"Alone in so dismal a place, her mind imprinted with all the terrible events of the day, hopeless of escaping, expecting every moment the arrival of Manfred, and far from tranquil on knowing she was within reach of somebody, she knew not whom, who for some cause seemed concealed thereabouts, all these thoughts crowded on her distracted mind, and she was ready to sink under her apprehensions."

— Walpole, Horatio [Horace], fourth earl of Orford (1717-1797)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Tho. Lownds in Fleet-Street
Date
1765 [1764]
Metaphor
"Alone in so dismal a place, her mind imprinted with all the terrible events of the day, hopeless of escaping, expecting every moment the arrival of Manfred, and far from tranquil on knowing she was within reach of somebody, she knew not whom, who for some cause seemed concealed thereabouts, all these thoughts crowded on her distracted mind, and she was ready to sink under her apprehensions."
Metaphor in Context
Words cannot paint the horror of the princess's situation. Alone in so dismal a place, her mind imprinted with all the terrible events of the day, hopeless of escaping, expecting every moment the arrival of Manfred, and far from tranquil on knowing she was within reach of somebody, she knew not whom, who for some cause seemed concealed thereabouts, all these thoughts crowded on her distracted mind, and she was ready to sink under her apprehensions. She addressed herself to every saint in heaven, and inwardly implored their assistance. For a considerable time she remained in an agony of despair.
(p. 26)
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Twenty entries in the ESTC (1764, 1765, 1766, 1769, 1770, 1781, 1782, 1786, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1797, 1800).

Second edition of 1765 subtitled "A Gothic Story." Third edition in 1766; sixth edition by Dodsley in 1791. Several new editions in 1790s. See first edition: The Castle of Otranto, a Story. Translated by William Marshal, Gent. from the original Italian of Onuphrio Muralto (London: Tho. Lownds, 1764). <Link to ECCO>

Reading Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story. World's Classics Paperback, ed. W. S. Lewis (Oxford and New York: Oxford UP, 1982).
Date of Entry
09/14/2009

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