"But thou who art not ignorant of my Rivals affairs, tell me, what passes in his Court, in his Soul!"
— Crowne, John (bap. 1641, d. 1712)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by T. Ratcliffe, & N. Thompson, for Richard Bentley [etc.]
Date
August, 1674; 1675
Metaphor
"But thou who art not ignorant of my Rivals affairs, tell me, what passes in his Court, in his Soul!"
Metaphor in Context
OREST.
No more. I love, and I come to seek her I love, Hermione; here, in Epyrus, in this City, in this Palace, in the very arms of Pyrrhus, and I will snatch her hence, or die in her sight.--But thou who art not ignorant of my Rivals affairs, tell me, what passes in his Court, in his Soul! Will he resolve to retain my Hermione? or fairly resign to me the heart he ravished from me?
PYLAD.
Sir; I should abuse your hopes, should I promise you that. Not, that he payes her any such great regard, he offers devotion now at other Altars; the fair Andromache, Hector's widow commands his Soul; but governs it with such severity, that her beauty revenges your quarrel, and requites his passion with hate as great as that Hermione paid to yours; and provokes the proud Pyrrhus to such excess of rage, that every day he attempts either to make her embrace his Love, or dread his Power. He threatens the life of her Infant-Son, and makes him responsible for his mothers disdain: And when he finds that even this cannot subdue her invincible mind, then in revenge he returns to the first obedience he vowed to Hermione, falls at her feet, and payes her dissembled homage, sighs, less with Love than Fury; And in short, I cannot say what a heart so little master of it self, in so great disorder will not dare to do. He may, Sir, perhaps in this extremity marry what he hates, destroy what he adores.
No more. I love, and I come to seek her I love, Hermione; here, in Epyrus, in this City, in this Palace, in the very arms of Pyrrhus, and I will snatch her hence, or die in her sight.--But thou who art not ignorant of my Rivals affairs, tell me, what passes in his Court, in his Soul! Will he resolve to retain my Hermione? or fairly resign to me the heart he ravished from me?
PYLAD.
Sir; I should abuse your hopes, should I promise you that. Not, that he payes her any such great regard, he offers devotion now at other Altars; the fair Andromache, Hector's widow commands his Soul; but governs it with such severity, that her beauty revenges your quarrel, and requites his passion with hate as great as that Hermione paid to yours; and provokes the proud Pyrrhus to such excess of rage, that every day he attempts either to make her embrace his Love, or dread his Power. He threatens the life of her Infant-Son, and makes him responsible for his mothers disdain: And when he finds that even this cannot subdue her invincible mind, then in revenge he returns to the first obedience he vowed to Hermione, falls at her feet, and payes her dissembled homage, sighs, less with Love than Fury; And in short, I cannot say what a heart so little master of it self, in so great disorder will not dare to do. He may, Sir, perhaps in this extremity marry what he hates, destroy what he adores.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "court" and "soul" in HDIS (Drama)
Citation
John Crowne, Andromache. A Tragedy. As it is acted at the Dukes Theatre (London: T. Ratcliffe and N. Thompson, 1675). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
11/10/2004
Date of Review
01/20/2009
