"For oh, if this weak heart of mine had been penetrated with too deep an impression of his merit,--my peace and happiness had been lost for ever!"

— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Lowndes
Date
1778, 1779
Metaphor
"For oh, if this weak heart of mine had been penetrated with too deep an impression of his merit,--my peace and happiness had been lost for ever!"
Metaphor in Context
Yet perhaps I have rather reason to rejoice than to grieve, since this affair has shewn me his real disposition, and removed that partiality, which, covering his every imperfection, left only his virtues and good qualities exposed to view. Had the deception continued much longer, had my mind received any additional prejudice in his favour, who knows whither my mistaken ideas might have led me? Indeed I fear I was in greater danger than I apprehended, or can now think of without trembling,--for oh, if this weak heart of mine had been penetrated with too deep an impression of his merit,--my peace and happiness had been lost for ever!
(II, p. 75)
Provenance
Searching in ECCO-TCP
Citation
23 entries in ESTC (1778, 1780, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1788, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1796, 1797, 1800).

See Evelina, or, a Young Lady's Entrance into the World (London: Printed for T. Lowndes, 1778). <Link to LION>

Text also drawn from Evelina: or, a Young Lady's Entrance into the World. (Dublin: Printed for Messrs. Price, Corcoran, R. Cross, Fitzsimons, W. Whitestone [etc.], 1779). <Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Vol. II>

Reading Evelina, or the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World, ed. Margaret Doody (New York: Penguin, 1994). Note, Doody uses the third edition, published in 1779, as her copy-text.
Date of Entry
07/23/2014

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.