"But my Weakness of Body made me move so slowly, that it gave Time for a little Reflection, a Ray of Grace, to dart in upon my benighted Mind; and so, when I came to the Pond-side, I sat myself down on the sloping Bank, and began to ponder my wretched Condition: And thus I reason'd with myself."

— Richardson, Samuel (bap. 1689, d. 1761)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for C. Rivington and J. Osborn
Date
1741 [1740]; continued in 1741
Metaphor
"But my Weakness of Body made me move so slowly, that it gave Time for a little Reflection, a Ray of Grace, to dart in upon my benighted Mind; and so, when I came to the Pond-side, I sat myself down on the sloping Bank, and began to ponder my wretched Condition: And thus I reason'd with myself."
Metaphor in Context
It was well for me, as I have since thought, that I was so maim'd, as made me the longer before I got to the Water; for this gave me some Reflection, and abated that Liveliness of my Passions, which possibly might otherwise have hurry'd me, in my first Transport of Grief, (on my seeing no way to escape, and the hard Usage I had Reason to expect from my dreadful Keepers) to throw myself in without Consideration; but my Weakness of Body made me move so slowly, that it gave Time for a little Reflection, a Ray of Grace, to dart in upon my benighted Mind; and so, when I came to the Pond-side, I sat myself down on the sloping Bank, and began to ponder my wretched Condition: And thus I reason'd with myself.
Provenance
HDIS (Prose)
Citation
Over 53 entries in ESTC (1740, 1741, 1742, 1743, 1746, 1754, 1762, 1767, 1771, 1772, 1775, 1776, 1785, 1792, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799). [Richardson published third and fourth volumes in 1741.]

First edition published in two volumes on 6 November, 1740--dated 1741 on the title page. Volumes 3 and 4 were published in December 7, 1741 (this sequel is sometimes called Pamela in her Exalted Condition).

See Samuel Richardson, Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded. In a Series of Familiar Letters from a Beautiful Young Damsel, to Her Parents: Now First Published in Order to Cultivate the Principles of Virtue and Religion in the Minds of the Youth of Both Sexes. A Narrative Which Has Its Foundation in Truth and Nature: and at the Same Time That It Agreeably Entertains, by a Variety of Curious and Affecting Incidents, Is Intirely Divested of All Those Images, Which, in Too Many Pieces Calculated for Amusement Only, Tend to Inflame the Minds They Should Instruct (London: C. Rivington and J. Robinson, 1740). [Title page says 1741] <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO><Link to first vol. of 3rd edition in ECCO-TCP>

See also Pamela: or, Virtue Rewarded. in a Series of Familiar Letters from a Beautiful Young Damsel to Her Parents: and Afterwards, in Her Exalted Condition, Between Her, and Persons of Figure and Quality, Upon the Most Important and Entertaining Subjects, in Genteel Life. the Third and Fourth Volumes. Publish’d in Order to Cultivate the Principles of Virtue and Religion in the Minds of the Youth of Both Sexes. by the Editor of the Two First. (London: Printed for S. Richardson: and sold by C. Rivington, in St. Paul’s Church-Yard; and J. Osborn, in Pater-Noster Row, [1742] [1741]). <Link to ESTC>

All searching was originally done in Chadwyck Healey's eighteenth-century prose fiction database through Stanford's HDIS interface. Chadwyck-Healey contains electronic texts of the original editions (1740-1741) and the 6th edition (1742).
Date of Entry
01/25/2004

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