“ Some happy mean to end a hapless life. ”
William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece (1594). copy citation
| Author | William Shakespeare |
|---|---|
| Source | The Rape of Lucrece |
| Topic | life meaning |
| Date | 1594 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://shakespeare.mit.edu/Poetry/RapeOfLucrece.html |
Context
“To make more vent for passage of her breath;
Which, thronging through her lips, so vanisheth
As smoke from AEtna, that in air consumes,
Or that which from discharged cannon fumes.
'In vain,' quoth she, 'I live, and seek in vain
Some happy mean to end a hapless life. I fear'd by Tarquin's falchion to be slain,
Yet for the self-same purpose seek a knife:
But when I fear'd I was a loyal wife:
So am I now: O no, that cannot be;
Of that true type hath Tarquin rifled me.
” source
Which, thronging through her lips, so vanisheth
As smoke from AEtna, that in air consumes,
Or that which from discharged cannon fumes.
'In vain,' quoth she, 'I live, and seek in vain
Some happy mean to end a hapless life. I fear'd by Tarquin's falchion to be slain,
Yet for the self-same purpose seek a knife:
But when I fear'd I was a loyal wife:
So am I now: O no, that cannot be;
Of that true type hath Tarquin rifled me.
” source
