On the Death of Dermody the Poet
Child of Misfortune! Offspring of the Muse!Mark like the meteor's gleam his mad career;With hollow cheeks and haggard eye,Behold he shrieking passes by:I see, I see him near:That hollow scream, that deepening groan;It rings upon mine ear.
Oh come, ye thoughtless, ye deluded youth,Who clasp the syren pleasure to your breast,Behold the wreck of genius here,And drop, oh drop the silent tearFor Dermody at rest:His fate is yours, then from your loinsTear quick the silken vest.
Saw'st thou his dying bed! Saw'st thou his eye,Once flashing fire, despair's dim tear distil;How ghastly did it seem;And then his dying scream:Oh God! I hear it still:It sounds upon my fainting sense,It strikes with deathly chill.
Say, didst thou mark the brilliant poet's death;Saw'st thou an anxious father by his bed,Or pitying friends around him stand:Or didst thou see a mother's handSupport his languid head:Oh none of these--no friend o'er himThe balm of pity shed.
Now come around, ye flippant sons of wealth,Sarcastic smile on genius fallen low;Now come around who pant for fame,And learn from hence, a poet's nameIs purchased but by woe:And when ambition prompts to rise,Oh think of him below.
For me, poor moralizer, I will run,Dejected, to some solitary state:The muse has set her seal on me,She set her seal on Dermody,It is the seal of fate:In some lone spot my bones may lie,Secure from human hate.
Yet ere I go I'll drop one silent tear,Where lies unwept the poet's fallen head:May peace her banners o'er him wave;For me in my deserted graveNo friend a tear shall shed:Yet may the lily and the roseBloom on my grassy bed.
Words in this poem
- career n.
- A race course: the ground run over. [F. carrière race course, high road, street, fr. L. carrus wagon. See Car.]
- haggard a.
- Wild or intractable; disposed to break away from duty; untamed; as, a haggard or refractory hawk. Shak [F. hagard; of German origin, and prop. meaning, of the hegde or woods, wild, untamed. See Hedge, 1st Haw, and -ard.]
- vest n.
- An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
- deathly a.
- Deadly; fatal; mortal; destructive.
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- flippant a.
- Of smooth, fluent, and rapid speech; speaking with ease and rapidity; having a voluble tongue; talkative. [Prov. E. flip to move nimbly; cf. W. llipa soft, limber, pliant, or Icel. fleipa to babble, prattle. Cf. Flip, Fillip, Flap, Flipper.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- pant v. i.
- To breathe quickly or in a labored manner, as after exertion or from eagerness or excitement; to respire with heaving of the breast; to gasp. [Cf. F. panteler to gasp for breath, OF. panteisier to be breathless, F. pantois out of breath; perh. akin to E. phantom, the verb prob. orig. meaning, to have t]
- moralizer n.
- One who moralizes.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Death of Dermody the Poet is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White : With a Memoir by Sir Harris Nicolas, Project Gutenberg ebook #7149; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Kirke White, On the Death of Dermody the Poet, in The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White (1803–1806), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7149, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kirke-white-poems/on-the-death-of-dermody-the-poet.html, id L10115.
Form and metre
On the Death of Dermody the Poet is 49 lines in 7 stanzas of 7 lines each. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -ABBA-A muse · careerA · eyeB · byB · nearA · groan · earA
- 2 -ABBA-A youth · breastA · hereB · tearB · restA · loins · vestA
- 3 -ABBA-A eye · distilA · seemB · screamB · stillA · sense · chillA
- 4 -ABBA-A death · bedA · standB · handB · headA · him · shedA
- 5 -ABBA-A wealth · lowA · fameB · nameB · woeA · rise · belowA
- 6 -AB-ABA run · stateA · meB · dermody · fateA · lieB · hateA
- 7 -ABBA-A tear · headA · waveB · graveB · shedA · rose · bedA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Child of Misfortune! Offspring of the Muse! | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| Mark like the meteor's gleam his mad career; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| With hollow cheeks and haggard eye, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Behold he shrieking passes by: | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| I see, I see him near: | 6 | ······ |
| That hollow scream, that deepening groan; | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| It rings upon mine ear. | 6 | ······ |
| Oh come, ye thoughtless, ye deluded youth, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Who clasp the syren pleasure to your breast, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Behold the wreck of genius here, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And drop, oh drop the silent tear | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For Dermody at rest: | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| His fate is yours, then from your loins | 8 | ········ |
| Tear quick the silken vest. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Saw'st thou his dying bed! Saw'st thou his eye, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Once flashing fire, despair's dim tear distil; | 10 | ·/˘/˘/··˘/ |
| How ghastly did it seem; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And then his dying scream: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Oh God! I hear it still: | 6 | ······ |
| It sounds upon my fainting sense, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It strikes with deathly chill. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Say, didst thou mark the brilliant poet's death; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Saw'st thou an anxious father by his bed, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Or pitying friends around him stand: | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Or didst thou see a mother's hand | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Support his languid head: | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Oh none of these--no friend o'er him | 8 | ········ |
| The balm of pity shed. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Now come around, ye flippant sons of wealth, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sarcastic smile on genius fallen low; | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Now come around who pant for fame, | 8 | ········ |
| And learn from hence, a poet's name | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Is purchased but by woe: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And when ambition prompts to rise, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Oh think of him below. | 6 | ······ |
| For me, poor moralizer, I will run, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Dejected, to some solitary state: | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘· |
| The muse has set her seal on me, | 8 | ········ |
| She set her seal on Dermody, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| It is the seal of fate: | 6 | ······ |
| In some lone spot my bones may lie, | 8 | ········ |
| Secure from human hate. | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Yet ere I go I'll drop one silent tear, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where lies unwept the poet's fallen head: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| May peace her banners o'er him wave; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For me in my deserted grave | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| No friend a tear shall shed: | 6 | ······ |
| Yet may the lily and the rose | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Bloom on my grassy bed. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.