ratsbane

Catching a glimpse of her countenance when she becomes aware that Priscilla is a dangerous rival for Hollingworth's regard, Coverdale notes that it "would have made the fortune of a tragic actress, could she have borrowed it for the moment when she fumbles in her bosom for the concealed dagger, or the exceedingly sharp bodkin, or mingles the ratsbane in her lover's bowl of wine or her rival's cup of tea." The circumstances, however, relegate those scenes, and the chance that Zenobia might act them out, to the plane of fantasies.

Ramming pebbles into his mouth, placing nettles on his tongue, dropping some ratsbane on it, and thrusting all fingers down his throat are expressive of his desire to contend with tyrants and resist oppressors and also of his keen awareness that the path of revolutionary struggle for which he opts is perilous and might lead to loss of his own life.