On the Death of His Eldest Son

George Canning 1770 (Marylebone, Middlesex) – 1827 (Chiswick, Middlesex)



Though short thy space, God's unimpeach'd decrees
Which made that shorten'd space one long disease;
Yet, merciful in chast'ning, gave thee scope
For mild redeeming virtues, faith and hope,
Meek resignation, pious charity;
And, since this world was not the world for thee,
Far from thy path removed, with partial care,
Strife, glory, gain, and pleasure's flowery snare,
Bade earth's temptation's pass thee harmless by.
And fix'd on heaven thine unreverted eye!
Oh! mark'd from birth, and nurtured for the skies!
In youth with more than learning's wisdom wise!
As sainted martyrs, patient to endure!
Simple as unwean'd infancy, and pure!
Pure from all stain (save that of human clay,
Which Christ's suff'rings now no more oppress'd,
Mount, sinless spirit, to thy destined rest!
While I - reversed our nature's kindlier doom -
Pour forth a father's sorrows on thy tomb.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

47 sec read
63

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGHIIJJ
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 856
Words 143
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 19

George Canning

George Canning, FRS, was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and was briefly Prime Minister. Canning was born into an Anglo-Irish family at his parents' home in Queen Anne Street, Marylebone, London. Canning described himself as "an Irishman born in London". His father, George Canning, Sr., of Garvagh, County Londonderry, Ireland, was a gentleman of limited means, a failed wine merchant and lawyer, who renounced his right to inherit the family estate in exchange for payment of his substantial debts. George Sr. eventually abandoned the family and died in poverty on 11 April 1771, his son's first birthday, in London. Canning's mother, Mary Anne Costello, took work as a stage actress, a profession not considered respectable at the time. Indeed when in 1827 it looked as if Canning would become Prime Minister, Lord Grey remarked that "the son of an actress is, ipso facto, disqualified from becoming Prime Minister". more…

All George Canning poems | George Canning Books

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