An Elegy on a Lap-dog



1     Shock's fate I mourn; poor Shock is now no more,
2     Ye Muses mourn, ye chamber-maids deplore.
3     Unhappy Shock! yet more unhappy fair,
4     Doom'd to survive thy joy and only care!
5     Thy wretched fingers now no more shall deck,
6     And tie the fav'rite ribbon round his neck;
7     No more thy hand shall smooth his glossy hair,
8     And comb the wavings of his pendent ear.
9     Yet cease thy flowing grief, forsaken maid;
10   All mortal pleasures in a moment fade:
11   Our surest hope is in an hour destroy'd,
12   And love, best gift of heav'n, not long enjoy'd.

13         Methinks I see her frantic with despair,
14   Her streaming eyes, wrung hands, and flowing hair
15   Her Mechlen pinners rent the floor bestrow,
16   And her torn fan gives real signs of woe.
17   Hence Superstition, that tormenting guest,
18   That haunts with fancied fears the coward breast;
19   No dread events upon his fate attend,
20   Stream eyes no more, no more thy tresses rend.
21   Tho' certain omens oft forewarn a state,
22   And dying lions show the monarch's fate;
23   Why should such fears bid Celia's sorrow rise?
24   For when a lap-dog falls no lover dies.

25         Cease, Celia, cease; restrain thy flowing tears,
26   Some warmer passion will dispel thy cares.
27   In man you'll find a more substantial bliss,
28   More grateful toying, and a sweeter kiss.

29         He's dead. Oh lay him gently in the ground!
30   And may his tomb be by this verse renown'd.
31   Here Shock, the pride of all his kind, is laid;
32   Who fawn'd like man, but ne'er like man betray'd.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:29 min read
107

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCBXDDEE BBAXFFXDGGHH IIJJ KKDD
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,572
Words 284
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 12, 12, 4, 4

John Gay

John Gay, a cousin of the poet John Gay, was an English philosopher, biblical scholar and Church of England clergyman. more…

All John Gay poems | John Gay Books

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