"Feeling herself unable to accept this as an explanation, she instantly determined to sail for London by the very first opportunity, that she might thus bring to a termination the suspence that preyed upon her soul."
— Godwin, William (1756-1836)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
J. Johnson
Date
1798
Metaphor
"Feeling herself unable to accept this as an explanation, she instantly determined to sail for London by the very first opportunity, that she might thus bring to a termination the suspence that preyed upon her soul."
Metaphor in Context
Thus softened and improved, thus fraught with imagination and sensibility, with all, and more than all, "that youthful poets fancy, when they love," she returned to England, and, if he had so pleased, to the arms of her former lover. Her return was hastened by the ambiguity, to her apprehension, of Mr. Imlay's conduct. He had promised to meet her upon her return from Norway, probably at Hamburgh; and they were then to pass some time in Switzerland. The style however of his letters to her during her tour, was not such as to inspire confidence; and she wrote to him very urgently, to explain himself, relative to the footing upon which they were hereafter to stand to each other. In his answer, which reached her at Hamburgh, he treated her questions as "extraordinary and unnecessary," and desired her to be at the pains to decide for herself. Feeling herself unable to accept this as an explanation, she instantly determined to sail for London by the very first opportunity, that she might thus bring to a termination the suspence that preyed upon her soul.
(pp. 130-131)
(pp. 130-131)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in ECCO-TCP
Citation
4 entries in the ESTC (1798, 1799). [First edition published in January. Second edition published in August of the same year. Variants included from the "corrected," second edition, are flagged in the text field and included under this same entry.]
See Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: By William Godwin (London: Printed for J. Johnson; and G. G. and J. Robinson, 1798). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO-TCP>
See also Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. By William Godwin. The second edition, corrected. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1798). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Reading Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman eds. Pamela Clemit and Gina Luria Walker (Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview, 2001).
See Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: By William Godwin (London: Printed for J. Johnson; and G. G. and J. Robinson, 1798). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO-TCP>
See also Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. By William Godwin. The second edition, corrected. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1798). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
Reading Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman eds. Pamela Clemit and Gina Luria Walker (Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview, 2001).
Date of Entry
07/12/2014
