"I should love you, I should doat on you! my bosom would become the prey of desires, which honour and my profession forbid me to gratify."
— Lewis, Matthew Gregory (1775-1818)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Bell
Date
1796
Metaphor
"I should love you, I should doat on you! my bosom would become the prey of desires, which honour and my profession forbid me to gratify."
Metaphor in Context
"I will not compel you to quit the monastery; you have received my solemn oath to the contrary: but yet, when I throw myself upon your generosity; when I declare to you the embarrassments in which your presence involves me, will you not release me from that oath? Reflect upon the danger of a discovery; upon the opprobrium in which such an event would plunge me: reflect, that my honour and reputation are at stake; and that my peace of mind depends on your compliance. As yet, my heart is free; I shall separate from you with regret, but not with despair. Stay here, and a few weeks will sacrifice my happiness on the altar of your charms; you are but too interesting, too amiable! I should love you, I should doat on you! my bosom would become the prey of desires, which honour and my profession forbid me to gratify. If I resisted them, the impetuosity of my wishes unsatisfied would drive me to madness: if I yielded to the temptation, I should sacrifice to one moment of guilty pleasure, my reputation in this world, my salvation in the next. To you, then, I sly for defence against myself. Preserve me from losing the reward of thirty years of sufferings! preserve me from becoming the victim of remorse! Your heart has already felt the anguish of hopeless love: oh! then, if you really value me, spare mine that anguish! give me back my promise; fly from these walls. Go, and you bear with you my warmest prayers for your happiness, my friendship, my esteem, and admiration: stay, and you become to me the source of danger, of sufferings, of despair. Answer me, Matilda, what is your resolve?" She was silent.--"Will you not speak, Matilda? Will you not name your choice?"
(I, pp. 122-3)
(I, pp. 122-3)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
12 entries in ESTC (1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800).
See The Monk: A Romance. In Three Volumes. (London: Printed for J. Bell, 1796). <Link to ESTC><Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Vol. II><Vol. III>
Pre-published as The Monk: A Romance. In Three Volumes. (London: Printed for J. Bell, 1795). <Link to ESTC>
See also the substantially revised fourth edition: Ambrosio, or the monk: a romance. By M.G. Lewis, Esq. M.P. In three volumes. The fourth edition, with considerable additions and alterations. (London: Printed for J. Bell, 1798). <Link to ESTC>
See The Monk: A Romance. In Three Volumes. (London: Printed for J. Bell, 1796). <Link to ESTC><Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Vol. II><Vol. III>
Pre-published as The Monk: A Romance. In Three Volumes. (London: Printed for J. Bell, 1795). <Link to ESTC>
See also the substantially revised fourth edition: Ambrosio, or the monk: a romance. By M.G. Lewis, Esq. M.P. In three volumes. The fourth edition, with considerable additions and alterations. (London: Printed for J. Bell, 1798). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
03/11/2014
