"I wou'd ha' rent / With my just hands that Rock, that Marble heart; / I wou'd have div'd through Seas of bloud to find it, / To tear the cruel Quarry from its Center."

— Lee, Nathaniel (1653-1692)


Date
1677
Metaphor
"I wou'd ha' rent / With my just hands that Rock, that Marble heart; / I wou'd have div'd through Seas of bloud to find it, / To tear the cruel Quarry from its Center."
Metaphor in Context
ALEX
O thou vile creature! bear thee from my sight,
And thank Statira that thou art alive:
Else thou hadst perish'd; yes, I wou'd ha' rent
With my just hands that Rock, that Marble heart;
I wou'd have div'd through Seas of bloud to find it,
To tear the cruel Quarry from its Center.

(V, ll. 196-201)
Provenance
Text sent by John Richetti to the C18 Listserv
Date of Entry
10/10/2006

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