"The Gods that unrelenting Breast have steel'd, / And curs'd thee with a Mind that cannot yield."
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by W. Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott
Date
1715-1720
Metaphor
"The Gods that unrelenting Breast have steel'd, / And curs'd thee with a Mind that cannot yield."
Metaphor in Context
Hence, let us go--why waste we Time in vain?
See what Effect our low Submissions gain!
Lik'd or not lik'd, his Words we must relate,
The Greeks expect them, and our Heroes wait.
Proud as he is, that Iron-heart retains
Its stubborn Purpose, and his Friends disdains.
Stern, and unpitying! if a Brother bleed,
On just Attonement, we remit the Deed;
A Sire the Slaughter of his Son forgives;
The Price of Blood discharg'd, the Murd'rer lives:
The haughtiest Hearts at length their Rage resign,
And Gifts can conquer ev'ry Soul but thine.
The Gods that unrelenting Breast have steel'd,
And curs'd thee with a Mind that cannot yield.
One Woman-Slave was ravish'd from thy Arms:
Lo, sev'n are offer'd, and of equal Charms.
Then hear, Achilles! be of better Mind;
Revere thy Roof, and to thy Guests be kind;
And know the Men, of all the Grecian Host,
Who honour Worth, and prize thy Valour most.
(III.ix, pp. 37-8, ll. 742-761)
See what Effect our low Submissions gain!
Lik'd or not lik'd, his Words we must relate,
The Greeks expect them, and our Heroes wait.
Proud as he is, that Iron-heart retains
Its stubborn Purpose, and his Friends disdains.
Stern, and unpitying! if a Brother bleed,
On just Attonement, we remit the Deed;
A Sire the Slaughter of his Son forgives;
The Price of Blood discharg'd, the Murd'rer lives:
The haughtiest Hearts at length their Rage resign,
And Gifts can conquer ev'ry Soul but thine.
The Gods that unrelenting Breast have steel'd,
And curs'd thee with a Mind that cannot yield.
One Woman-Slave was ravish'd from thy Arms:
Lo, sev'n are offer'd, and of equal Charms.
Then hear, Achilles! be of better Mind;
Revere thy Roof, and to thy Guests be kind;
And know the Men, of all the Grecian Host,
Who honour Worth, and prize thy Valour most.
(III.ix, pp. 37-8, ll. 742-761)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "steel" in HDIS (Poetry); found again "breast"; found again in ECCO-TCP.
Citation
17 entries in ESTC (1715, 1718, 1720, 1721, 1729, 1732, 1736, 1738, 1754, 1767, 1770, 1790, 1791, 1796). Vol. 2 is dated 1716; vol. 3, 1717; vol. 4, 1718; vols. 5 and 6, 1720.
See The Iliad of Homer, Translated by Mr. Pope, 6 vols. (London: Printed by W. Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott, 1715-1720). <Link to ESTC><Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Vol. II><Vol. III><Vol. IV><Vol. V><Vol. VI>
See The Iliad of Homer, Translated by Mr. Pope, 6 vols. (London: Printed by W. Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott, 1715-1720). <Link to ESTC><Link to Vol. I in ECCO-TCP><Vol. II><Vol. III><Vol. IV><Vol. V><Vol. VI>
Date of Entry
06/09/2005
