Epitaph at Welwyn, Hertfordshire
If fond of what is rare, attend!Here lies an honest man,Of perfect piety,Of lamblike patience,My friend, James Barker;To whom I pay this mean memorial,For what deserves the greatest.An exampleWhich shone through all the clouds of fortune,Industrious in low estate,The lesson and reproach of those above him.To lay this little stoneIs my ambition;While others rearThe polish'd marbles of the great!Vain pomp;A turf o'er virtue charms us more.
Words in this poem
- lamblike a.
- Like a lamb; gentle; meek; inoffensive.
- barker n.
- An animal that barks; hence, any one who clamors unreasonably.
- industrious a.
- Given to industry; characterized by diligence; constantly, regularly, or habitually occupied; busy; assiduous; not slothful or idle; -- commonly implying devotion to lawful and useful labor. [L. industrius, industriosus: cf. F. industrieux. See Industry.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epitaph at Welwyn, Hertfordshire is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Edward Young, Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #18827; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edward Young, Epitaph at Welwyn, Hertfordshire, in The Poetical Works, Volume II (1742–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18827, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/young-night-thoughts/epitaph-at-welwyn-hertfordshire.html, id L09473.
Form and metre
Epitaph at Welwyn, Hertfordshire is 17 lines in a single stanza. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.6 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% 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 --------AB-AA-B-- attend · man · piety · patience · barker · memorial · greatest · example · fortuneA · estateB · him · stoneA · ambitionA · rear · greatB · pomp · more
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If fond of what is rare, attend! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Here lies an honest man, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of perfect piety, | 6 | ·/·/˘˘ |
| Of lamblike patience, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| My friend, James Barker; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| To whom I pay this mean memorial, | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| For what deserves the greatest. | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| An example | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Which shone through all the clouds of fortune, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Industrious in low estate, | 8 | ˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| The lesson and reproach of those above him. | 11 | ·/˘·˘/····· |
| To lay this little stone | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Is my ambition; | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| While others rear | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The polish'd marbles of the great! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Vain pomp; | 2 | ·· |
| A turf o'er virtue charms us more. | 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.