The Conclusion
Then let us boast of ancestors no more,Or deeds of heroes done in days of yore,In latent records of the ages past,Behind the rear of time, in long oblivion plac'd;For if our virtues must in lines descend,The merit with the families would end,And intermixtures would most fatal grow;For vice would be hereditary too;The tainted blood would of necessity,Involuntary wickedness convey.
Vice, like ill-nature, for an age or two,May seem a generation to pursue;But virtue seldom does regard the breed,Fools do the wise, and wise men fools succeed.
What is't to us, what ancestors we had?If good, what better? or what worse, if bad?Examples are for imitation set,Yet all men follow virtue with regret.
Could but our ancestors retrieve their fate,And see their offspring thus degenerate;How we contend for birth and names unknown,And build on their past actions, not our own;They'd cancel records, and their tombs deface,And openly disown the vile degenerate race:For fame of families is all a cheat,It's personal virtue only makes us great.
Words in this poem
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
- retrieve n.
- A seeking again; a discovery. B. Jonson.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Conclusion is in the public domain. This text is taken from The True-Born Englishman: A Satire, Project Gutenberg ebook #30159; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Daniel Defoe, The Conclusion, in The True-Born Englishman (1701), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30159, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/defoe-true-born-englishman/the-conclusion.html, id L27567.
Form and metre
The Conclusion is 26 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See 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 AA--BB---- moreA · yoreA · past · plac'd · descendB · endB · grow · too · necessity · convey
- 2 AABB twoA · pursueA · breedB · succeedB
- 3 AABB hadA · badA · setB · regretB
- 4 AABBCC-A fateA · degenerateA · unknownB · ownB · defaceC · raceC · cheat · greatA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Then let us boast of ancestors no more, | 10 | ·····/·˘·· |
| Or deeds of heroes done in days of yore, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In latent records of the ages past, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Behind the rear of time, in long oblivion plac'd; | 12 | ········˘/˘· |
| For if our virtues must in lines descend, | 10 | ··//˘···˘/ |
| The merit with the families would end, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| And intermixtures would most fatal grow; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For vice would be hereditary too; | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘· |
| The tainted blood would of necessity, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| Involuntary wickedness convey. | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Vice, like ill-nature, for an age or two, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| May seem a generation to pursue; | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| But virtue seldom does regard the breed, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Fools do the wise, and wise men fools succeed. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| What is't to us, what ancestors we had? | 10 | ·····/·˘·· |
| If good, what better? or what worse, if bad? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Examples are for imitation set, | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| Yet all men follow virtue with regret. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Could but our ancestors retrieve their fate, | 10 | ··//·˘˘/·· |
| And see their offspring thus degenerate; | 10 | ···/··˘/˘· |
| How we contend for birth and names unknown, | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| And build on their past actions, not our own; | 10 | ·····/˘·/· |
| They'd cancel records, and their tombs deface, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| And openly disown the vile degenerate race: | 11 | ·/˘˘/··˘/˘· |
| For fame of families is all a cheat, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| It's personal virtue only makes us great. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
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