"The moral duties of the private man / Are grafted in thy soul."
— Murphy, Arthur (1727-1805)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
Printed for P. Vaillant
Publisher
London
Date
1759
Metaphor
"The moral duties of the private man / Are grafted in thy soul."
Metaphor in Context
ZAMTI.
The moral duties of the private man
Are grafted in thy soul--oh! still remember
The mean immutable of happiness,
Or in the vale of life, or on a throne,
Is virtue--each bad action of a king
Extends beyond his life, and acts again
Its tyranny o'er ages yet unborn.
To error mild, severe to guilt, protect
The helpless innocent; and learn to feel
The best delight of serving human kind.
Be these, my prince, thy arts; be these thy cares,
And live the father of a willing people.
(V, pp. 86-7)
The moral duties of the private man
Are grafted in thy soul--oh! still remember
The mean immutable of happiness,
Or in the vale of life, or on a throne,
Is virtue--each bad action of a king
Extends beyond his life, and acts again
Its tyranny o'er ages yet unborn.
To error mild, severe to guilt, protect
The helpless innocent; and learn to feel
The best delight of serving human kind.
Be these, my prince, thy arts; be these thy cares,
And live the father of a willing people.
(V, pp. 86-7)
Categories
Provenance
LION
Citation
First performed April 21, 1759. 10 entries in ESTC (1759, 1761, 1763, 1772, 1787, 1797).
Text from The Orphan of China, A Tragedy, As It Is Perform'd at the Theatre-Royal, in Drury-Lane. (London: Printed for P. Vaillant, 1759).
Text from The Orphan of China, A Tragedy, As It Is Perform'd at the Theatre-Royal, in Drury-Lane. (London: Printed for P. Vaillant, 1759).
Date of Entry
11/18/2013
