On the Death of Mr. Robert Levet, a Practiser in Physick
Condemn'd to hope's delusive mine,As on we toil, from day to day,By sudden blasts, or slow decline,Our social comforts drop away.
Well try'd, through many a varying year,See Levet to the grave descend,Officious, innocent, sincere,Of ev'ry friendless name the friend.
Yet still he fills affection's eye,Obscurely wise, and coarsely kind;Nor, letter'd arrogance, denyThy praise to merit unrefined.
When fainting nature call'd for aid,And hov'ring death prepar'd the blow,His vig'rous remedy display'dThe pow'r of art, without the show.
In mis'ry's darkest cavern known,His useful care was ever nigh,Where hopeless anguish pour'd his groan,And lonely want retir'd to die.
No summons, mock'd by chill delay,No petty gain, disdain'd by pride;The modest wants of ev'ry dayThe toil of ev'ry day supply'd.
His virtues walk'd their narrow round,Nor made a pause, nor left a void;And sure the eternal master foundThe single talent well-employ'd.
The busy day--the peaceful night,Unfelt, uncounted, glided by;His frame was firm--his pow'rs were bright,Though now his eightieth year was nigh.
Then, with no fiery throbbing pain,No cold gradations of decay,Death broke, at once, the vital chain,And freed his soul the nearest way.
Words in this poem
- levet n.
- A trumpet call for rousing soldiers; a reveille. [Cf. F. lever to raise.]
- friendless a.
- Destitute of friends; forsaken. [AS. freóndleás.]
- eightieth a.
- The next in order after seventy-ninth. [From Eighty.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Death of Mr. Robert Levet, a Practiser in Physick is in the public domain. This text is taken from Dr. Johnson's Works: Life, Poems, and Tales, Volume 1 (The Works of Samuel Johnson in Nine Volumes, 1825), Project Gutenberg ebook #10835; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Johnson, On the Death of Mr. Robert Levet, a Practiser in Physick, in Poems (1825), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10835, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-poems/on-the-death-of-mr-robert-levet-a-practiser-in-physick.html, id L27149.
Form and metre
On the Death of Mr. Robert Levet, a Practiser in Physick is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB mineA · dayB · declineA · awayB
- 2 ABAB yearA · descendB · sincereA · friendB
- 3 ABAB eyeA · kindB · denyA · unrefinedB
- 4 ABAB aidA · blowB · display'dA · showB
- 5 ABAB knownA · nighB · groanA · dieB
- 6 ABAB delayA · prideB · dayA · supply'dB
- 7 ABAB roundA · voidB · foundA · employ'dB
- 8 ABAB nightA · byB · brightA · nighB
- 9 ABAB painA · decayB · chainA · wayB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Condemn'd to hope's delusive mine, | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| As on we toil, from day to day, | 8 | ········ |
| By sudden blasts, or slow decline, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Our social comforts drop away. | 8 | //˘/˘·˘/ |
| Well try'd, through many a varying year, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| See Levet to the grave descend, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Officious, innocent, sincere, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Of ev'ry friendless name the friend. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet still he fills affection's eye, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Obscurely wise, and coarsely kind; | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Nor, letter'd arrogance, deny | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Thy praise to merit unrefined. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| When fainting nature call'd for aid, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And hov'ring death prepar'd the blow, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| His vig'rous remedy display'd | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| The pow'r of art, without the show. | 8 | ········ |
| In mis'ry's darkest cavern known, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| His useful care was ever nigh, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where hopeless anguish pour'd his groan, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And lonely want retir'd to die. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| No summons, mock'd by chill delay, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| No petty gain, disdain'd by pride; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The modest wants of ev'ry day | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The toil of ev'ry day supply'd. | 8 | ········ |
| His virtues walk'd their narrow round, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor made a pause, nor left a void; | 8 | ········ |
| And sure the eternal master found | 9 | ···˘/˘/˘· |
| The single talent well-employ'd. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The busy day--the peaceful night, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Unfelt, uncounted, glided by; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| His frame was firm--his pow'rs were bright, | 8 | ········ |
| Though now his eightieth year was nigh. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then, with no fiery throbbing pain, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| No cold gradations of decay, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Death broke, at once, the vital chain, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And freed his soul the nearest way. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.