Her Rage: That is, the Tragick
Muse's rage. Samuel Johnson defines "rage" variously, as "[v]iolent
anger," "[v]ehemence or exacerbation of any thing painful," rapturous
"[e]nthusiasm," and "[e]agerness; vehemence of mind: as, a rage
of money getting" (from A
Dictionary of the English Language). In each of these definitions, one finds
the connotation of unnatural excess; it is particularly evident in the
last and penultimate definitions. Enthusiasm in this sense is a sort of religious
frenzy, "a vain belief of private revelation; a vain confidence of divine
favour or communication." In the last case, the idiomatic expression "rage
of party" is perhaps more appropriate--this phrase describes unthinking,
one-dimensional political excitement. We will also find that Tragedy's "rage"
also incorporates the (often trite) methods by which rage or raging emotion
is expressed. In lines 5 and 6,
we catch a glimpse of such ridiculous
and overly-spectacular methods: "With Ghosts, Rapes, Murders, tender
Hearts they wound, / Or else, like Thunder, terrifie with Sound."