"Against ev'ry virtue the bosom to steel, / And only of dress the anxieties feel"

— Murphy, Arthur (1727-1805)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for P. Vaillant [etc.]
Date
1764
Metaphor
"Against ev'ry virtue the bosom to steel, / And only of dress the anxieties feel"
Metaphor in Context
I.
To dance, and to dress, and to flaunt it about,
To run to Park, play, to assembly and rout,
To wander for ever in whim's giddy maze,
And one poor hair torture a million of ways,
To put, at the glass, ev'ry feature to school,
And practise their art on each fop and each fool,
Of one thing to think, and another to tell,
These, these are the manners of each giddy belle.

2.

To smile, and to simper, white teeth to display;
The time in gay follies to trifle away;
Against ev'ry virtue the bosom to steel,
And only of dress the anxieties feel;

To be at Eve's ear, the insidious decoy,
The pleasure ne'er taste yet the mischief enjoy,
To boast of soft raptures they never can know,
These, these are the manners of each giddy beau.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "steel" in HDIS (Drama)
Date of Entry
06/13/2005

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