"This was a dreadful Blow to me; tho' I cannot say I was so surpriz'd as I should otherwise have been; for all the while he was gone, my Mind was oppress'd with the Weight of my own Thoughts; and I was as sure that I should never see him any more, that I think nothing could be like it; the Impression was so strong, that, I think, nothing could make so deep a Wound, that was imaginary; and I was so dejected, and disconsolate, that when I receiv'd the News of his Disaster, there was no room for any extraordinary Alteration in me."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for T. Warner
Date
1724
Metaphor
"This was a dreadful Blow to me; tho' I cannot say I was so surpriz'd as I should otherwise have been; for all the while he was gone, my Mind was oppress'd with the Weight of my own Thoughts; and I was as sure that I should never see him any more, that I think nothing could be like it; the Impression was so strong, that, I think, nothing could make so deep a Wound, that was imaginary; and I was so dejected, and disconsolate, that when I receiv'd the News of his Disaster, there was no room for any extraordinary Alteration in me."
Metaphor in Context
This was a dreadful Blow to me; tho' I cannot say I was so surpriz'd as I should otherwise have been; for all the while he was gone, my Mind was oppress'd with the Weight of my own Thoughts; and I was as sure that I should never see him any more, that I think nothing could be like it; the Impression was so strong, that, I think, nothing could make so deep a Wound, that was imaginary; and I was so dejected, and disconsolate, that when I receiv'd the News of his Disaster, there was no room for any extraordinary Alteration in me: I had cry'd all that Day, eat nothing, and only waited, as I might say, to receive the dismal News, which I had brought to me about Five a-Clock in the Afternoon.
(p. 62, pp. 88-9 in Penguin)
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 15 entries in the ESTC (1724, 1740, 1741, 1742, 1745, 1749, 1750, 1755, 1765, 1774, 1775, ).

See The Fortunate Mistress: Or, A History of the Life and Vast Variety of Fortunes of Mademoiselle de Beleau, afterwards call'd the Countess de Wintselsheim, in Germany. Being the Person known by the Name of the Lady Roxana, in the Time of King Charles II (London: Printed for T. Warner, 1724). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>

Reading Daniel Defoe, Roxana, ed. David Blewett (New York: Penguin Books, 1987).
Date of Entry
07/27/2011

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