"Here walk'd a Fellow with a long white Rod on his Shoulder, that's asham'd to cry his Trade, though he gets his Living by it; another bawling out TODD's Four Volumes in Print, which a Man in Reading of, wou'd wonder that so much Venom should not tear him to pieces, but that some of the ancient Moralists have observed, that the Rankest Poyson may be kept in an Asses Hoof, or a Fool's Bosom."

— Brown, Thomas (bap. 1663, d. 1704)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for John Nutt
Date
1700
Metaphor
"Here walk'd a Fellow with a long white Rod on his Shoulder, that's asham'd to cry his Trade, though he gets his Living by it; another bawling out TODD's Four Volumes in Print, which a Man in Reading of, wou'd wonder that so much Venom should not tear him to pieces, but that some of the ancient Moralists have observed, that the Rankest Poyson may be kept in an Asses Hoof, or a Fool's Bosom."
Metaphor in Context
Here walk'd a Fellow with a long white Rod on his Shoulder, that's asham'd to cry his Trade, though he gets his Living by it; another bawling out TODD's Four Volumes in Print, which a Man in Reading of, wou'd wonder that so much Venom should not tear him to pieces, but that some of the ancient Moralists have observed, that the Rankest Poyson may be kept in an Asses Hoof, or a Fool's Bosom. Some say, the first Word he spoke was Rascal, and that if he lives to have Children, they will all speak the same Dialect, and have a Natural Antipathy to Eggs, because their Father was palted with hundreds of them, when he was dignified on the Pillory.
(pp. 110-1)
Provenance
C-H Lion
Citation
Amusements Serious and Comical, Calculated for the Meridian of London. By Mr. Brown (London: Printed for John Nutt, 1700).<2nd ed. in ECCO><Collected in 3rd vol. of Brown's Works in Google Books>
Date of Entry
07/11/2013

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