The "pure flame" of virtue is planted "by an unerring rule" and glows in the heart
— Burney [married name D'Arblay], Frances (1752-1840)
Work Title
Date
1778
Metaphor
The "pure flame" of virtue is planted "by an unerring rule" and glows in the heart
Metaphor in Context
Oh author of my being!--far more dear
To me than light, than nourishment, or rest,
Hygeia's blessings, Rapture's burning tear,
Or the life-blood that mantles in my breast!
If in my heart the love of Virtue glows,
'Twas planted there by an unerring rule;
From thy example the pure flame arose,
Thy life, my precept--thy good works, my school.
(ll. 1-8, p. 356)
To me than light, than nourishment, or rest,
Hygeia's blessings, Rapture's burning tear,
Or the life-blood that mantles in my breast!
If in my heart the love of Virtue glows,
'Twas planted there by an unerring rule;
From thy example the pure flame arose,
Thy life, my precept--thy good works, my school.
(ll. 1-8, p. 356)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Lonsdale, R. Ed. Eighteenth Century Women Poets. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Date of Entry
07/28/2003
Date of Review
10/13/2004
