"But whither does my roving fancy wander?"
— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for R. Wellington and Thomas Osborne
Date
1700, 1702
Metaphor
"But whither does my roving fancy wander?"
Metaphor in Context
CLEONE.
I envy not her happiness;
Tho sure few of our Sex are blest like her
In such a Godlike Lord.
Would I had been a man!
With honour then I might have sought his friendship!
Perhaps from long experience of my faith,
He might have lov'd me better than the rest.
Amidst the dangers of the horrid War,
Still had I been the nearest to his side;
In Courts and Triumphs still had shar'd his joys,
Or when the sportful Chace had call'd us forth,
Together had we cheer'd our foaming Steeds,
Together prest the Savage o're the plain.
And when o're labour'd with the pleasing toil,
Stretcht on the verdant soil had slept together.
But whither does my roving fancy wander?
These are the sick dreams of fantastick Love.
So in a Calenture, the Sea man fancies
Green Fields and Flowry Meadows on the Ocean,
Till leaping in, the wretch is lost for ever.
(III.i, pp. 26-7)
I envy not her happiness;
Tho sure few of our Sex are blest like her
In such a Godlike Lord.
Would I had been a man!
With honour then I might have sought his friendship!
Perhaps from long experience of my faith,
He might have lov'd me better than the rest.
Amidst the dangers of the horrid War,
Still had I been the nearest to his side;
In Courts and Triumphs still had shar'd his joys,
Or when the sportful Chace had call'd us forth,
Together had we cheer'd our foaming Steeds,
Together prest the Savage o're the plain.
And when o're labour'd with the pleasing toil,
Stretcht on the verdant soil had slept together.
But whither does my roving fancy wander?
These are the sick dreams of fantastick Love.
So in a Calenture, the Sea man fancies
Green Fields and Flowry Meadows on the Ocean,
Till leaping in, the wretch is lost for ever.
(III.i, pp. 26-7)
Categories
Provenance
C-H Lion
Citation
First performed December, 1700. Twenty-three entries in ESTC (1701, 1702, 1714, 1715, 1720, 1726, 1727, 1728, 1733, 1735, 1760, 1761, 1764, 1777, 1781, 1790, 1792, 1795).
The second edition includes "the addition of a new scene." The Ambitious Step-Mother. A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the New Theatre in Little-Lincolns-Inn-Fields. By Her Majesties Servants. Written by N. Rowe, 2nd edition (London: Printed for R. Wellington and Thomas Osborne, 1702). <Link to ECCO>
The second edition includes "the addition of a new scene." The Ambitious Step-Mother. A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the New Theatre in Little-Lincolns-Inn-Fields. By Her Majesties Servants. Written by N. Rowe, 2nd edition (London: Printed for R. Wellington and Thomas Osborne, 1702). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
07/22/2013
