"Cou'd Reason's Force / Tear the unlicens'd Image from my Heart, / Or, patient, leave to Time, th'unhasten'd Means, / To bless my fierce Desires; Who knows what Chance, / Or Death, or Thought, or Woman's changeful Will, / Or my own conquer'd Wishes, may produce."
— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for L. Gilliver
Date
1731
Metaphor
"Cou'd Reason's Force / Tear the unlicens'd Image from my Heart, / Or, patient, leave to Time, th'unhasten'd Means, / To bless my fierce Desires; Who knows what Chance, / Or Death, or Thought, or Woman's changeful Will, / Or my own conquer'd Wishes, may produce."
Metaphor in Context
Athelwold
By my own Wishes, and, then, punish him,
When I can see, unmov'd, those Eyes which charm'd him.
How shall I act? at once, to shield my Fame,
And satisfy my Love.--Cou'd Reason's Force
Tear the unlicens'd Image from my Heart,
Or, patient, leave to Time, th'unhasten'd Means,
To bless my fierce Desires; Who knows what Chance,
Or Death, or Thought, or Woman's changeful Will,
Or my own conquer'd Wishes, may produce.
--Kings should, however injur'd, do no Wrong:
They cannot err alone, since what They act,
They authorize in others.--Let me, then,
Extinguish low Desires, lest, at my Flame,
I light a Nation's Wishes.--I will strive
To check this rising Passion; and forget
That she who charms me thus is in my Power,
Till I can bend that Pow'r, to Reason's Rule.
--They come!--I will avoid them,--and reflect
What Measures to resolve on.
(pp. 66-7)
By my own Wishes, and, then, punish him,
When I can see, unmov'd, those Eyes which charm'd him.
How shall I act? at once, to shield my Fame,
And satisfy my Love.--Cou'd Reason's Force
Tear the unlicens'd Image from my Heart,
Or, patient, leave to Time, th'unhasten'd Means,
To bless my fierce Desires; Who knows what Chance,
Or Death, or Thought, or Woman's changeful Will,
Or my own conquer'd Wishes, may produce.
--Kings should, however injur'd, do no Wrong:
They cannot err alone, since what They act,
They authorize in others.--Let me, then,
Extinguish low Desires, lest, at my Flame,
I light a Nation's Wishes.--I will strive
To check this rising Passion; and forget
That she who charms me thus is in my Power,
Till I can bend that Pow'r, to Reason's Rule.
--They come!--I will avoid them,--and reflect
What Measures to resolve on.
(pp. 66-7)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
3 entries in the ESTC (1731, 1732, 1760).
Athelwold: a Tragedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, by His Majesty's Servants. (London: Printed for L. Gilliver, 1731.) <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Athelwold: a Tragedy. As it is Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, by His Majesty's Servants. (London: Printed for L. Gilliver, 1731.) <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/21/2013
