"I might, indeed, turn pale, for I was very much surpriz'd at first, believing that this was, as it often happens in such Cases, only a Project to drop me, and break off an Amour, which he had now carried on so long; and a thousand Thoughts whirl'd about my Head in the few Moments while I was kept in suspence; (for they were but a few) I say, I was indeed, surpriz'd, and might, perhaps, look pale; but I was not in any Danger of Fainting, that I knew of."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Warner
Date
1724
Metaphor
"I might, indeed, turn pale, for I was very much surpriz'd at first, believing that this was, as it often happens in such Cases, only a Project to drop me, and break off an Amour, which he had now carried on so long; and a thousand Thoughts whirl'd about my Head in the few Moments while I was kept in suspence; (for they were but a few) I say, I was indeed, surpriz'd, and might, perhaps, look pale; but I was not in any Danger of Fainting, that I knew of."
Metaphor in Context
I might, indeed, turn pale, for I was very much surpriz'd at first, believing that this was, as it often happens in such Cases, only a Project to drop me, and break off an Amour, which he had now carried on so long; and a thousand Thoughts whirl'd about my Head in the few Moments while I was kept in suspence; (for they were but a few) I say, I was indeed, surpriz'd, and might, perhaps, look pale; but I was not in any Danger of Fainting, that I knew of.
(p. 118)
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 15 entries in the ESTC (1724, 1740, 1741, 1742, 1745, 1749, 1750, 1755, 1765, 1774, 1775, ).

See The Fortunate Mistress: Or, A History of the Life and Vast Variety of Fortunes of Mademoiselle de Beleau, afterwards call'd the Countess de Wintselsheim, in Germany. Being the Person known by the Name of the Lady Roxana, in the Time of King Charles II (London: Printed for T. Warner, 1724). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>

Reading Daniel Defoe, Roxana, ed. David Blewett (New York: Penguin Books, 1987).
Date of Entry
07/27/2011

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