"This is the true nature of the human mind; the greater evil always swallowing up the lesser, as the rod of Moses did the other serpents."
— Griffith, Elizabeth (1720-1793)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Cadell
Date
1775
Metaphor
"This is the true nature of the human mind; the greater evil always swallowing up the lesser, as the rod of Moses did the other serpents."
Metaphor in Context
Upon Kent's still continuing his entreaty, he still refuses to comply, but reasons with him thus:
Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious storm
Invades us to the skin--So 'tis to thee--
But where the greater malady is fixt,
The lesser is scarce felt--Thou'dst shun a bear;
But if thy flight lay toward the roaring sea,
Thou'dst meet the bear i' th' mouth. When the mind's free,
The body's delicate--The tempest in my mind
Doth from my senses take all feeling else,
Save what beats there
This is the true nature of the human mind; the greater evil always swallowing up the lesser, as the rod of Moses did the other serpents. And in great calamities I do not know but it might, perhaps, be an advantage to have some other ills of an inferior nature to combat with, at the same time; for, as Lear says, just after, as his reason for refusing to take shelter,
This tempest will not give me leave to ponder,
On things would hurt me more.
(p. 363)
Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious storm
Invades us to the skin--So 'tis to thee--
But where the greater malady is fixt,
The lesser is scarce felt--Thou'dst shun a bear;
But if thy flight lay toward the roaring sea,
Thou'dst meet the bear i' th' mouth. When the mind's free,
The body's delicate--The tempest in my mind
Doth from my senses take all feeling else,
Save what beats there
This is the true nature of the human mind; the greater evil always swallowing up the lesser, as the rod of Moses did the other serpents. And in great calamities I do not know but it might, perhaps, be an advantage to have some other ills of an inferior nature to combat with, at the same time; for, as Lear says, just after, as his reason for refusing to take shelter,
This tempest will not give me leave to ponder,
On things would hurt me more.
(p. 363)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in ECCO-TCP
Citation
3 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1775, 1777).
Text from The Morality of Shakespeare's Drama Illustrated: By Mrs. Griffith. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1775). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Text from The Morality of Shakespeare's Drama Illustrated: By Mrs. Griffith. (London: Printed for T. Cadell, 1775). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
11/15/2013
