"Why did I not / Repent, while yet my Crimes were decibel! / Ere they had struck their Colours thro' my Soul, / As black as Night or Hell!"
— Brown, John (1715-1766)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper
Date
1755
Metaphor
"Why did I not / Repent, while yet my Crimes were decibel! / Ere they had struck their Colours thro' my Soul, / As black as Night or Hell!"
Metaphor in Context
BARBAROSSA.
Her Words are wrapt in Darkness.--ALADIN,
Forthwith send ACHMET hither.--Mark him well.--
His Countenance and Gesture.--Then with speed,
Double the Centinels.
[Exit ALADIN.
Infernal Guilt!
How dost thou rise in ev'ry hideous Shape,
Of Rage and Doubt, Suspicion and Despair,
To rend my Soul! more wretched far than they,
Made wretched by my Crimes!--Why did I not
Repent, while yet my Crimes were delible!
Ere they had struck their Colours thro' my Soul,
As black as Night or Hell!--'Tis now too late!--
Hence then, ye vain Repinings!--Take me all,
Unfeeling Guilt! O banish, if thou canst,
This fell Remorse, and ev'ry fruitless Fear!
Be this my Glory,--to be great in Evil!
To combat my own Heart, and, scorning Conscience,
Rise to exalted Crimes!
(pp. 56-7)
Her Words are wrapt in Darkness.--ALADIN,
Forthwith send ACHMET hither.--Mark him well.--
His Countenance and Gesture.--Then with speed,
Double the Centinels.
[Exit ALADIN.
Infernal Guilt!
How dost thou rise in ev'ry hideous Shape,
Of Rage and Doubt, Suspicion and Despair,
To rend my Soul! more wretched far than they,
Made wretched by my Crimes!--Why did I not
Repent, while yet my Crimes were delible!
Ere they had struck their Colours thro' my Soul,
As black as Night or Hell!--'Tis now too late!--
Hence then, ye vain Repinings!--Take me all,
Unfeeling Guilt! O banish, if thou canst,
This fell Remorse, and ev'ry fruitless Fear!
Be this my Glory,--to be great in Evil!
To combat my own Heart, and, scorning Conscience,
Rise to exalted Crimes!
(pp. 56-7)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
At least 23 entries in ESTC (1755, 1756, 1757, 1760, 1762, 1770, 1771, 1774, 1777, 1788, 1790, 1791, 1794, 1795).
See Barbarossa: A Tragedy. As It Is Perform'd at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. (London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, 1755). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
See Barbarossa: A Tragedy. As It Is Perform'd at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane. (London: Printed for J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper, 1755). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
03/12/2014
