Analysis of Epitaph to a Dog
Near this Spot
are deposited the Remains of one
who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferosity,
and all the virtues of Man without his Vices.
This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
if inscribed over human Ashes,
is but a just tribute to the Memory of
BOATSWAIN, a DOG,
who was born in Newfoundland May 1803
and died at Newstead Nov. 18th, 1808.
When some proud Son of Man returns to Earth,
Unknown to Glory but upheld by Birth,
The sculptor's art exhausts the pomp of woe,
And storied urns record who rests below:
When all is done, upon the Tomb is seen
Not what he was, but what he should have been.
But the poor Dog, in life the firmest friend,
The first to welcome, foremost to defend,
Whose honest heart is still his Master's own,
Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone,
Unhonour'd falls, unnotic'd all his worth,
Deny'd in heaven the Soul he held on earth:
While man, vain insect! hopes to be forgiven,
And claims himself a sole exclusive heaven.
Oh man! thou feeble tenant of an hour,
Debas'd by slavery, or corrupt by power,
Who knows thee well, must quit thee with disgust,
Degraded mass of animated dust!
Thy love is lust, thy friendship all a cheat,
Thy tongue hypocrisy, thy heart deceit!
By nature vile, ennobled but by name,
Each kindred brute might bid thee blush for shame.
Ye! who behold perchance this simple urn,
Pass on, it honors none you wish to mourn.
To mark a friend's remains these stones arise;
I never knew but one—and here he lies.
Scheme | ABCXADCDXXXX EEFFXXGGHHEEBBIIJJKKLLXXMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 111 1010000111 1011001100 101100 10011 010101101110 111111100 101101010 110110101001 1001 11101001 0111111 1111110111 0111010111 011010111 0101011101 1111010111 1111111111 1011010101 011101101 1101111101 111111101 11010111 1010011111 1111111010 01010101010 11110101110 011100101110 1111111101 010111001 1111110101 1101001101 1101010111 1101111111 1101011101 1111011111 1101011101 1101110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,487 |
Words | 271 |
Sentences | 13 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 12, 26 |
Lines Amount | 38 |
Letters per line (avg) | 31 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 595 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 136 |
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"Epitaph to a Dog" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/54222/epitaph-to-a-dog>.
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