"And now like Oyl my flaming Spirits blaze; / My Arteries, my Heart, my Brain is scorch't, / And I am all one Fury."

— Rowe, Nicholas (1674-1718)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for R. Wellington and Thomas Osborne
Date
1700, 1702
Metaphor
"And now like Oyl my flaming Spirits blaze; / My Arteries, my Heart, my Brain is scorch't, / And I am all one Fury."
Metaphor in Context
MIRZA.
What means this foreign warmth within my Breast?
Is this a time for any thought but Vengeance?
That fatal Beauty dazles my weak Sense,
And blasts the Resolution of my Soul:
My Eyes in contradiction to my Purpose,
Still bent to her, and drunk the Poyson in;
While I stood stupid in Suspence of Thought.
And now like Oyl my flaming Spirits blaze;
My Arteries, my Heart, my Brain is scorch't,
And I am all one Fury.
Feeble Mirza!
Can'st thou give way to dotage, and become
The jest of Fools? No! 'tis Impossible:
Revenge shall rouse, and with her Iron Whips
Lash forth this lazy Ague from my Blood,
This Malady of Girls. Remember Statesman,
Thy Fate and future Fortunes now are forming,
And summon all thy Counsels to their Aid,
Ev'n thy whole Soul. It wo'not be; Amestris
Still rises uppermost in all my Thoughts,
The Master-piece of Nature. The Boy God
Laughs at my Rage, and triumph o're my Folly.
Ha! by the Gods 'tis doing! Now my Stars
[A tumultuous Noise is heard.]
Be kind and make me Master of my wish at once.
[Enter Magas.]
But see the Priest! Why dost thou state and tremble,
Have we succeeded, say; and ease my Fears.
(III.ii, pp. 35-6)
Categories
Provenance
C-H Lion
Citation
First performed December, 1700. Twenty-three entries in ESTC (1701, 1702, 1714, 1715, 1720, 1726, 1727, 1728, 1733, 1735, 1760, 1761, 1764, 1777, 1781, 1790, 1792, 1795).

The second edition includes "the addition of a new scene." The Ambitious Step-Mother. A Tragedy. As it is Acted at the New Theatre in Little-Lincolns-Inn-Fields. By Her Majesties Servants. Written by N. Rowe, 2nd edition (London: Printed for R. Wellington and Thomas Osborne, 1702). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
07/22/2013

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