"Man, the deceiver, veils his cruel art, / And skreens himself within th' attempted heart; / There, to ungen'rous empire, climbs, e'er long, / Help'd by the confidence he means to wrong."

— Hill, Aaron (1685-1750)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for the Benefit of the Family
Date
1734, 1753
Metaphor
"Man, the deceiver, veils his cruel art, / And skreens himself within th' attempted heart; / There, to ungen'rous empire, climbs, e'er long, / Help'd by the confidence he means to wrong."
Metaphor in Context
When love's taught dangers animate the stage,
Let the soft scenes your hearts, ye fair! engage:
Let each bright list'ner mark the wiles, we show,
And catch dumb caution, from the pictur'd woe,
Guiltless of farce, to night, the meaning player
Courts not your laughter, but alarms your care.

Man, the deceiver, veils his cruel art,
And skreens himself within th' attempted heart;
There, to ungen'rous empire, climbs, e'er long,
Help'd by the confidence he means to wrong
:
This to detect, we act his falshood o'er,
And the deluder known, betrays no more. (vol. 4, p. 38)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "empire" in HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
Prologue from William Popple's The Lady's Revenge: or, The Rover Reclaim'd. A Comedy. (London: Printed for J. Brindley, 1734). <Link to ECCO>

Text from The Works of the Late Aaron Hill. In Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, And of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious. With An Essay on the Art of Acting (London: Printed for the Benefit of the Family, 1753). <Link to Vol. 4 in Google Books>
Date of Entry
08/22/2004

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