“A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General” Summary

“A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General” Themes

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  Power, Hubris, and Cruelty

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• 

  Death and Impermanence

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General”

• Lines 1-4

  His Grace! impossible! what dead!
  Of old age too, and in his bed!
  And could that mighty warrior fall?
  And so inglorious, after all!

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  Well, since he's gone, no matter how,
  The last loud trump must wake him now:
  And, trust me, as the noise grows stronger,
  He'd wish to sleep a little longer.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-16

  And could he be indeed so old
  As by the newspapers we're told?
  Threescore, I think, is pretty high;
  'Twas time in conscience he should die
  This world he cumbered long enough;
  He burnt his candle to the snuff;
  And that's the reason, some folks think,
  He left behind so great a stink.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 17-20

  Behold his funeral appears,
  Nor widow's sighs, nor orphan's tears,
  Wont at such times each heart to pierce,
  Attend the progress of his hearse.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 21-24

  But what of that, his friends may say,
  He had those honours in his day.
  True to his profit and his pride,
  He made them weep before he died.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 25-28

  Come hither, all ye empty things,
  Ye bubbles raised by breath of kings;
  Who float upon the tide of state,
  Come hither, and behold your fate.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 29-32

  Let pride be taught by this rebuke,
  How very mean a thing's a Duke;
  From all his ill-got honours flung,
  Turned to that dirt from whence he sprung.

  

  

  

  

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“A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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“A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• His Grace
• Inglorious
• Trump
• Threescore
• In conscience
• Cumbered
• Snuff
• Wont
• Hearse
• Hither
• Ye
• State
• Rebuke
• Duke
• Ill-got
• Flung
• Sprung
• From whence

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General” Speaker

“A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General”

More “A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General” Resources

• External Resources

  • Swift's Life and Work — Learn more about Jonathan Swift in this biography from the Poetry Foundation. 

  • The Augustan Age — Listen to a documentary about the literature of the 18th-century Augustan Age, with particular focus on Swift and Alexander Pope.

  • Swift and the Duke — Read an article about the poet's main gripes with the General in question. 

  • A Man of Letters — Dive into Swift's correspondence, including with his fellow poet Alexander Pope.

  • The "Elegy" Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Jonathan Swift

  • On the Day of Judgment