Imogen: A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient

Author : William Godwin

(1756 - 1836)

Respected Anarchist Philosopher and Sociologist of the Enlightenment Era

: His most famous work, An Inquiry concerning Political Justice, appeared in 1793, inspired to some extent by the political turbulence and fundamental restructuring of governmental institutions underway in France. Godwin's belief is that governments are fundamentally inimical to the integrity of the human beings living under their strictures... (From: University of Pennsylvania Bio.)
• "Courts are so encumbered and hedged in with ceremony, that the members of them are always prone to imagine that the form is more essential and indispensable, than the substance." (From: "Instructions to a Statesman," by William Godwin.)
• "Fickleness and instability, your lordship will please to observe, are of the very essence of a real statesman." (From: "Instructions to a Statesman," by William Godwin.)
• "Anarchy and darkness will be the original appearance. But light shall spring out of the noon of night; harmony and order shall succeed the chaos." (From: "Instructions to a Statesman," by William Godwin.)

utilitarian (1)

journalist (9)

novelist (5)

political theorist (2)

Alpha Material : Preface

From: William Godwin (1784). Imogen: A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British. PREFACE If we could allow ourselves in that license of conjecture, which is become almost inseparable from the character of an editor, we should say: That Milton having written it upon the borders of Wales, might have had easy recourse to the manuscript whose contents are now first given to the public: And that the singularity of preserving the name of the place where it was first performed in the title of his poem, was intended for an ingenuous and well-bred acknowledgment of the source from whence he drew his choicest materials. But notwithstanding the plausibility of these conjectures, we are now inclined to give up our original opinion, and t... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00001

From: William Godwin (1784). Imogen: A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British. BOOK THE FIRST CHARACTER OF THE SHEPHERDESS AND HER LOVER. -FEAST OF RUTHYN.-SONGS OF THE BARDS. LISTEN, O man! to the voice of wisdom. The world thou inhabitest was not intended for a theater of fruition, nor destined for a scene of repose. False and treacherous is that happiness, which has been preceded by no trial, and is connected with no desert. It is like the gilded poison that undermines the human frame. It is like the hoarse murmur of the winds that announces the brewing tempest. Virtue, for such is the decree of the Most High, is evermore obliged to pass through the ordeal of temptation, and the thorny paths of adversity. If, in this day of her t... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00002

From: William Godwin (1784). Imogen: A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British. BOOK THE SECOND THUNDER STORM.--THE RAPE OF IMOGEN.--EDWIN ARRIVES AT THE GROTTO OF ELWY.--CHARACTER OF THE MAGICIAN.--THE END OF THE FIRST DAY. THE song of Llewelyn was heard by the shepherds with reverence and mute attention. Their blameless hearts were lifted to the skies with the sentiment of gratitude; their honest bosoms overflowed with the fervor of devotion. They proved their sympathy with the feelings of the bard, not by licentious shouts and wild huzzahes, but by the composure of their spirits, the serenity of their countenances' and the deep and unutterable silence which universally prevailed. And now the hoary minstrel rose from the little emin... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00003

From: William Godwin (1784). Imogen: A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British. BOOK THE THIRD PURPOSES OF RODERIC. THE CARRIAGE OF IMOGEN. HER CONTEMPT OF RICHES. The fatigue which Imogen had undergone in the preceding day, prepared her to rest during the night with more tranquility than could otherwise have been expected. The scenes to which she had successively been witness, and the objects that now surrounded her, were too novel and extraordinary in their character, to allow much room for the severity of reflection, and the coolness of meditation. Her frame was tired with the various exercises in which she had engaged; her mind was hurried and perplexed without knowing upon what to fix, or in what manner to account for the events ... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00004

From: William Godwin (1784). Imogen: A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British. BOOK THE FOURTH SONG IN HONOR OF THE FAIR SEX. HYPOCRISY OF THE MAGICIAN. THE TRIUMPH OF IMOGEN. DESPAIR AND CONSOLATION OF RODERIC. So much was Roderic discouraged by the apparent spirit and firmness of these declarations, that at the conclusion of them he abruptly quitted his captive, and released her for a moment from his unjust persecutions. His pride however was too strongly piqued, and his passions too much alarmed to permit her a real respite Where ever, cried he, as he trod with hasty and irregular steps the level green, "where ever were found such simplicity, and so much strength of judgment, and gaiety of wit in union? Is it possible for the ex... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00005

From: William Godwin (1784). Imogen: A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British. BOOK THE FIFTH THE GARDEN OF RODOGUNE DESCRIBED. THE HOPES AND DANGER OF IMOGEN. HER INCONSOLABLE DISTRESS. IMOGEN, immediately after the interview that had so deeply perplexed her, returning to her apartment, had shut herself up in solitude. Her reflections were gloomy and unpleasing; the new obscurity that hung about them had not contributed to lighten their pressure. But though she was melancholy, her melancholy was of a different hue from that of her ravisher. If virtue can ever be deprived of those glorious distinctions that exclusively belong to her, it must be when she is precluded from the illuminations of duty, and is no longer able to discern th... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

Book 00006

From: William Godwin (1784). Imogen: A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient British. BOOK THE SIXTH IMOGEN ENDEAVORS TO SUBDUE THE ATTENDANTS OF RODERIC. THE SUPPER OF THE HALL. JOURNEY AND ARRIVAL OF EDWIN. SUBTLETY OF THE MAGICIAN. HE IS DEFEATED. END OF THE SECOND DAY. THE magician, overwhelmed and confounded with uninterrupted disappointment, was now ready to give himself up to despair. "I have approached the indexible fair one,' cried he, "by every avenue that leads to the female heart. And what is the amount of the advantages I have gained? I tempted her with riches. But riches she considered with disdain; they had nothing analogous to the temper of her mind, and her uncultivated simplicity regarded them as superfluous and cumbers... (From: Anarchy Archives.)

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Imogen: A Pastoral Romance From the Ancient

By William Godwin (1784)

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Author : William Godwin

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Alpha Material : Preface

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