"I feel my Soul impatient of its Bondage, / Disdaining this unworthy, idle Passion, / And strugling to be free."

— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Jacob Tonson
Date
November 25, 1707; 1708
Metaphor
"I feel my Soul impatient of its Bondage, / Disdaining this unworthy, idle Passion, / And strugling to be free."
Metaphor in Context
RODOGUNE.
Hence with 'em, take 'em, drive 'em from my Sight,
The fatal Pair.--
[Exeunt Aribert and Ethelinda guarded.]
That Look shall my last.
I feel my Soul impatient of its Bondage,
Disdaining this unworthy, idle Passion,
And strugling to be free.
Now, now it shoots,
It tow'rs upon the Wing to Crowns and Empire;
While Love and Aribert, those meaner Names,
Are left far, far behind, and lost for ever.
So if by chance the Eagle's noble Off-spring,
Ta'en in the Nest, becomes some Peasant's Prize,
Compell'd a while he bears his Cage and Chains,
And like a Pris'ner with the Clown remains;
But when his Plumes shoot forth, and Pinions swell,
He quits the Rustick, and his homely Cell,
Breaks from his Bonds, and in the face of Day,
Full in the Sun's bright Beams he soars away;
Delights thro' Heav'n's wide pathless Ways to go,
Plays with Joue's Shafts, and grasps his dreadful Bow,
Dwells with immortal Gods, and scorns the World below.
(IV.i, p. 45)
Categories
Citation
First performed November 25, 1707. Thirty-three entries in ESTC (1708, 1714, 1719, 1720, 1725, 1726, 1728, 1733, 1736, 1757, 1764, 1765, 1768, 1774, 1776, 1779, 1780, 1782, 1791, 1794, 1795).

The Royal Convert. A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the Queen's Theatre in the Hay-Market. By Her Majesty's Sworn Servants. Written by N. Rowe (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1708). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
07/25/2013

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.