Intellect, which must survive,
When this fine Frame is moulder'd into Dust.
[Enter Guilford.]
LORD GUILFORD DUDLEY.
What read'st thou there, my Queen?
LADY JANE GRAY.
'Tis Plato's Phædon,
Where Dying Socrates takes leave of Life,
With such an easy, careless, calm Indifference,
As if the Trifle were of no Account,
Mean in it self, and only to be worn
In honour of the Giver.
LORD GUILFORD DUDLEY.
Shall thy Soul
Still scorn the World, still flie the Joys that court
Thy blooming Beauty, and thy tender Youth?
Still shall she soar on Contemplation's Wing,
And mix with nothing meaner than the Stars;
As Heaven and Immortality alone
Were Objects worthy to employ her Faculties.
LADY JANE GRAY.
Bate but thy Truth, what is there here below
Deserves the least Regard? Is it not time
To bid our Souls look out, explore hereafter,
And seek some better, sure-abiding Place;
When all around our gathering Foes come on,
To drive, to sweep us from this World at once?
(IV.i, pp. 45-47)
Categories
Provenance
C-H Lion
Citation
First performed April 20, 1715. 33 entries in the ESTC (1715, 1717, 1718, 1719, 1720, 1727, 1730, 1733, 1735, 1736, 1740, 1744, 1748, 1750, 1754, 1755, 1761, 1764, 1771, 1774, 1776, 1777, 1778, 1782, 1791)
See The Tragedy Of The Lady Jane Gray. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. By N. Rowe (London: Printed for Bernard Lintott, 1715). <Link to ECCO>
See The Tragedy Of The Lady Jane Gray. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. By N. Rowe (London: Printed for Bernard Lintott, 1715). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
07/21/2013
