Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Oliver Goldsmith was an Anglo-Irish novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright born on 10th November 1728 and died on 4th April 1774. He is most known for his popular novel The Vicar of the Wakefield, published in 1766, and his comedy-drama She Stoops to Conquer 1771. In addition, he is also known for his philosophical poem ‘The Traveller; or, a Prospect of Society’ published in 1764, his pastoral poem The Deserted Village published in 1770, and The Hermit, a 160-line romantic ballad published in 1765.
An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog is a satirical ironic poem written by Oliver Goldsmith that was a part of his popular novel The Vicar of the Wakefield. The poem is about a rabid dog that bites a man, and the effect that this act of violence has on the people of London.
An elegy is a generally serious poem written to honor an individual who has died. Even though it is titled as an ‘elegy’, the obvious tone of the poet is that of derision and mockery. He gets the readers to contemplate over superficial attributes of an individual and questions the generally acknowledged version of what defines ‘good’.
The poem describes the death of a mad dog who once bit a very good man who was admired by everyone. The man and the dog lived in a town called Islington, which was full of all different kinds of dogs, and the man at first befriended this dog when they encountered one another. However, for some unknown reason, the dog bit the man, and everyone was shocked that the dog would bite so good a man, they decided that the dog must be mad and believed that the man would die of his injury. However, it was the tragic death of the dog at the end that imparts the complete impact of what the poet has been advocating all this while!
Structure of the Poem:
The poem contains 32 lines set in eight stanzas or eight quatrains (4 lines each). The rhyming scheme of the poem is simple ABAB. Goldsmith employed a simple songlike alternating metrical pattern of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. Thus, the first and third lines of each quatrain contain eight syllables, and the second and fourth lines contain six syllables. The poem follows a ballad pattern and it may also be compared with a nursery rhyme style pattern. The poem follows the genre of Satire and Parody. The poem satirizes the genre of elegies.
Summary of An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog:
Stanza 1 Lines 1-4
“Good people all, of every sort,
Give ear unto my song;
And if you find it wondrous short,
It cannot hold you long.”
The poet urges people from all walks of life, people of all kinds to give their ears to his song. The poet acknowledges that the song may be short, but assures the listeners that it won’t take up much of their time. It implies that the song has a concise and captivating message that can be enjoyed by everyone. So, the poet invites people to listen and engage with the song, regardless of its brevity. In the third and fourth lines, the poet also lowers the audience’s expectations, reminding those who might find his poem too “short” or inconsequential that it at least will not detain or “hold” them “long.”
Stanza 2 Lines 5-8
“In Islington there was a man,
Of whom the world might say
That still a godly race he ran,
Whene’er he went to pray.”
In this stanza, the poet offers the setting of Islington and introduces, the man, the main character of the poem. The speaker says that there was a man in Islington who was known for his devout religious practices. Whenever he went to pray, he was regarded as someone who maintained a strong and righteous spiritual connection. The lines imply that this man was highly respected for his religious devotion. In line 7, the speaker describes that man as ‘godly’ which means that he is a good and pious man, a good Christian, who appears to be a fine example of Christianity and well-liked by the townspeople. However, the poet inserts a doubt in line 6, an ironic statement that hints the man is not as charitable or godly as he seems to the rest of the “world.”
Stanza 3 Lines 9-12
“A kind and gentle heart he had,
To comfort friends and foes;
The naked every day he clad,
When he put on his clothes.”
The speaker continues describing the man who is the central character. The man was considered to be a kind-hearted and religious man. He was thought to be a good Christian. He was ever ready to help the “naked” or poor and the needy. This stanza highlights the kindness and compassion of the man in Islington. He had a gentle heart and showed care and support not only to his friends but also to his enemies. The lines also humorously mention that he helped the needy by clothing the naked, but only when he put on his own clothes. This emphasizes his generosity and willingness to help others in any way he could. Again, the speaker hints at irony in line 12. The man cares for himself first and only then, does he think of helping others, also when he is going to get known for that help. Oliver Goldsmith iterates that these acts considered to be virtuous are motivated by self-regard, making you wonder if this is actually the sort of right thinking that should be upheld.
Stanza 4 Lines 13-16
“And in that town a dog was found,
As many dogs there be,
Both mongrel, puppy, whelp and hound,
And curs of low degree.”
In the fourth stanza, the speaker introduces the titular mad dog. The poet describes it as one of ‘many dogs’. In the town of Islington, there was a wide variety of dogs, including mixed breeds, puppies, young dogs, and even lowly mutts. The lines highlight the diverse and varied population of dogs in the town, ranging from different breeds and backgrounds. The irony is again introduced when Goldsmith portrays Islington as the home of many stray dogs of differing breeds and “degree.”
Stanza 5 Lines 17-20
“This dog and man at first were friends;
But when a pique began,
The dog, to gain some private ends,
Went mad, and bit the man.”
In this stanza, the speaker acknowledges the man and the stray dog have a history as “friends”, but after a “pique” or provocation between them occurs, the dog bites the man, for reasons unknown to onlookers. Initially, the dog and the man were friends. However, a disagreement or argument arose between them, causing the dog to become enraged and bite the man. The lines illustrate a shift in the relationship from friendship to hostility due to the dog’s sudden change in behavior.
Stanza 6 Lines 21-24
“Around from all the neighbouring streets
The wond’ring neighbours ran,
And swore the dog had lost its wits
To bite so good a man.”
In this stanza, the speaker mentions the witnesses’ response to the biting incident. The speaker describes how the incident with the dog biting the man attracted the attention of the neighbors. They were surprised and couldn’t believe that the dog would act in such a way towards a good man. The neighbors concluded that the dog must have gone mad or lost its sanity to harm someone who was well-regarded. Only a mad dog could have bitten such a good man.
Stanza 7 Lines 25-28
“The wound it seemed both sore and sad
To every Christian eye;
And while they swore the dog was mad,
They swore the man would die.”
In this stanza, the speaker continues to describe the response of the witnesses of the biting incident while informing about the seriousness of the wound that the godly man suffered. The stanza highlights the seriousness of the man’s wound, which saddened and concerned everyone who saw it. While some believed the dog was mad, others feared for the man’s life, thinking that his injuries were severe enough to be fatal. The lines emphasize the gravity of the situation and the worry surrounding the man’s well-being. The “Christian” neighbors of the man swear the dog is mad and that the man will die of his “sore and sad” wound.
Stanza 8 Lines 29-32
“But soon a wonder came to light
That showed the rogues they lied,—
The man recovered of the bite,
The dog it was that died!”
The last stanza offers the crux of the poem, the main irony. The stanza describes a surprising turn of events. Contrary to what the skeptics believed, it was revealed that the man actually recovered from the dog bite. The real surprise was that it was the dog that ended up dying. It’s a humorous ending that shows how appearances can be deceiving. The speaker asserts that the ‘Christian’ neighbors, now described as “rogues,” had “lied” and were wrong about how the man and dog would fare. The man recovers from his wound, and the dog is the one who ultimately dies from the incident.
Ultimately it is the man who carried the poison within him (an extended metaphor relating to the poison within our hearts), which even got to the dog and killed it. It is even more daunting to know that despite all the ‘bad’ in the man, he continues to live. This twist at the end throws light on how society believes and supports what is shown to be good, often disregarding actual merit. Oliver criticizes that some people are more poisonous than a mad dog. In reality, it may not be so, but "these people" cause more harm than a mad dog can.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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