A Satirical Elegy On The Death Of A Late Famous General - Jonathan Swift

Question 1

‘Late Famous General’ context

Answer 1

John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, advanced only bc queen anne favoured him, nepotism, used power for personal gain to get money/authoruty
- hated by swift

Question 2

‘His Grace! impossible! what, dead!
Of old age too, and in his bed!
And could that mighty warrior fall,’

Answer 2

’!’ - repetition of exclamatives
‘And’ - Anaphora, can’t believe it’s rea;, contain his excitement
‘ mighty warrior’ -contrast of how a general is expected to die
- premodified noun phrase makes it satircal

Question 3

‘And so inglorious, after all?
Well, since he’s gone, no matter how,
The last loud trump must wake him now;’

Answer 3

‘inglorious’ - irony,not great at all in fact, beloved for the wrong reasons
‘Well’ - exclamation, dismissive, flippant, shows his lack of respect towards Churchill and general dislike in many ways
‘last loud trump’ - staccato, emphasises finality, allusion to the christian faith, the sound of the trumpet reflects Churchill’s final judgement

Question 4

‘He’d wish to sleep a little longer
And could he be indeed so old
…
Threescore, I think, is pretty high;
Twas time in conscience that he should die!’

Answer 4

‘He’d wish to sleep a little longer’ - judgement coming closer, wish he was sleeping longer, suggesting he’d want respite before he’s sent to hell
‘should’ - modal verb , total disregard, suggesting that 60 is long enough for a man such as himself to be alive for.

Question 5

‘This world he cumber’d long enough,
He burnt his candle to the snuff;
And that’s the reason, some folks think,
He left behind so great a stink.’

Answer 5

‘cumber’d’ - been tethered to, used up space that could have been used for others, a burden
‘candle to the snuff’ - times up, metaphor, literary sense: used up oxygen that should’ve been for others
‘folks’ - colloquial language
‘stink’ - plosive sounds, bad reputation, trouble

Question 6

‘Behold his funeral appears,
Nor widows’ sighs, nor orphans’ tears,’
…
‘He had those honours in his day.
True to his profit and his pride,
He made them weep before he died.’

Answer 6

‘sighs’ all emotive lexis, nouns, to establish their fatigue/lack of interest concerning the death of the general
‘tears’ - stopped crying/never began because they’re relieved he’s dead
‘honours’ - battle scenes and war were all he had, he was only known for the death of many
- causing such distress was intended, he had the ‘honour’ to make people cry when he was alive, not when he was dead.
-disregard for his own people
‘He made them weep before he died’ - contrast ‘nor orphans’ tears’ exclaims what a bad general he was, so bad that no one cried for him but rather bc of him

Question 7

‘Ye bubbles rais’d by breath of kings
Who float upon the tide of state;
…
Let pride be taught by this rebuke,
…
From all his ill-got honours flung,
Turn’d to that dirt from whence he sprung.’

Answer 7

‘Ye bubbles rais’d’ - image of his power/ego being empty, not real substance bc he’s raised by others, not his own achievements
‘breath of kings’ - his status is raised by the ‘breath’/words of kings
‘float’ -champagne drunk by higher classes, glass was ‘rais’d’ by kings, status given due to nepotism
‘pride be taught by this rebuke’ - dukes fate should teach people a lesson
‘ill-got honours’ - noun phrase attacking his achievements, diminshing them to useless and nice-falsities
‘dirt’ - disparaging lexis could suggest he is a stain on the earth
‘whence he sprung’ - implying he came from hell and will return there prior to his death.