"I knew no Directors, but my Passions, no Master but my Will!"
— Cibber, Colley (1671-1757); John Vanbrugh (1664-1726)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Watts
Date
January 10, 1728.
Metaphor
"I knew no Directors, but my Passions, no Master but my Will!"
Metaphor in Context
LADY TOWNLY
Before I was your Bride, my Lord, the flattering World had talk'd me into Beauty; which, at my Glass, my youthful Vanity confirm'd: Wild with that Fame, I thought Mankind my Slaves, I triumph'd over Hearts, while all my Pleasure was their Pain: Yet was my own so equally insensible to all, that when a Father's firm Commands enjoyn'd me to make choice of One; I even there declin'd the Liberty he gave, and to his own Election yielded up my Youth--His tender Care, my Lord, directed him to You--Our Hands were join'd! but still my Heart was wedded to its Folly! My only Joy was Power, Command, Society, Profuseness, and to lead in Pleasures! The Husband's Right to Rule, I thought a vulgar Law, which only the Deform'd, or Meanly-spirited obey'd! I knew no Directors, but my Passions, no Master but my Will! Even you, my Lord, some time o'ercome by Love, were pleas'd with my Delights; nor, then, foresaw this mad Misuse of your Indulgence--And, though I call my self Ungrateful, while I own it, yet, as a Truth, it cannot be deny'd--That kind Indulgence has undone me! it added Strength to my habitual Failings, and in a Heart thus warm, in wild unthinking Life, no wonder if the gentler Sense of Love was lost.
(p. 84)
Before I was your Bride, my Lord, the flattering World had talk'd me into Beauty; which, at my Glass, my youthful Vanity confirm'd: Wild with that Fame, I thought Mankind my Slaves, I triumph'd over Hearts, while all my Pleasure was their Pain: Yet was my own so equally insensible to all, that when a Father's firm Commands enjoyn'd me to make choice of One; I even there declin'd the Liberty he gave, and to his own Election yielded up my Youth--His tender Care, my Lord, directed him to You--Our Hands were join'd! but still my Heart was wedded to its Folly! My only Joy was Power, Command, Society, Profuseness, and to lead in Pleasures! The Husband's Right to Rule, I thought a vulgar Law, which only the Deform'd, or Meanly-spirited obey'd! I knew no Directors, but my Passions, no Master but my Will! Even you, my Lord, some time o'ercome by Love, were pleas'd with my Delights; nor, then, foresaw this mad Misuse of your Indulgence--And, though I call my self Ungrateful, while I own it, yet, as a Truth, it cannot be deny'd--That kind Indulgence has undone me! it added Strength to my habitual Failings, and in a Heart thus warm, in wild unthinking Life, no wonder if the gentler Sense of Love was lost.
(p. 84)
Categories
Provenance
LION
Citation
Over 43 entries in the ESTC (1728, 1729, 1731, 1734, 1735, 1736, 1740, 1741, 1748, 1752, 1753, 1754, 1755, 1760, 1761, 1767, 1768, 1771, 1774, 1776, 1777, 1779, 1780, 1788, 1790, 1791, 1794, 1798).
See The Provok'd Husband; or A Journey to London. A Comedy, as it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal by His Majesty's Servants. Written by the late Sir John Vanburgh, and Mr. Cibber (London: Printed for J. Watts, 1728). <Link to ECCO>
See The Provok'd Husband; or A Journey to London. A Comedy, as it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal by His Majesty's Servants. Written by the late Sir John Vanburgh, and Mr. Cibber (London: Printed for J. Watts, 1728). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
08/19/2013
