"The same turn of mind which leads me to adore the Author of all Perfection--which leads me to conclude that he only can fill my soul; forces me to admire the faint image--the shadows of his attributes here below; and my imagination gives still bolder strokes to them."

— Wollstonecraft, Mary (1759-1797)


Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Johnson
Date
1788
Metaphor
"The same turn of mind which leads me to adore the Author of all Perfection--which leads me to conclude that he only can fill my soul; forces me to admire the faint image--the shadows of his attributes here below; and my imagination gives still bolder strokes to them."
Metaphor in Context
"Dear enthusiastic creature," whispered Henry, "how you steal into my soul." She still continued. "The same turn of mind which leads me to adore the Author of all Perfection--which leads me to conclude that he only can fill my soul; forces me to admire the faint image--the shadows of his attributes here below; and my imagination gives still bolder strokes to them. I know I am in some degree under the influence of a delusion--but does not this strong delusion prove that I myself 'am of subtiler essence than the trodden clod:' these flights of the imagination point to futurity; I cannot banish them. Every cause in nature produces an effect; and am I an exception to the general rule? have I desires implanted in me only to make me miserable? will they never be gratified? shall I never be happy? My feelings do not accord with the notion of solitary happiness. In a state of bliss, it will be the society of beings we can love, without the alloy that earthly infirmities mix with our best affections, that will constitute great part of our happiness.
(pp. 108-9)
Provenance
Searching in HDIS
Citation
Only one entry in ESTC (1788).

See Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary, A Fiction (Printed for J. Johnson, 1788). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
03/23/2013

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