Epitaph: On the Hammer of the Aforesaid Mineralogist
Here in the dust, its strange adventures o’er,A hammer rests, that ne’er knew rest before.Released from toil, it slumbers by the sideOf one who oft its temper sorely tried;No day e’er pass’d, but in some desperate strifeHe risk’d the faithful hammer’s limbs and life:Now laying siege to some old limestone wall,Some rock now battering, proof to cannon-ballNow scaling heights like Alps or Pyrenees,Perhaps a flint, perhaps a slate to seize;But, if a piece of copper met his eyes,He’d mount a precipice that touch’d the skies,And bring down lumps so precious, and so many,I’m sure they almost would have made--a penny!Think, when such deeds as these were daily done,What fearful risks this hammer must have run.And, to say truth, its praise deserves to shineIn lays more lofty and more famed than mine:Oh! that in strains which ne’er should be forgot,Its deeds were blazon’d forth by Walter Scott!Then should its name with his be closely link’d,And live till every mineral were extinct.Rise, epic bards! be yours the ample field--Bid W----’s hammer match Achilles’ shield:As for my muse, the chaos of her brain,I search for specimens of wit in vain;Then let me cease ignoble rhymes to stammer,And seek some theme less arduous than the hammer;Remembering well, “what perils do environ”Woman or “man that meddles with cold iron.”
To-night, kind friends, at your tribunal here,Stands “The Poor Gentleman,” with many a fear;Since well he knows, whoe’er may judge his cause,That Poverty’s no title to applause.Genius or Wit, pray, who’ll admire or quote,If all their drapery be a threadbare coat?Who, in a world where all is bought and sold,Minds a man’s worth--except his worth in gold?Who’ll greet poor Merit if she lacks a dinner!Hence, starving saint, but welcome, wealthy sinner!Away with Poverty! let none receive her,She bears contagion as a plague or fever;“Bony, and gaunt, and grim”--like jaundiced eyes,Discolouring all within her sphere that lies.“Poor Gentleman!” and by poor soldiers, too!Oh, matchless impudence! without a sous!In scenes, in actors poor, and what far worse is,With heads, perhaps, as empty as their purses,How shall they dare at such a bar appear?What are their tactics and manœuvres here?
While thoughts like these come rushing o’er our mind,Oh! may we still indulgence hope to find!Brave sons of Erin! whose distinguish’d nameShines with such brilliance in the page of Fame,And you, fair daughters of the Emerald Isle!View our weak efforts with approving smile!School’d in rough camps, and still disdaining art,Ill can the soldier act a borrow’d part;The march, the skirmish, in this warlike age,Are his rehearsals, and the field his stage;His theatre is found in every land,Where wave the ensigns of a hostile band:Place him in danger’s front--he recks not where--Be your own Wellington his prompter there,And on that stage he trusts, with fearful mien,He’ll act his part in glory’s tragic scene.Yet here, though friends are gaily marshall’d round,And from bright eyes alone he dreads a wound,Here, though in ambush no sharpshooter’s wileAims at his breast, save hid in beauty’s smile;Though all unused to pause, to doubt, to fear,Yet his heart sinks, his courage fails him here.No scenic pomp to him its aid supplies,No stage effect of glittering pageantries:No, to your kindness he must look aloneTo realise the hope he dares not own;And trusts, since here he meets no cynic eye,His wish to please may claim indemnity.
And why despair, indulgence when we craveFrom Erin’s sons, the generous and the brave?Theirs the high spirit, and the liberal thought,Kind, warm, sincere, with native candour fraught;Still has the stranger, in their social isle,Met the frank welcome and the cordial smile,And well their hearts can share, though unexpress’d,Each thought, each feeling, of the soldier’s breast.
Words in this poem 32
- sorely adv.
- In a sore manner; grievously; painfully; as, to be sorely afflicted.
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- scaling a.
- Adapted for removing scales, as from a fish; as, a scaling knife; adapted for removing scale, as from the interior of a steam boiler; as, a scaling hammer, bar, etc.
- precipice n.
- A sudden or headlong fall. Fuller. [F. précipice, L. praecipitium, fr. praeceps, - cipitis, headlong; prae before + caput, capitis, the head. See Pre-, and Chief.]
- blazon v. t.
- To depict in colors; to display; to exhibit conspicuously; to publish or make public far and wide. [From blazon, n.; confused with 4th blaze: cf. F. blasonner.]
- walter v. i.
- To roll or wallow; to welter. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] [See Welter.]
- chaos n.
- An empty, immeasurable space; a yawning chasm. [L. chaos chaos (in senses 1 & 2), Gr. Chasm.]
- arduous a.
- Steep and lofty, in a literal sense; hard to climb. [L. arduus steep, high; akin to Ir. ard high, height.]
- environ v. t.
- To surround; to encompass; to encircle; to hem in; to be round about; to involve or envelop. [F. environner, fr. environ about, thereabout; pref. en- (L. in) + OF. viron circle, circuit, fr. OF. & F. virer to turn, LL. virare to turn up and down, topsy-t]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- threadbare a.
- Worn to the naked thread; having the nap worn off; threadbare clothes.
- sinner n.
- One who has sinned; especially, one who has sinned without repenting; hence, a persistent and incorrigible transgressor; one condemned by the law of God.
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- jaundiced a.
- affected with jaundice.
- sous n.
- A corrupt form of Sou. Colman, the Elder.
- 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,]
- erin n.
- An early, and now a poetic, name of Ireland. [Ir. Cf. Aryan.]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- approving a.
- Expressing approbation; commending; as, an approving smile.
- theatre n.
- An edifice in which dramatic performances or spectacles are exhibited for the amusement of spectators; anciently uncovered, except the stage, but in modern times roofed. [F. thé\'83tre, L. theatrum, Gr. dhya to meditate, think. Cf. Theory.]
- prompter n.
- One who, or that which, prompts; one who admonishes or incites to action.
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
- wile n.
- A trick or stratagem practiced for insnaring or deception; a sly, insidious; artifice; a beguilement; an allurement. [OE. wile, AS. wil; cf. Icel. v, væl. Cf. Guile.]
- scenic a.
- Of or pertaining to scenery; of the nature of scenery; theatrical. [L. scaenicus, scenicus, Gr. scénique. See Scene.]
- realise v. t.
- To make real; to convert from the imaginary or fictitious into the actual; to bring into concrete existence; to accomplish; as, to realize a scheme or project. [Cf. F. réaliser.]
- cynic a.
- Having the qualities of a surly dog; snarling; captious; currish. [L. cynicus of the sect of Cynics, fr. Gr. Hound.]
- indemnity n.
- Security; insurance; exemption from loss or damage, past or to come; immunity from penalty, or the punishment of past offenses; amnesty. [L. indemnitas, fr. indemnis uninjured: cf. F. indemnité. See Indemnify.]
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- candour n.
- Whiteness; brightness; (as applied to moral conditions) usullied purity; innocence. [L. candor, fr. candëre; cf. F. candeur. See candid.]
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epitaph: On the Hammer of the Aforesaid Mineralogist is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, Epitaph: On the Hammer of the Aforesaid Mineralogist, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/epitaph-on-the-hammer-of-the-aforesaid-mineralogist.html, id L13428.
Form and metre
Epitaph: On the Hammer of the Aforesaid Mineralogist is 86 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% 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 --AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNN o'er · before · sideA · triedA · strifeB · lifeB · wallC · ballC · pyreneesD · seizeD · eyesE · skiesE · manyF · pennyF · doneG · runG · shineH · mineH · forgotI · scottI · link'dJ · extinctJ · fieldK · shieldK · brainL · vainL · stammerM · hammerM · environN · ironN
- 2 AABBCCDDEE--FF-GGFAA hereA · fearA · causeB · applauseB · quoteC · coatC · soldD · goldD · dinnerE · sinnerE · her · fever · eyesF · liesF · too · sousG · isG · pursesF · appearA · hereA
- 3 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIICCJJKKLL-- mindA · findA · nameB · fameB · isleC · smileC · artD · partD · ageE · stageE · landF · bandF · whereG · thereG · mienH · sceneH · roundI · woundI · wileC · smileC · fearJ · hereJ · suppliesK · pageantriesK · aloneL · ownL · eye · indemnity
- 4 AABBCC-- craveA · braveA · thoughtB · fraughtB · isleC · smileC · unexpress'd · breast
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Here in the dust, its strange adventures o’er, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| A hammer rests, that ne’er knew rest before. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Released from toil, it slumbers by the side | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Of one who oft its temper sorely tried; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| No day e’er pass’d, but in some desperate strife | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| He risk’d the faithful hammer’s limbs and life: | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Now laying siege to some old limestone wall, | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Some rock now battering, proof to cannon-ball | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Now scaling heights like Alps or Pyrenees, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Perhaps a flint, perhaps a slate to seize; | 10 | ˘/··˘/···· |
| But, if a piece of copper met his eyes, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| He’d mount a precipice that touch’d the skies, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| And bring down lumps so precious, and so many, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| I’m sure they almost would have made--a penny! | 11 | ···/·····/˘ |
| Think, when such deeds as these were daily done, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| What fearful risks this hammer must have run. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And, to say truth, its praise deserves to shine | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| In lays more lofty and more famed than mine: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Oh! that in strains which ne’er should be forgot, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Its deeds were blazon’d forth by Walter Scott! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Then should its name with his be closely link’d, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And live till every mineral were extinct. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Rise, epic bards! be yours the ample field-- | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Bid W----’s hammer match Achilles’ shield: | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| As for my muse, the chaos of her brain, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I search for specimens of wit in vain; | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Then let me cease ignoble rhymes to stammer, | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| And seek some theme less arduous than the hammer; | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Remembering well, “what perils do environ” | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Woman or “man that meddles with cold iron.” | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| To-night, kind friends, at your tribunal here, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Stands “The Poor Gentleman,” with many a fear; | 10 | ···/˘˘·/·· |
| Since well he knows, whoe’er may judge his cause, | 9 | ········· |
| That Poverty’s no title to applause. | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Genius or Wit, pray, who’ll admire or quote, | 10 | /˘····˘/·· |
| If all their drapery be a threadbare coat? | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Who, in a world where all is bought and sold, | 10 | ·········· |
| Minds a man’s worth--except his worth in gold? | 10 | ·········· |
| Who’ll greet poor Merit if she lacks a dinner! | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Hence, starving saint, but welcome, wealthy sinner! | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Away with Poverty! let none receive her, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··˘/· |
| She bears contagion as a plague or fever; | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| “Bony, and gaunt, and grim”--like jaundiced eyes, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Discolouring all within her sphere that lies. | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| “Poor Gentleman!” and by poor soldiers, too! | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Oh, matchless impudence! without a sous! | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| In scenes, in actors poor, and what far worse is, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| With heads, perhaps, as empty as their purses, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| How shall they dare at such a bar appear? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| What are their tactics and manœuvres here? | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| While thoughts like these come rushing o’er our mind, | 10 | ·····/˘·/· |
| Oh! may we still indulgence hope to find! | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Brave sons of Erin! whose distinguish’d name | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Shines with such brilliance in the page of Fame, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And you, fair daughters of the Emerald Isle! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| View our weak efforts with approving smile! | 10 | ·/·/˘·˘/˘· |
| School’d in rough camps, and still disdaining art, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Ill can the soldier act a borrow’d part; | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| The march, the skirmish, in this warlike age, | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Are his rehearsals, and the field his stage; | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| His theatre is found in every land, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Where wave the ensigns of a hostile band: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Place him in danger’s front--he recks not where-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Be your own Wellington his prompter there, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| And on that stage he trusts, with fearful mien, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| He’ll act his part in glory’s tragic scene. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Yet here, though friends are gaily marshall’d round, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And from bright eyes alone he dreads a wound, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Here, though in ambush no sharpshooter’s wile | 10 | ···/··/˘˘· |
| Aims at his breast, save hid in beauty’s smile; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Though all unused to pause, to doubt, to fear, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Yet his heart sinks, his courage fails him here. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| No scenic pomp to him its aid supplies, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| No stage effect of glittering pageantries: | 11 | ··˘/·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| No, to your kindness he must look alone | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| To realise the hope he dares not own; | 9 | ·/······· |
| And trusts, since here he meets no cynic eye, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| His wish to please may claim indemnity. | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| And why despair, indulgence when we crave | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| From Erin’s sons, the generous and the brave? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Theirs the high spirit, and the liberal thought, | 10 | ···/··/˘˘· |
| Kind, warm, sincere, with native candour fraught; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Still has the stranger, in their social isle, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Met the frank welcome and the cordial smile, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And well their hearts can share, though unexpress’d, | 10 | ·········· |
| Each thought, each feeling, of the soldier’s breast. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
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