The poem
Good people all, of every sort, Give ear unto my song; And if you find it wondrous short, It cannot hold you long.
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.
A kind and gentle heart he had, To comfort friends and foes; The naked every day he clad— When he put on his clothes.
And in that town a dog was found, As many dogs there be, Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound, And curs of low degree.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Yeah i dunno i think this poem is pretty crazy. actually this entire assingment is pretty dumb come to think of it. Rocchi should come up with better homework assignments. peace out homes
In this poem Oliver is talking about a very wise man in Islington. He used to sing and said that all good people heard him sing. The people said that he still competes with God whenever he goes to pray. He was very kind and gentle at heart. He helped everyone, be it his friends or his foes. He dressed up and went out everyday. That day he found a dog in the town, may be a lost dog. This dog became his friend. But…
Read the whole commentIn this poem Oliver is talking about a very wise man in Islington. He used to sing and said that all good people heard him sing. The people said that he still competes with God whenever he goes to pray. He was very kind and gentle at heart. He helped everyone, be it his friends or his foes. He dressed up and went out everyday. That day he found a dog in the town, may be a lost dog. This dog became his friend. But though this man was loving by nature, he petted other animals also. This dog was jealous and wanted his master’s attention. In the rage of anger, he bit the man. All neighbours ran away from the dog towards this man. They banked that the dog had lost its senses, how could he bite such a nice man? The wound was very bad, every one pitied the man. They banked no doubt the dog had gone mad, but even the man would not survive. But soon a miracle happened. The man recovered of the bite and the mad dog died.
The poet is trying to say that if we are good human beings, God will always be kind wit us. If we do good deeds, we get good rewards. No doubt God tests the good people, but we should be good human beings and God will help us come out of every problem in life.
(Sweety Gurnani, India)
it can be the other way round. the poet can be meaning that there are people who are good from outside but with a dirty heart. thats why the dog died and not him b'coz the man was more vicious than the dog. this gives more meaning to this poem considering the present world....