"If this poor stock / Of artless beauty hath such fatal pow'r, / When you, Arsinoe, have a daughter born, / Beg all deformities of shape and face, / T'insure her quiet from that monster, man! / Who quitting reason, a celestial claim, / To the sweet harmony of souls prefers / A little white and red, the airy food / Of bestial appetite: and for a cheek, / Whose transient beauties hardly will outwear / The wardrobe of a flow'r."
— Fenton, Elijah (1683-1730)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Tonson
Date
February 22, 1723
Metaphor
"If this poor stock / Of artless beauty hath such fatal pow'r, / When you, Arsinoe, have a daughter born, / Beg all deformities of shape and face, / T'insure her quiet from that monster, man! / Who quitting reason, a celestial claim, / To the sweet harmony of souls prefers / A little white and red, the airy food / Of bestial appetite: and for a cheek, / Whose transient beauties hardly will outwear / The wardrobe of a flow'r."
Metaphor in Context
MARIAMNE
If this poor stock
Of artless beauty hath such fatal pow'r,
When you, Arsinoe, have a daughter born,
Beg all deformities of shape and face,
T'insure her quiet from that monster, man!
Who quitting reason, a celestial claim,
To the sweet harmony of souls prefers
A little white and red, the airy food
Of bestial appetite: and for a cheek,
Whose transient beauties hardly will outwear
The wardrobe of a flow'r--
(p. 48)
If this poor stock
Of artless beauty hath such fatal pow'r,
When you, Arsinoe, have a daughter born,
Beg all deformities of shape and face,
T'insure her quiet from that monster, man!
Who quitting reason, a celestial claim,
To the sweet harmony of souls prefers
A little white and red, the airy food
Of bestial appetite: and for a cheek,
Whose transient beauties hardly will outwear
The wardrobe of a flow'r--
(p. 48)
Categories
Provenance
LION
Citation
First performed February 22, 1723. Over 16 entries in the ESTC (1723, 1726, 1728, 1735, 1745, 1759, 1760, 1768, 1774, 1777, 1781, 1794).
Mariamne. A Tragedy. Acted at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. Written by Mr. Fenton (London: Printed for J. Tonson, 1723). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Mariamne. A Tragedy. Acted at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields. Written by Mr. Fenton (London: Printed for J. Tonson, 1723). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/20/2013
