"Let this pervade at length thy heart of steel; / Yet, yet return, nor blush, Oh man! to feel."

— Jerningham, Edward (1727-1812)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Dodsley
Date
1766, 1806
Metaphor
"Let this pervade at length thy heart of steel; / Yet, yet return, nor blush, Oh man! to feel."
Metaphor in Context
With blood illustrious circling thro' these veins,
Which ne'er was chequer'd with plebeian stains,
Thro' ancestry's long line ennobled springs,
From fame-crown'd warriors and exalted kings:
Must I the shafts of infamy sustain?
To slav'ry's purposes my infant train?
To catch the glances of his haughty lord?
Attend obedient at the festive board?
From hands unscepter'd take the scornful blow?
Uproot the thoughts of glory as they grow?
Let this pervade at length thy heart of steel;
Yet, yet return, nor blush, Oh man! to feel:

Ah! guide thy steps from yon expecting fleet,
Thine injur'd YARICO relenting meet:
Bid her recline woe-stricken on thy breast,
And hush her raging sorrows into rest:
Ah! let the youth that sent the cruel dart,
Extract the point invenom'd from her heart:
The peace he banish'd from this mind recall,
And bid the tears he prompted cease to fall.
Then while the stream of life is giv'n to flow,
And sable hue o'erspread this youthful brow;
Or curl untaught by art this woolly hair,
So long, so long to me shalt thou be dear.
(pp. 82-3, cf. pp. 14-15 in 1766 ed.)
Provenance
Searching "heart" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry); found again ECCO-TCP. Confirmed in ECCO.
Citation
At least 7 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1766, 1767, 1774, 1776, 1778, 1786, 1796).

Yarico to Inkle, An Epistle. By the Author of the Elegy Written Among the Ruins of an Abbey. (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, 1766). <Link to ESTC>

Text from Poems on Various Subjects: Viz. the Nunnery, the Magdalens, the Nun, Ruins of an Abbey, Yarico to Inkle, Il Latte, Fugitive Pieces. By Mr. Jerningham. (London: Printed for J. Robson, 1767). <Link to ECCO-TCP>

Originally searching in Poems and Plays, by Mr. Jerningham. 4 vols. 9th Edition. (London: Printed by Luke Hansard for Nornaville and Fell, 1806).
Date of Entry
06/10/2005

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