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Poem
August 26, 1785
Fowle's New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser
Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
What is this article about?
Dr. Goldsmith's satirical poem likens the fading beauty of a woman resorting to excessive dress to a nation's decline under luxury, where initial simplicity gives way to artificial splendor amid peasant suffering and famine.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
Dr. GOLDSMITH's Description of a Capital.
Luxury is the lurking Place of Innocence.
See some fair female, unadorn'd and plain;
Secure to please while youth confirms her reign
Slights every borrow'd charm that dress supplies,
Nor shares with art the triumph of her eyes.
But when those charms are past, for charms are frail
When time advances, and when lovers fail,
She then shines forth, solicitous to bless,
In all the glaring impotence of dress.
Thus fares the land, by luxury betray'd;
In nature's simplest charms at first array'd;
But verging to decline, its splendors rise,
Its vistas strike, its palaces surprize;
While scourged by famine, from the smiling land
The mournful peasant leads his humble band;
And while he sinks, without one arm to save,
The country blooms a garden and a grave.
Luxury is the lurking Place of Innocence.
See some fair female, unadorn'd and plain;
Secure to please while youth confirms her reign
Slights every borrow'd charm that dress supplies,
Nor shares with art the triumph of her eyes.
But when those charms are past, for charms are frail
When time advances, and when lovers fail,
She then shines forth, solicitous to bless,
In all the glaring impotence of dress.
Thus fares the land, by luxury betray'd;
In nature's simplest charms at first array'd;
But verging to decline, its splendors rise,
Its vistas strike, its palaces surprize;
While scourged by famine, from the smiling land
The mournful peasant leads his humble band;
And while he sinks, without one arm to save,
The country blooms a garden and a grave.
What sub-type of article is it?
Satire
What themes does it cover?
Satire Society
Commerce Trade
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Goldsmith
Luxury
Innocence
Decline
Satire
Capital
Famine
What entities or persons were involved?
Dr. Goldsmith
Poem Details
Title
Description Of A Capital
Author
Dr. Goldsmith
Subject
On Luxury And National Decline
Form / Style
Rhymed Couplets
Key Lines
Luxury Is The Lurking Place Of Innocence.
In All The Glaring Impotence Of Dress.
The Country Blooms A Garden And A Grave.