An Epigram Addressed to the Gentlemen Reflected on in the Rosciad
LET not the hungry Bavius’ angry strokeAwake resentment, or your rage provoke;But pitying his distress, let virtue shine,And giving each your bounty, let him dine;For thus retain’d, as learned counsel can,Each case, however bad, he’ll new japan;And by a quick transition, plainly show’Twas no defect of yours, but pocket low,That caused his putrid kennel to o’erflow.
Words in this poem
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- dine v. i.
- To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner. [F. dîner, OF. disner, LL. disnare, contr. fr. an assumed disjunare; dis- + an assumed junare (OF. juner) to fast, for L. jejunare, fr. jejunus fasting. See Jeju]
- kennel n.
- The water course of a street; a little canal or channel; a gutter; also, a puddle. Bp. Hall. [See Channel, Canal.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Epigram Addressed to the Gentlemen Reflected on in the Rosciad is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, Project Gutenberg ebook #3545; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Oliver Goldsmith, An Epigram Addressed to the Gentlemen Reflected on in the Rosciad, in Poems (1764–1774), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3545, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/goldsmith-poems/an-epigram-addressed-to-the-gentlemen-reflected-on-in-the-ro.html, id L00431.
Form and metre
An Epigram Addressed to the Gentlemen Reflected on in the Rosciad is 9 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 89% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 22% 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 AABBCCDDD strokeA · provokeA · shineB · dineB · canC · japanC · showD · lowD · o'erflowD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LET not the hungry Bavius’ angry stroke | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Awake resentment, or your rage provoke; | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| But pitying his distress, let virtue shine, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| And giving each your bounty, let him dine; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| For thus retain’d, as learned counsel can, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| Each case, however bad, he’ll new japan; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And by a quick transition, plainly show | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| ’Twas no defect of yours, but pocket low, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| That caused his putrid kennel to o’erflow. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.