"No Pen can describe it, no Tongue can express it, no Thought conceive it, unless some of those who were in the Extremity of it; and who, being touch'd with a due sense of the sparing Mercy of their Maker, retain the deep Impressions of his Goodness upon their Minds, tho' the Danger be past: and of those I doubt the Number is but few."

— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
G. Sawbridge
Date
1704
Metaphor
"No Pen can describe it, no Tongue can express it, no Thought conceive it, unless some of those who were in the Extremity of it; and who, being touch'd with a due sense of the sparing Mercy of their Maker, retain the deep Impressions of his Goodness upon their Minds, tho' the Danger be past: and of those I doubt the Number is but few."
Metaphor in Context
In short, Horror and Confusion seiz'd upon all, whether on Shore or at Sea: No Pen can describe it, no Tongue can express it, no Thought conceive it, unless some of those who were in the Extremity of it; and who, being touch'd with a due sense of the sparing Mercy of their Maker, retain the deep Impressions of his Goodness upon their Minds, tho' the Danger be past: and of those I doubt the Number is but few.
(p. 53)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in C-H Lion
Citation
Daniel Defoe, The Storm: Or a Collection of Casualties and Disasters Which happen'd in the Late Dreadful Tempest, Both By Sea and Land. (London: Printed for G. Sawbridge, 1704)

Text from Richard Hamblyn's edition of The Storm (Penguin Classics)
Date of Entry
06/17/2013

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