An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog

“An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog” begins with the speaker’s salutation to the audience, described as “good people all, of every sort” (Line 1), and the speaker’s request that the audience “give ear unto my song” (Line 2). The speaker believes their “song” or poem is fitting and enjoyable for all sorts of people of different stations and classes. This address to the audience is immediately followed by a disclaimer; regarding the poem, the speaker states, “And if you find it wondrous short, / It cannot hold you long” (Lines 3-4). Acknowledging the poem’s relatively short length and anticipating various criticisms, the speaker quickly characterizes the poem as little more than a fun and trivial “song” that will entertain in the moment but will not “hold you long” (Line 4) or demand too much attention.

Goldsmith provides the poem’s setting of Islington, where Goldsmith himself lived for some time, and presents its principal character in the second stanza. The speaker introduces the man, who possesses the good opinion of “the world” (Line 6) or at the very least his neighbors, who notice “his godly race” (Line 7) when he goes to pray. This remark, as well as the description of the man in the third stanza, is quite ironic in its deliberate misuse of biblical verses. Rather than a metaphor for the life of a Christian, the “godly race” spoken of here is an actual race, signifying only that the man is in a hurry to pray. This race does not indicate any good in his moral character.

Stanza 3 takes the irony further, demonstrating the man’s lack of good Christian qualities. Although he has a reputation for being “kind and gentle” (Line 9) to everyone, even his “foes” (Line 10), the extent of the man’s goodness and charity is unto himself. The speaker states, “The naked every day he clad, / When he put on his clothes” (Lines 11-12). The first line implies that the man takes care of the poor, alluding to scriptural concepts of caring for and clothing the impoverished (Matthew 25:43), but the next line immediately and humorously undercuts that idea. The only naked person the man clothes “every day” is himself. Once again, Goldsmith takes a biblical principal and metaphor and literalizes it. The only race the man performs is a physical run, and the only person clothed is himself when he gets ready for the day.

In the next stanza, the speaker introduces the poem’s titular character, the “mad” dog. The dog is only one of “many” (Line 14) strays in Islington, a town home to dogs of every kind. The speaker catalogues the different kinds of dogs scattered about, including “mongrels,” “puppies,” “whelps,” “hounds,” and “curs of low degree” (Lines 15-16), as well as the “mad dog.” Goldsmith deliberately offers very little initial information about the dog, characterizing it in this stanza as merely being a dog like any other.

The fifth stanza supplies a little more information about the dog. The speaker informs the audience that the man and the dog “at first were friends” (Line 17) until a “pique” (Line 18) or irritation transpired. After this incident, the dog, “to gain some private ends” (Line 19), becomes “mad” (Line 20) and bites the man. While this stanza gives some more information about the dog, the speaker still provides little insight into his actions. The dog’s reasons for biting the man are “private” and known only to himself, leading onlookers and the speaker to deem him as having gone “mad.” There is no indication of whether the man or the dog was the one provoked, and that lack of information and sense of ambiguity are key to the poem’s eventual twist ending.

Goldsmith next introduces the man’s neighbors. The speaker describes the neighbors as “wondering” (Line 22) or amazed at the dog’s attack, indicating that the dog likely has no prior history of violence. As they run around “all the neighboring streets” (Line 21) and discuss the man and dog’s confrontation, they conclude the dog must have “lost his wits” (Line 23) to attack “so good a man” (Line 24). With no information on which to base their opinion, the neighbors resort to their personal biases of the man’s goodness and the rabid nature of dogs and swear (Lines 23, 27) the dog is mad. During their gossip, the “Christian” (Line 26) neighbors express pity for the man’s “sore and sad” (Line 25) wound but promise the man will die (Line 28).

The final stanza delivers a quintessentially Goldsmith twist ending. A “wonder” (Line 29) occurs; the man recovers to full health, but the uninjured dog dies, making liars and “rogues” (Line 30) of the opinionated and misinformed neighbors. The seemingly virtuous man turns out to be inwardly corrupt and dangerous and the dog likely innocent. After extensively building up the man’s wound and his encroaching death, Goldsmith creates a humorous reversal, finally delivering on the poem’s title and providing some sort of elegy “on the death of a mad dog.” But while the dog does ultimately die, by the poem’s end, its “mad” nature has been thoroughly questioned. With the parting quip “the dog it was that died” (Line 32) and no further explanation, Goldsmith concludes his lighthearted song and demonstrates how appearances can often be deceiving.