"Methought ev'n now I mark'd the starts of Guilt, / That shook her Soul; tho' damn'd Dissimulation / Skreen'd her dark Thoughts, and set to publick View / A specious Face of Innocence and Beauty."

— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Jacob Tonson
Date
1703
Metaphor
"Methought ev'n now I mark'd the starts of Guilt, / That shook her Soul; tho' damn'd Dissimulation / Skreen'd her dark Thoughts, and set to publick View / A specious Face of Innocence and Beauty."
Metaphor in Context
HORATIO.
What if, while all are here intent on Revelling,
I privately went forth, and sought Lothario?
This Letter may be forg'd; perhaps the Wantonness
Of his vain Youth, to stain a Lady's Fame;
Perhaps his Malice, to disturb my Friend.
Oh no! my Heart forebodes it must be true.
Methought ev'n now I mark'd the starts of Guilt,
That shook her Soul; tho' damn'd Dissimulation
Skreen'd her dark Thoughts, and set to publick View
A specious Face of Innocence and Beauty.

Oh false Appearance! What is all our Soveraignty,
Our boasted Pow'r? when they oppose their Arts,
Still they prevail, and we are found their Fools.
With such smooth Looks, and many a gentle Word,
The first fair She beguil'd her easie Lord;
Too blind with Love and Beauty to beware,
He fell unthinking in the fatal Snare;
Nor cou'd believe, that such a Heav'nly Face
Had bargain'd with the Devil, to damn her wretched Race.
(II.i, p. 18)
Provenance
C-H Lion
Citation
Over seventy entries in the ESTC (1703, 1714, 1718, 1721, 1723, 1726, 1727, 1728, 1730, 1732, 1733, 1735, 1736, 1736, 1737, 1739, 1742, 1746, 1747, 1750, 1753, 1754, 1755, 1757, 1758, 1759, 1760, 1761, 1763, 1764, 1766, 1768, 1770, 1771, 1774, 1775, 1776, 1777, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1795, 1797, 1800).

See The Fair Penitent. A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the New Theatre In Little Lincolns-Inn-Fields. By Her Majesty's Servants. Written by N. Rowe (London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1703). <Link to ECCO>lt;Link to ECCO-TCP>

Reading Jean Marsden's edition in The Broadview Anthology of Restoration & Early Eighteenth-Century Drama (Peterborough, Broadview, 2001).
Date of Entry
07/18/2013

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