"Then I began to revolve the consequences, which the mist of passion had hitherto concealed"

— Brown, Charles Brockden (1771-1810)


Place of Publication
Philadelphia
Publisher
Hugh Maxwell
Date
1799
Metaphor
"Then I began to revolve the consequences, which the mist of passion had hitherto concealed"
Metaphor in Context
Then I began to revolve the consequences, which the mist of passion had hitherto concealed. I was tormented by the pangs of remorse, and pursued by the phantom of ingratitude. To complete my despair, this unfortunate lady was apprized of my marriage with another woman; a circumstance which I had anxiously concealed from her. She fled from her father's house at a time when her husband and brother were hourly expected. What became of her I knew not. She left behind her a letter to her father, in which the melancholy truth was told.

Shame and remorse had no power over my life. To elude the storm of invective and upbraiding; to quiet the uproar of my mind, I did not betake myself to voluntary death. My pusillanimity still clung to this wretched existence. I abruptly retired from the scene, and, repairing to the port, embarked in the first vessel which appeared. The ship chanced to belong to Wilmington, in Delaware, and here I sought out and obscure and cheap abode.
(Part I, chapter 9, p. 308)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
First part published in 1799; second in 1800. Reading and transcribing text from Charles Brockden Brown, Three Gothic Novels. New York: Library of America,1998.
Date of Entry
07/18/2003
Date of Review
10/23/2003

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