Epitaph on the Same
Beneath this verdant hillock liesDemar, the wealthy and the wise,His heirs, that he might safely rest,Have put his carcass in a chest;The very chest in which, they say,His other self, his money, lay.And, if his heirs continue kindTo that dear self he left behind,I dare believe, that four in fiveWill think his better self alive.
"His heirs for winding sheet bestow'dHis money bags together sew'dAnd that he might securely rest,"
Words in this poem
- carcass n.
- A dead body, whether of man or beast; a corpse; now commonly the dead body of a beast. [F. carcasse, fr. It. carcassa, fr. L. caro flesh + capsa chest, box, case. Cf. Carnal, Case a sheath.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epitaph on the Same is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #14353; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jonathan Swift, Epitaph on the Same, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/epitaph-on-the-same.html, id L24505.
Form and metre
Epitaph on the Same is 13 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
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 AABBCCDDEE liesA · wiseA · restB · chestB · sayC · layC · kindD · behindD · fiveE · aliveE
- 2 AA- bestow'dA · sew'dA · rest
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beneath this verdant hillock lies | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Demar, the wealthy and the wise, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| His heirs, that he might safely rest, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Have put his carcass in a chest; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The very chest in which, they say, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His other self, his money, lay. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And, if his heirs continue kind | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| To that dear self he left behind, | 8 | ········ |
| I dare believe, that four in five | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Will think his better self alive. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| "His heirs for winding sheet bestow'd | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| His money bags together sew'd | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And that he might securely rest," | 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.