On the Death of Lord Hastings
Must noble Hastings immaturely die,The honour of his ancient family;Beauty and learning thus together meet,To bring a winding for a wedding-sheet?Must Virtue prove Death's harbinger? must she,With him expiring, feel mortality?Is death, Sin's wages, Grace's now? shall ArtMake us more learned, only to depart?If merit be disease; if virtue death;To be good, not to be; who'd then bequeathHimself to discipline? who'd not esteemLabour a crime? study, self-murder deem?Our noble youth now have pretence to beDunces securely, ignorant healthfully.Rare linguist, whose worth speaks itself, whose praise,Though not his own, all tongues besides do raise:Than whom great Alexander may seem less,Who conquer'd men, but not their languages.In his mouth nations spake; his tongue might beInterpreter to Greece, France, Italy.His native soil was the four parts o' the Earth;All Europe was too narrow for his birth.A young apostle; and, with reverence mayI speak it, inspired with gift of tongues, as they.Nature gave him, a child, what men in vainOft strive, by art though further'd, to obtain.His body was an orb, his sublime soulDid move on Virtue's and on Learning's pole:Whose regular motions better to our view,Than Archimedes sphere, the Heavens did show.Graces and virtues, languages and arts,Beauty and learning, fill'd up all the parts.Heaven's gifts, which do like falling stars appearScatter'd in others; all, as in their sphere,Were fix'd, conglobate in his soul; and thenceShone through his body, with sweet influence;Letting their glories so on each limb fall,The whole frame render'd was celestial.Come, learned Ptolemy and trial make,If thou this hero's altitude canst take:But that transcends thy skill; thrice happy all,Could we but prove thus astronomical.Lived Tycho now, struck with this ray which shoneMore bright i' the morn, than others' beam at noon.He'd take his astrolabe, and seek out hereWhat new star 'twas did gild our hemisphere.Replenish'd then with such rare gifts as these,Where was room left for such a foul disease?The nation's sin hath drawn that veil, which shroudsOur day-spring in so sad benighting clouds:Heaven would no longer trust its pledge; but thusRecall'd it; rapt its Ganymede from us.Was there no milder way but the small-pox,The very filthiness of Pandora's box?So many spots, like næves on Venus' soil,One jewel set off with so many a foil;Blisters with pride swell'd, which through's flesh did sproutLike rose-buds, stuck i' th' lily-skin about.Each little pimple had a tear in it,To wail the fault its rising did commit:Which, rebel-like, with its own lord at strife,Thus made an insurrection 'gainst his life.Or were these gems sent to adorn his skin,The cabinet of a richer soul within?No comet need foretell his change drew on,Whose corpse might seem a constellation.Oh! had he died of old, how great a strifeHad been, who from his death should draw their life!Who should, by one rich draught, become whate'erSeneca, Cato, Numa, Cæsar, were,--Learn'd, virtuous, pious, great; and have by thisAn universal metempsychosis!Must all these aged sires in one funeralExpire? all die in one so young, so small?Who, had he lived his life out, his great fameHad swoln 'bove any Greek or Roman name.But hasty Winter, with one blast, hath broughtThe hopes of Autumn, Summer, Spring, to nought.Thus fades the oak i' the sprig, i' the blade the corn;Thus without young, this Phoenix dies, new born:Must then old three-legg'd graybeards, with their gout,Catarrhs, rheums, aches, live three long ages out?Time's offals, only fit for the hospital!Or to hang antiquaries' rooms withal!Must drunkards, lechers, spent with sinning, liveWith such helps as broths, possets, physic give?None live, but such as should die? shall we meetWith none but ghostly fathers in the street?Grief makes me rail; sorrow will force its way;And showers of tears, tempestuous sighs best lay.The tongue may fail; but overflowing eyesWill weep out lasting streams of elegies.
But thou, O virgin-widow, left alone,Now thy beloved, heaven-ravish'd spouse is gone,Whose skilful sire in vain strove to applyMedicines, when thy balm was no remedy,--With greater than Platonic love, O wedHis soul, though not his body, to thy bed:Let that make thee a mother; bring thou forthThe ideas of his virtue, knowledge, worth;Transcribe the original in new copies, giveHastings o' the better part: so shall he liveIn's nobler half; and the great grandsire beOf an heroic divine progeny:An issue, which to eternity shall last,Yet but the irradiations which he cast.Erect no mausoleums: for his bestMonument is his spouse's marble breast.
Words in this poem 32
- hastings n.
- Early fruit or vegetables; especially, early pease. Mortimer. [From Haste, v.]
- immaturely adv.
- In an immature manner. Warburion.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- expiring a.
- Breathing out air from the lungs; emitting fluid or volatile matter; exhaling; breathing the last breath; dying; ending; terminating.
- mortality n.
- The condition or quality of being mortal; subjection to death or to the necessity of dying. [L. mortalitas: cf. F. mortalité.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- bequeath v. t.
- To give or leave by will; to give by testament; -- said especially of personal property. [OE. biquethen, AS. becwe to say, affirm, bequeath; pref. be- + cwe to say, speak. See Quoth.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- pretence n.
- The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. [LL. praetensus, for L. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. See Pretend, and cf. Tension.]
- healthfully adv.
- In health; wholesomely.
- linguist n.
- A master of the use of language; a talker. [L. lingua tongue, speech, language: cf. F. linguiste.]
- archimedes n.
- An extinct genus of Bryzoa characteristic of the subcarboniferous rocks. Its form is that of a screw.
- conglobate a.
- Collected into, or forming, a rounded mass or ball; as, the conglobate [lymphatic] glands; conglobate flowers. [L. conglobatus, p.p. of conglobare to conglobate. See Globate.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- astrolabe n.
- An instrument for observing or showing the positions of the stars. It is now disused.
- rapt n.
- An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
- filthiness n.
- The state of being filthy.
- pimple n.
- Any small acuminated elevation of the cuticle, whether going on to suppuration or not. [AS. pipelian to blister; cf. L. papula pimple.]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
- metempsychosis n.
- The passage of the soul, as an immortal essence, at the death of the animal body it had inhabited, into another living body, whether of a brute or a human being; transmigration of souls. Sir T. [NL., fr. Gr. Psychology.]
- swoln
- Contraction of Swollen, p. p.
- hospital n.
- A place for shelter or entertainment; an inn. [OF. hospital, ospital, F. hôpital, LL. hospitale (or perh. E. hospital is directly from the Late Latin), from L. hospitalis relating to a guest, hospitalia apar]
- withal adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- transcribe v. t.
- To write over again, or in the same words; to copy; as, to transcribe Livy or Tacitus; to transcribe a letter. [L. transcribere, transcriptum; trans across, over + scribere to write. See Scribe.]
- grandsire n.
- Specifically, a grandfather; more generally, any ancestor. [OF. grantsire. See Grand, and Sire.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Death of Lord Hastings is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Volume 1 With Life, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes, Project Gutenberg ebook #11488; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Dryden, On the Death of Lord Hastings, in The Poetical Works, Volume I (1660–1700), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #11488, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dryden-poems/on-the-death-of-lord-hastings.html, id L17455.
Form and metre
On the Death of Lord Hastings is 108 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 70% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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 A-BBA-CC--DD--EE-E--FFGGHHII--JJKKLLMMNNMM--OOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXXXXYY----ZZaabbccdd----eeffgg dieA · family · meetB · sheetB · sheA · mortality · artC · departC · death · bequeath · esteemD · deemD · be · healthfully · praiseE · raiseE · less · languagesE · be · italy · earthF · birthF · mayG · theyG · vainH · obtainH · soulI · poleI · view · show · artsJ · partsJ · appearK · sphereK · thenceL · influenceL · fallM · celestialM · makeN · takeN · allM · astronomicalM · shone · noon · hereO · hemisphereO · theseP · diseaseP · shroudsQ · cloudsQ · thusR · usR · poxS · boxS · soilT · foilT · sproutU · aboutU · itV · commitV · strifeW · lifeW · skinX · withinX · onX · constellationX · strifeY · lifeY · whate'er · were · this · metempsychosis · funeralZ · smallZ · famea · namea · broughtb · noughtb · cornc · bornc · goutd · outd · hospital · withal · live · give · meete · streete · wayf · layf · eyesg · elegiesg
- 2 ----AA--BB--CCDD alone · gone · apply · remedy · wedA · bedA · forth · worth · giveB · liveB · be · progeny · lastC · castC · bestD · breastD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Must noble Hastings immaturely die, | 11 | ·/˘/˘······ |
| The honour of his ancient family; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Beauty and learning thus together meet, | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| To bring a winding for a wedding-sheet? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Must Virtue prove Death's harbinger? must she, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| With him expiring, feel mortality? | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Is death, Sin's wages, Grace's now? shall Art | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Make us more learned, only to depart? | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| If merit be disease; if virtue death; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| To be good, not to be; who'd then bequeath | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Himself to discipline? who'd not esteem | 10 | ˘/·/˘˘··˘/ |
| Labour a crime? study, self-murder deem? | 10 | /˘··/˘·/˘· |
| Our noble youth now have pretence to be | 10 | //˘······· |
| Dunces securely, ignorant healthfully. | 10 | ·˘/˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Rare linguist, whose worth speaks itself, whose praise, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Though not his own, all tongues besides do raise: | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Than whom great Alexander may seem less, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Who conquer'd men, but not their languages. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| In his mouth nations spake; his tongue might be | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Interpreter to Greece, France, Italy. | 10 | ˘/˘˘···/˘˘ |
| His native soil was the four parts o' the Earth; | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| All Europe was too narrow for his birth. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| A young apostle; and, with reverence may | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| I speak it, inspired with gift of tongues, as they. | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| Nature gave him, a child, what men in vain | 10 | /˘········ |
| Oft strive, by art though further'd, to obtain. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| His body was an orb, his sublime soul | 10 | ·/˘····˘/· |
| Did move on Virtue's and on Learning's pole: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Whose regular motions better to our view, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·/· |
| Than Archimedes sphere, the Heavens did show. | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘·· |
| Graces and virtues, languages and arts, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Beauty and learning, fill'd up all the parts. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Heaven's gifts, which do like falling stars appear | 11 | /˘····/˘·˘/ |
| Scatter'd in others; all, as in their sphere, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Were fix'd, conglobate in his soul; and thence | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Shone through his body, with sweet influence; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Letting their glories so on each limb fall, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| The whole frame render'd was celestial. | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Come, learned Ptolemy and trial make, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| If thou this hero's altitude canst take: | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| But that transcends thy skill; thrice happy all, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Could we but prove thus astronomical. | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Lived Tycho now, struck with this ray which shone | 10 | ·········· |
| More bright i' the morn, than others' beam at noon. | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| He'd take his astrolabe, and seek out here | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| What new star 'twas did gild our hemisphere. | 10 | ······//˘· |
| Replenish'd then with such rare gifts as these, | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Where was room left for such a foul disease? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The nation's sin hath drawn that veil, which shrouds | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Our day-spring in so sad benighting clouds: | 10 | /·····˘/˘· |
| Heaven would no longer trust its pledge; but thus | 10 | /··/˘····· |
| Recall'd it; rapt its Ganymede from us. | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Was there no milder way but the small-pox, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The very filthiness of Pandora's box? | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘·˘/˘· |
| So many spots, like næves on Venus' soil, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| One jewel set off with so many a foil; | 10 | ·/····/˘·· |
| Blisters with pride swell'd, which through's flesh did sprout | 10 | /˘········ |
| Like rose-buds, stuck i' th' lily-skin about. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Each little pimple had a tear in it, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| To wail the fault its rising did commit: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Which, rebel-like, with its own lord at strife, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Thus made an insurrection 'gainst his life. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Or were these gems sent to adorn his skin, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| The cabinet of a richer soul within? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| No comet need foretell his change drew on, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Whose corpse might seem a constellation. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Oh! had he died of old, how great a strife | 10 | ·········· |
| Had been, who from his death should draw their life! | 10 | ·········· |
| Who should, by one rich draught, become whate'er | 11 | ······˘/˘˘/ |
| Seneca, Cato, Numa, Cæsar, were,-- | 9 | /˘˘/˘···· |
| Learn'd, virtuous, pious, great; and have by this | 10 | ·/˘˘/····· |
| An universal metempsychosis! | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| Must all these aged sires in one funeral | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Expire? all die in one so young, so small? | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Who, had he lived his life out, his great fame | 10 | ·········· |
| Had swoln 'bove any Greek or Roman name. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But hasty Winter, with one blast, hath brought | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The hopes of Autumn, Summer, Spring, to nought. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Thus fades the oak i' the sprig, i' the blade the corn; | 12 | ············ |
| Thus without young, this Phoenix dies, new born: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Must then old three-legg'd graybeards, with their gout, | 11 | ····/˘/˘··· |
| Catarrhs, rheums, aches, live three long ages out? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Time's offals, only fit for the hospital! | 11 | ···/˘···/·˘ |
| Or to hang antiquaries' rooms withal! | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Must drunkards, lechers, spent with sinning, live | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| With such helps as broths, possets, physic give? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| None live, but such as should die? shall we meet | 10 | ·········· |
| With none but ghostly fathers in the street? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Grief makes me rail; sorrow will force its way; | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| And showers of tears, tempestuous sighs best lay. | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| The tongue may fail; but overflowing eyes | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Will weep out lasting streams of elegies. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| But thou, O virgin-widow, left alone, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Now thy beloved, heaven-ravish'd spouse is gone, | 10 | ··˘//····· |
| Whose skilful sire in vain strove to apply | 10 | ·/˘/····˘/ |
| Medicines, when thy balm was no remedy,-- | 11 | /˘˘·····/˘˘ |
| With greater than Platonic love, O wed | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| His soul, though not his body, to thy bed: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Let that make thee a mother; bring thou forth | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The ideas of his virtue, knowledge, worth; | 11 | ·˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Transcribe the original in new copies, give | 11 | ˘/·˘/˘··/˘· |
| Hastings o' the better part: so shall he live | 11 | /˘··/˘····· |
| In's nobler half; and the great grandsire be | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Of an heroic divine progeny: | 10 | ··˘/˘˘//˘˘ |
| An issue, which to eternity shall last, | 10 | ·/˘··˘/˘·· |
| Yet but the irradiations which he cast. | 11 | ···˘·˘/˘··· |
| Erect no mausoleums: for his best | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| Monument is his spouse's marble breast. | 10 | /˘˘··/˘/˘· |
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