"'Melancholy', is, generally, the effect of constitution; its cloudy ideas overpower and banish all that are chearful."
— Trusler, John (1735-1820)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Dodsley
Date
1766
Metaphor
"'Melancholy', is, generally, the effect of constitution; its cloudy ideas overpower and banish all that are chearful."
Metaphor in Context
166. Dejected, Melancholy, Low-spirited, Dull.
Dejection, is, commonly, caused by great affliction, and is, too often, a mark of despair. Melancholy, is, generally, the effect of constitution; its cloudy ideas overpower and banish all that are chearful. Lowspiritedness, is involuntary, and, often, proceeds from a weakness of nerves: excess of joy, fatigue, bad digestion, will occasion it. Dullness, on the contrary, is voluntary; it arises, frequently, from discontent, disappointment, and from any other circumstance that may displease the mind.
The mind, in dejection, is unhappy, not having sufficient strength and reason to get the better of it. Melancholy, will, sometimes, wear away, by frequent diversion and dissipation. A person, subject to low-spirits, should pursue a regular course of life, and a uniform method of living. Dullness is encreased by giving way to it; it is in our power to banish it, whenever we please, and the damp it throws on every company, one would imagine, should be our greatest inducement, to do it.
The reverse of dejection, is joy; the reverse of melancholy, chearfulness; gaiety is the opposite, to low-spiritedness; and sprightliness, to dullness.
(I, pp. 176-7)
Dejection, is, commonly, caused by great affliction, and is, too often, a mark of despair. Melancholy, is, generally, the effect of constitution; its cloudy ideas overpower and banish all that are chearful. Lowspiritedness, is involuntary, and, often, proceeds from a weakness of nerves: excess of joy, fatigue, bad digestion, will occasion it. Dullness, on the contrary, is voluntary; it arises, frequently, from discontent, disappointment, and from any other circumstance that may displease the mind.
The mind, in dejection, is unhappy, not having sufficient strength and reason to get the better of it. Melancholy, will, sometimes, wear away, by frequent diversion and dissipation. A person, subject to low-spirits, should pursue a regular course of life, and a uniform method of living. Dullness is encreased by giving way to it; it is in our power to banish it, whenever we please, and the damp it throws on every company, one would imagine, should be our greatest inducement, to do it.
The reverse of dejection, is joy; the reverse of melancholy, chearfulness; gaiety is the opposite, to low-spiritedness; and sprightliness, to dullness.
(I, pp. 176-7)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Credited as being the first thesaurus in English. 4 entries in the ESTC (1766, 1776, 1783, 1795).
See John Trusler, The Difference, Between Words, Esteemed Synonymous: in the English Language; and, the Proper Choice of them Determined: Together with, so much of Abbé Girard's Treatise, on this Subject, as Would Agree, with our Mode of Expression, 2 vols. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1766). <Vol. I, Link to ECCO-TCP><Vol. II, Link to ECCO-TCP>
See John Trusler, The Difference, Between Words, Esteemed Synonymous: in the English Language; and, the Proper Choice of them Determined: Together with, so much of Abbé Girard's Treatise, on this Subject, as Would Agree, with our Mode of Expression, 2 vols. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1766). <Vol. I, Link to ECCO-TCP><Vol. II, Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/15/2013
