"In that dread Moment, how the frantick Soul / Raves round the Walls of her Clay Tenement, / Runs to each Avenue, and shrieks for Help, / But shrieks in vain!"
— Blair, Robert (1699-1746)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for M. Cooper
Date
1743
Metaphor
"In that dread Moment, how the frantick Soul / Raves round the Walls of her Clay Tenement, / Runs to each Avenue, and shrieks for Help, / But shrieks in vain!"
Metaphor in Context
How shocking must thy Summons be, O Death !
To him that is at Ease in his Possessions;
Who counting on long Years of Pleasure here,
Is quite unfurnish'd for that World to come!
In that dread Moment, how the frantick Soul
Raves round the Walls of her Clay Tenement,
Runs to each Avenue, and shrieks for Help,
But shrieks in vain! How wishfully she looks
On all she's leaving, now no longer hers!
A little longer, yet a little longer,
Oh! might she stay, to wash away her Stains,
And fit her for her Passage! Mournful Sight!
Her very Eyes weep Blood; and every Groan
She heaves is big with Horror: But the Foe,
Like a stanch Murth'rer steady to his Purpose,
Pursues her close through ev'ry Lane of Life,
Nor misses once the Track, but presses on;
Till forc'd at last to the tremendous Verge,
At once she sinks to everlasting Ruin.
(pp. 23-4, ll. 350-368)
To him that is at Ease in his Possessions;
Who counting on long Years of Pleasure here,
Is quite unfurnish'd for that World to come!
In that dread Moment, how the frantick Soul
Raves round the Walls of her Clay Tenement,
Runs to each Avenue, and shrieks for Help,
But shrieks in vain! How wishfully she looks
On all she's leaving, now no longer hers!
A little longer, yet a little longer,
Oh! might she stay, to wash away her Stains,
And fit her for her Passage! Mournful Sight!
Her very Eyes weep Blood; and every Groan
She heaves is big with Horror: But the Foe,
Like a stanch Murth'rer steady to his Purpose,
Pursues her close through ev'ry Lane of Life,
Nor misses once the Track, but presses on;
Till forc'd at last to the tremendous Verge,
At once she sinks to everlasting Ruin.
(pp. 23-4, ll. 350-368)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Over 100 entries in ESTC (1743, 1747, 1749, 1751, 1753, 1756, 1785, 1761, 1764, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, 1773, 1774, 1776, 1777, 1779, 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800). Reprinted with great frequency after 1789.
Text from The Grave. A Poem. 4th ed. (London: Printed and Sold by J. Waugh, 1753).
See also The Grave. A Poem. By Robert Blair. (London: Printed for M. Cooper, 1743). <Link to ESTC><Link to 2nd edition in Google Books>
Text from The Grave. A Poem. 4th ed. (London: Printed and Sold by J. Waugh, 1753).
See also The Grave. A Poem. By Robert Blair. (London: Printed for M. Cooper, 1743). <Link to ESTC><Link to 2nd edition in Google Books>
Date of Entry
10/03/2013
