"The passions join the fierce invading host; / And I and virtue are o'erwhelm'd and lost-- / Passions that in a martingale should move; / Wild horses loosen'd by the hands of Love."

— Wolcot, John, pseud. Peter Pindar, (1738-1819)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
G. Kearsley
Date
1790
Metaphor
"The passions join the fierce invading host; / And I and virtue are o'erwhelm'd and lost-- / Passions that in a martingale should move; / Wild horses loosen'd by the hands of Love."
Metaphor in Context
But let me not thus pond'ring, gaping, stand--
But, lo, I am not at my own command:
Bed, bosom, kiss, embraces, storm my brains,
And, lawless tyrants, bind my will in chains.
O lovely lass! too pow'rful are thy charms,
And fascination dwells within thy arms.

The passions join the fierce invading host;
And I and virtue are o'erwhelm'd and lost--
Passions that in a martingale should move;
Wild horses loosen'd by the hands of Love
.

I'm off--alas! unworthy to be seen--
The bard, and Virtue a poor captive queen!
O Lais, should our deeds to sins amount,
Just Heav'n will place them all to thy account.
(pp. 42-3)
Provenance
Searching HDIS (Poetry)
Citation
At least 7 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1790, 1792, 1794, 1795).

See A Rowland for an Oliver; or a Poetical Answer to the Benevolent Epistle of Mr. Peter Pindar. Also the Manuscript Odes, Songs, Letters, &C. &C. of the Above Mr. Peter Pindar, Now First Published by Sylvanus Urban. (London: G. Kearsley, 1790). <Link to ECCO>

Text from The Works of Peter Pindar, 4 vols. (London: Printed for Walker and Edwards, 1816).
Date of Entry
07/05/2012

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