"Hence, that exquisite Expansion! That Liquefaction, of the Heart!"
— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
Monday, August 24. 1724
Metaphor
"Hence, that exquisite Expansion! That Liquefaction, of the Heart!"
Metaphor in Context
Hence, that exquisite Expansion! That Liquefaction, of the Heart! when it refuses to allow us the Possession of our dearest Wish, in the very Moment we become Masters of it! The subtle Workings of this exalted Passion, upon the Refinements of our Mind, have Deified the beloved Object, 'till we faint, with Awe, when we should receive her Tenderness: And, by a fantastical kind of Envy, consider ourselves, as our own Rivals!--The supremest Joy of Love must, if Men will have it so, be call'd Bodily: But All, that heightens it, to be worth the Wish of a wise Man, it must be indebted to the Mind for.--Whence could Images so warm, as these which follow, receive a Purity, in their Expression, that adapts them to the chastest Ear, if the Mind's Part were not strongest, even where the Body pretends most Influence?
Is there no more? Oh! yet the Last remains!
Crown of our Conquest! Sweetner of our Pains!
There is a Time, when Love no Wish denies:
And smiling Nature throws off All Disguise.
But, who can Words, to speak those Raptures, find?
Vast Sea of Ecstacy, that drowns the Mind!
That fierce Transfusion of exchanging Hearts!
That gliding Glimpse of Heav'n, in pulsive Starts?
That veiny Rush! That warm, tumultuous, Roll!
That Fire that kindles Bodies into Soul!
And, on Life's Margin, strains Delight, so high,
That Sense breaks short--and, while we taste, we die!
(pp. 385-6)
Is there no more? Oh! yet the Last remains!
Crown of our Conquest! Sweetner of our Pains!
There is a Time, when Love no Wish denies:
And smiling Nature throws off All Disguise.
But, who can Words, to speak those Raptures, find?
Vast Sea of Ecstacy, that drowns the Mind!
That fierce Transfusion of exchanging Hearts!
That gliding Glimpse of Heav'n, in pulsive Starts?
That veiny Rush! That warm, tumultuous, Roll!
That Fire that kindles Bodies into Soul!
And, on Life's Margin, strains Delight, so high,
That Sense breaks short--and, while we taste, we die!
(pp. 385-6)
Categories
Citation
Text from The Plain Dealer: Being Select Essays on Several Curious Subjects: Relating to Friendship, ... Poetry, and Other Branches of Polite Literature. Publish'd originally in the year 1724. And Now First Collected into Two Volumes (London: Printed for S. Richardson, and A. Wilde, 1730.) <Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Link to Vol. II in ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/17/2013
