"Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith / To hold opinion with Pythagoras / That souls of animals infuse themselves / Into the trunks of men."
— Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)
Date
1600
Metaphor
"Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith / To hold opinion with Pythagoras / That souls of animals infuse themselves / Into the trunks of men."
Metaphor in Context
GRAZIANO
O, be thou damned, inexorable dog,
And for thy life let justice be accused!
Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith
To hold opinion with Pythagoras
That souls of animals infuse themselves
Into the trunks of men. Thy currish spirit
Governed a wolf who, hanged for human slaughter,
Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet,
And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallowed dam,
Infused itself in thee; for thy desires
Are wolvish, bloody, starved, and ravenous.
(IV.i.132-7)
O, be thou damned, inexorable dog,
And for thy life let justice be accused!
Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith
To hold opinion with Pythagoras
That souls of animals infuse themselves
Into the trunks of men. Thy currish spirit
Governed a wolf who, hanged for human slaughter,
Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet,
And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallowed dam,
Infused itself in thee; for thy desires
Are wolvish, bloody, starved, and ravenous.
(IV.i.132-7)
Categories
Provenance
HDIS (Drama)
Citation
Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works. Oxford Shakespeare. Electronic Edition for the IBM PC. Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, Editor.
Date of Entry
08/11/2003
