On the Death of Demar, the Usurer; Who Died on the 6Th of July, 1720
Know all men by these presents, Death, the tamer,By mortgage has secured the corpse of Demar;Nor can four hundred thousand sterling poundRedeem him from his prison underground.His heirs might well, of all his wealth possesstBestow, to bury him, one iron chest.Plutus, the god of wealth, will joy to knowHis faithful steward in the shades below.He walk'd the streets, and wore a threadbare cloak;He din'd and supp'd at charge of other folk:And by his looks, had he held out his palms,He might be thought an object fit for alms.So, to the poor if he refus'd his pelf,He us'd 'em full as kindly as himself.Where'er he went, he never saw his betters;Lords, knights, and squires, were all his humble debtors;And under hand and seal, the Irish nationWere forc'd to own to him their obligation.He that cou'd once have half a kingdom bought,In half a minute is not worth a groat.His coffers from the coffin could not save,Nor all his int'rest keep him from the grave.A golden monument would not be right,Because we wish the earth upon him light.Oh London Tavern! thou hast lost a friend,Tho' in thy walls he ne'er did farthing spend;He touch'd the pence when others touch'd the pot;The hand that sign'd the mortgage paid the shot.Old as he was, no vulgar known diseaseOn him could ever boast a pow'r to seize;"But as the gold he weigh'd, grim death in spightCast in his dart, which made three moidores light;And, as he saw his darling money fail,Blew his last breath to sink the lighter scale."He who so long was current, 'twould be strangeIf he should now be cry'd down since his change.The sexton shall green sods on thee bestow;Alas, the sexton is thy banker now!A dismal banker must that banker be,Who gives no bills but of mortality!
Words in this poem
- tamer n.
- One who tames or subdues.
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- plutus n.
- The son of Jason and Ceres, and the god of wealth. He was represented as bearing a cornucopia, and as blind, because his gifts were bestowed without discrimination of merit.
- threadbare a.
- Worn to the naked thread; having the nap worn off; threadbare clothes.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- pelf n.
- Money; riches; lucre; gain; -- generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten or worthless. It has no plural. [OE. pelfir booty, OF. pelfre, akin to pelfrer to plunder, and perh. to E. pillage. Cf. Pilfer.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- groat n.
- An old English silver coin, equal to four pence. [LG. grote, orig., great, that is, a great piece of coin, larger than other coins in former use. See Great.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- spight n.
- A woodpecker. See Speight.
- 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,]
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
- mortality n.
- The condition or quality of being mortal; subjection to death or to the necessity of dying. [L. mortalitas: cf. F. mortalité.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Death of Demar, the Usurer; Who Died on the 6Th of July, 1720 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, On the Death of Demar, the Usurer; Who Died on the 6Th of July, 1720, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/on-the-death-of-demar-the-usurer-who-died-on-the-6th-of-july.html, id L24504.
Form and metre
On the Death of Demar, the Usurer; Who Died on the 6Th of July, 1720 is 40 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 70% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 --AA--BBCC--DDEEFF--GGHHIIJJKKLLMMNN---- tamer · demar · poundA · undergroundA · possesst · chest · knowB · belowB · cloakC · folkC · palms · alms · pelfD · himselfD · bettersE · debtorsE · nationF · obligationF · bought · groat · saveG · graveG · rightH · lightH · friendI · spendI · potJ · shotJ · diseaseK · seizeK · spightL · lightL · failM · scaleM · strangeN · changeN · bestow · now · be · mortality
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Know all men by these presents, Death, the tamer, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| By mortgage has secured the corpse of Demar; | 11 | ·/˘·˘/···˘/ |
| Nor can four hundred thousand sterling pound | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Redeem him from his prison underground. | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| His heirs might well, of all his wealth possesst | 10 | ·········· |
| Bestow, to bury him, one iron chest. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Plutus, the god of wealth, will joy to know | 10 | /˘········ |
| His faithful steward in the shades below. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| He walk'd the streets, and wore a threadbare cloak; | 10 | ·······/·· |
| He din'd and supp'd at charge of other folk: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And by his looks, had he held out his palms, | 10 | ·········· |
| He might be thought an object fit for alms. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| So, to the poor if he refus'd his pelf, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| He us'd 'em full as kindly as himself. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Where'er he went, he never saw his betters; | 11 | ˘˘/···/··/˘ |
| Lords, knights, and squires, were all his humble debtors; | 11 | ···/···/˘/˘ |
| And under hand and seal, the Irish nation | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Were forc'd to own to him their obligation. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| He that cou'd once have half a kingdom bought, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In half a minute is not worth a groat. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| His coffers from the coffin could not save, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Nor all his int'rest keep him from the grave. | 10 | ·········· |
| A golden monument would not be right, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| Because we wish the earth upon him light. | 10 | ·········· |
| Oh London Tavern! thou hast lost a friend, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Tho' in thy walls he ne'er did farthing spend; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| He touch'd the pence when others touch'd the pot; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The hand that sign'd the mortgage paid the shot. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Old as he was, no vulgar known disease | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| On him could ever boast a pow'r to seize; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| "But as the gold he weigh'd, grim death in spight | 10 | ·········· |
| Cast in his dart, which made three moidores light; | 10 | ·········· |
| And, as he saw his darling money fail, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Blew his last breath to sink the lighter scale." | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| He who so long was current, 'twould be strange | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| If he should now be cry'd down since his change. | 10 | ·········· |
| The sexton shall green sods on thee bestow; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Alas, the sexton is thy banker now! | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| A dismal banker must that banker be, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Who gives no bills but of mortality! | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
Notes from the edition 2
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume I, ed. W. E. Browning (Project Gutenberg #14353, 1910).
- Line 25 A tavern in Dublin, where Demar kept his office.--F.
- Line 31 These four lines were written by Stella.--F.
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