"Oh, what a Pain to think! when every Thought, / Perplexing Thought in Intricacies runs, / And Reason knits th'inextricable Toil / In which her self is taken. I am lost, / Poor Insect that I am, I am involv'd, / And bury'd in the Web my self have wrought."

— Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Author

Young, Edward (bap. 1683, d. 1765)

Work Title

The Revenge: A Tragedy

Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for W. Chetwood and S. Chapman
Date
April 18, 1721
Metaphor
"Oh, what a Pain to think! when every Thought, / Perplexing Thought in Intricacies runs, / And Reason knits th'inextricable Toil / In which her self is taken. I am lost, / Poor Insect that I am, I am involv'd, / And bury'd in the Web my self have wrought."
Metaphor in Context
DON ALONZO
Oh, what a Pain to think! when every Thought,
Perplexing Thought in Intricacies runs,
And Reason knits th'inextricable Toil
In which her self is taken. I am lost,
Poor Insect that I am, I am involv'd,
And bury'd in the Web my self have wrought.
One Argument is ballanc'd by another,
And Reason Reason meets in doubtful Fight,
And Proofs are countermin'd by equal Proofs.
No more I'll bear this Battel of the Mind,
This inward Anarchy; but find my Wife,
And to her trembling Heart presenting Death,
Force all the Secret from her.
(IV.i, p. 36)
Categories
Fabric::Knitting Animals::Insect Uncategorized::Web
Provenance
LION
Citation
First performed April 18, 1721. Over 39 entries in the ESTC (1721, 1722, 1726, 1733, 1735, 1749, 1752, 1754, 1755, 1760, 1764, 1768, 1769,1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1779, 1780, 1780, 1788, 1789, 1792, 1793, 1794).

See The Revenge: A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. By His Majesty's Servants. By E. Young. (London: Printed for W. Chetwood and S. Chapman, 1721). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
08/17/2013

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