Samuel Johnson's Dictionary (1755) defined `Metropolis' as the `mother city'. Forged from the Greek m et er, the use of maternal metaphors for London had a long tradition in literature which reached its emotive peak in the poetic responses to the Great Fire of 1666. A notable case in point is Roger l'Estrange's Vox Civitatis: or, London's Call to her Natural and Adopted Children; Exciting them ...