"The balm of sleep / Can ne'er refresh these eyes, 'till the pale hand / Of death shall draw their curtains, and exclude / The busy buzzing swarm of stinging thoughts."
— Fenton, Elijah (1683-1730)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Tonson
Date
February 22, 1723
Metaphor
"The balm of sleep / Can ne'er refresh these eyes, 'till the pale hand / Of death shall draw their curtains, and exclude / The busy buzzing swarm of stinging thoughts."
Metaphor in Context
HEROD
Bid the wretch sleep,
Whose limbs extended on the rack, endure
The utmost stretch of pain: I suffer more!
More, my Pheroras, more! The balm of sleep
Can ne'er refresh these eyes, 'till the pale hand
Of death shall draw their curtains, and exclude
The busy buzzing swarm of stinging thoughts.
My bed, the scene of all my blissful hours,
Of all my tender, chaste, endearing joys,
Which now have wing'd their everlasting flight,
Is grown the den of horror and despair.
O Mariamne!--With my setting sun,
Ill fortune now projects a deeper shade:
I wish I were as I had never been;
Number'd among the dead!
(p. 55)
Bid the wretch sleep,
Whose limbs extended on the rack, endure
The utmost stretch of pain: I suffer more!
More, my Pheroras, more! The balm of sleep
Can ne'er refresh these eyes, 'till the pale hand
Of death shall draw their curtains, and exclude
The busy buzzing swarm of stinging thoughts.
My bed, the scene of all my blissful hours,
Of all my tender, chaste, endearing joys,
Which now have wing'd their everlasting flight,
Is grown the den of horror and despair.
O Mariamne!--With my setting sun,
Ill fortune now projects a deeper shade:
I wish I were as I had never been;
Number'd among the dead!
(p. 55)
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
