On John Dawson, Butler of Christ-Church
Dawson the butler’s dead: Although I thinkPoets were ne’re infus’d with single drink,I’ll spend a farthing, muse; a watry verseWill serve the turn to cast upon his herse.If any cannot weep amongst us here,Take off his cup, and so squeeze out a tear.Weep, O ye barrels! let your drippings fallIn trickling streams; make waste more prodigalThan when our beer was good, that John may floatTo Styx in beer, and lift up Charons boatWith wholsome waves: and, as the conduits ranWith claret at the Coronation,So let your channels flow with single tiff,For John, I hope, is crown’d: Take off your whiff,Ye men of rosemary, and drink up all,Remembring ’tis a butlers funeral:Had he been master of good double beer,My life for his, John Dawson had been here.
Words in this poem
- herse n.
- A kind of gate or portcullis, having iron bars, like a harrow, studded with iron spikes. It is hung above gateways so that it may be quickly lowered, to impede the advance of an enemy. Farrow. [F. herse harrow, portcullis, OF. herce, LL. hercia, L. hirpex, gen. hirpicis, and irpex, gen. irpicis, harrow. The LL. hercia signifies also a kind of candlesti]
- amongst prep.
- Mixed or mingled; surrounded by. [OE. amongist, amonges, amonge, among, AS. onmang, ongemang, gemang, in a crowd or mixture. For the ending -st see Amidst. See Mingle.]
- styx n.
- The principal river of the lower world, which had to be crossed in passing to the regions of the dead.
- claret n.
- The name firat given in England to the red wines of M [OE. claret, clare, clarry, OF. claret, clar, fr. cler, F. clair, clear, fr. L. clarus clear. See Clear.]
- coronation n.
- The act or solemnity of crowning a sovereign; the act of investing a prince with the insignia of royalty, on his succeeding to the sovereignty. [See Coronate.]
- tiff v. t.
- To deck out; to dress. A. Tucker. [OE. tiffen, OF. tiffer, tifer, to bedizen; cf. D. tippen to clip the points or ends of the hair, E. tip, n.]
- whiff n.
- A sudden expulsion of air from the mouth; a quick puff or slight gust, as of air or smoke. [OE. weffe vapor, whiff, probably of imitative origin; cf. Dan. vift a puff, gust, W. chwiff a whiff, puff.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On John Dawson, Butler of Christ-Church is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Richard Corbet, late bishop of Oxford and of Norwich 4th edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #65375; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Richard Corbet, On John Dawson, Butler of Christ-Church, in Poems (1647), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #65375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corbet-poems/on-john-dawson-butler-of-christ-church.html, id L08910.
Form and metre
On John Dawson, Butler of Christ-Church is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 39% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDDEEFFGGDDCC thinkA · drinkA · verseB · herseB · hereC · tearC · fallD · prodigalD · floatE · boatE · ranF · coronationF · tiffG · whiffG · allD · funeralD · beerC · hereC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Dawson the butler’s dead: Although I think | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Poets were ne’re infus’d with single drink, | 10 | /˘··˘/·/˘· |
| I’ll spend a farthing, muse; a watry verse | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Will serve the turn to cast upon his herse. | 10 | ·········· |
| If any cannot weep amongst us here, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Take off his cup, and so squeeze out a tear. | 10 | ·········· |
| Weep, O ye barrels! let your drippings fall | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In trickling streams; make waste more prodigal | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Than when our beer was good, that John may float | 10 | ··/······· |
| To Styx in beer, and lift up Charons boat | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With wholsome waves: and, as the conduits ran | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With claret at the Coronation, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| So let your channels flow with single tiff, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For John, I hope, is crown’d: Take off your whiff, | 10 | ·········· |
| Ye men of rosemary, and drink up all, | 10 | ···/·˘···· |
| Remembring ’tis a butlers funeral: | 11 | ˘/˘˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Had he been master of good double beer, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| My life for his, John Dawson had been here. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Richard Corbet (Project Gutenberg #65375).
- Line 15 It is almost superfluous to observe, that rosemary was supposed by our forefathers to be very efficacious in strengthening the retentive faculties; and, by being always borne at funerals, was calculated to perpetuate the remembrance of the deceased. “Here is a strange alteration: for, the rosemary that was washt in sweet water to set out the bridall, is now wet in teares to furnish her burial.”—Decker’s Wonderfull Yeare 1603.
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