On the Posthumous Fame of Doctor Johnson
Well it becomes thee, Britain, to avowJOHNSON's high claims!--yet boasting that his firesWere of unclouded lustre, TRUTH retiresBlushing, and JUSTICE knits her solemn brow;The eyes of GRATITUDE withdraw the glowHis moral strain inspir'd.--Their zeal requiresThat thou should'st better guard the sacred Lyres,Sources of thy bright fame, than to bestowPerfection's wreath on him, whose ruthless hand,Goaded by jealous rage, the laurels tore,That JUSTICE, TRUTH, and GRATITUDE demandShould deck those Lyres till Time shall be no more.--A radiant course did Johnson's Glory run,But large the spots that darken'd on its Sun.
Words in this poem
- avow v. t.
- To bind, or to devote, by a vow. Wyclif. [OF. avouer, fr. LL. votare to vow, fr. L. votun. See Vote, n.]
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- knits n.
- Small particles of ore. Raymond. [Prob. same word as nit a louse's egg.]
- ruthless a.
- Having no ruth; cruel; pitiless.
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- 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 Posthumous Fame of Doctor Johnson is in the public domain. This text is taken from Original sonnets on various subjects; and odes paraphrased from Horace, Project Gutenberg ebook #27663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anna Seward, On the Posthumous Fame of Doctor Johnson, in Original Sonnets on Various Subjects (1799), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seward-sonnets/on-the-posthumous-fame-of-doctor-johnson.html, id L09807.
Form and metre
On the Posthumous Fame of Doctor Johnson is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG avowA · firesB · retiresA · browB · glowC · requiresD · lyresC · bestowD · handE · toreF · demandE · moreF · runG · sunG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Well it becomes thee, Britain, to avow | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| JOHNSON's high claims!--yet boasting that his fires | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| Were of unclouded lustre, TRUTH retires | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Blushing, and JUSTICE knits her solemn brow; | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| The eyes of GRATITUDE withdraw the glow | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| His moral strain inspir'd.--Their zeal requires | 11 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/˘ |
| That thou should'st better guard the sacred Lyres, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Sources of thy bright fame, than to bestow | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Perfection's wreath on him, whose ruthless hand, | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Goaded by jealous rage, the laurels tore, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| That JUSTICE, TRUTH, and GRATITUDE demand | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Should deck those Lyres till Time shall be no more.-- | 10 | ·········· |
| A radiant course did Johnson's Glory run, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| But large the spots that darken'd on its Sun. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
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