"For I cannot agree that the Soul is in the Body, as in a Prison; but rather that, like a rich Nobleman, he is pleas'd to inhabit a fine Country Seat or Palace of his own Building, where he resolves to live and enjoy himself, and does so, 'till by the Fate of things his fine Palace being over-turn'd, whether by an Earthquake or otherwise, is bury'd in its own Ruins, and the noble Owner turn'd out of Possession, without a House."
— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed: and sold by J. Roberts
Date
1727
Metaphor
"For I cannot agree that the Soul is in the Body, as in a Prison; but rather that, like a rich Nobleman, he is pleas'd to inhabit a fine Country Seat or Palace of his own Building, where he resolves to live and enjoy himself, and does so, 'till by the Fate of things his fine Palace being over-turn'd, whether by an Earthquake or otherwise, is bury'd in its own Ruins, and the noble Owner turn'd out of Possession, without a House."
Metaphor in Context
But that I may clear up your Doubt as to the Part I am upon, I have added at the Head of this Section, the Word Departed, to intimate to you, that I am Orthodox in my Notion; that I am none of the Sect of Soul-Sleepers, or for imprisoning Souls in a Limbus of the Ancients; but that, in a few Words, by the Appearance of Souls Unembodied, I mean such as having been embodied or imprison'd in Flesh, are discharg'd from that Confinement, or as I call it unhous'd and turn'd out of Possession. For I cannot agree that the Soul is in the Body, as in a Prison; but rather that, like a rich Nobleman, he is pleas'd to inhabit a fine Country Seat or Palace of his own Building, where he resolves to live and enjoy himself, and does so, 'till by the Fate of things his fine Palace being over-turn'd, whether by an Earthquake or otherwise, is bury'd in its own Ruins, and the noble Owner turn'd out of Possession, without a House.
(pp. 44-5)
(pp. 44-5)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in ECCO-TCP
Citation
2 entries in ESTC (1727, 1728). For a publication history, see Rodney Baine's 1962 essay, "Daniel Defoe and 'The History and Reality of Apparitions.'" First edition, published by J. Roberts, appeared anonymously on March 18, 1727. Second issues were sold the same year by A. Millar. The 1735 edition, reissued in 1738 and 1740.
Text from An Essay on the History and Reality of Apparitions: Being an Account of What They are, and What They are Not; Whence They Come, and Whence They Come Not. (London: Printed: and sold by J. Roberts, 1727). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Text from An Essay on the History and Reality of Apparitions: Being an Account of What They are, and What They are Not; Whence They Come, and Whence They Come Not. (London: Printed: and sold by J. Roberts, 1727). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/16/2013
