“The Demon Drink” by William Topaz McGonagall
Oh, thou demon Drink, thou fell destroyer;
Thou curse of society, and its greatest annoyer.
What hast thou done to society, let me think?
I answer thou hast caused the most of ills, thou demon Drink.
Thou causeth the mother to neglect her child,
Also the father to act as he were wild,
So that he neglects his loving wife and family dear,
By spending his earnings foolishly on whisky, rum and beer.
And after spending his earnings foolishly he beats his wife-
The man that promised to protect her during life-
And so the man would if there was no drink in society,
For seldom a man beats his wife in a state of sobriety.
And if he does, perhaps he finds his wife fou',
Then that causes, no doubt, a great hullaballo;
When he finds his wife drunk he begins to frown,
And in a fury of passion he knocks her down.
And in that knock down she fractures her head,
And perhaps the poor wife she is killed dead,
Whereas, if there was no strong drink to be got,
To be killed wouldn't have been the poor wife's lot.
Then the unfortunate husband is arrested and cast into jail,
And sadly his fate he does bewail;
And he curses the hour that ever was born,
And paces his cell up and down very forlorn.
And when the day of his trial draws near,
No doubt for the murdering of his wife he drops a tear,
And he exclaims, "Oh, thou demon Drink, through thee I must die,"
And on the scaffold he warns the people from drink to fly,
Because whenever a father or a mother takes to drink,
Step by step on in crime they do sink,
Until their children loses all affection for them,
And in justice we cannot their children condemn.
The man that gets drunk is little else than a fool,
And is in the habit, no doubt, of advocating for Home Rule;
But the best Home Rule for him, as far as I can understand,
Is the abolition of strong drink from the land.
And the men that get drunk in general wants Home Rule;
But such men, I rather think, should keep their heads cool,
And try and learn more sense, I most earnestlty do pray,
And help to get strong drink abolished without delay.
If drink was abolished how many peaceful homes would there be,
Just, for instance in the beautiful town of Dundee;
then this world would be heaven, whereas it's a hell,
An the people would have more peace in it to dwell
Alas! strong drink makes men and women fanatics,
And helps to fill our prisons and lunatics;
And if there was no strong drink such cases wouldn't be,
Which would be a very glad sight for all christians to see.
O admit, a man may be a very good man,
But in my opinion he cannot be a true Christian
As long as he partakes of strong drink,
The more that he may differently think.
But no matter what he thinks, I say nay,
For by taking it he helps to lead his brither astray,
Whereas, if he didn't drink, he would help to reform society,
And we would soon do away with all inebriety.
Then, for the sake of society and the Church of God,
Let each one try to abolish it at home and abroad;
Then poverty and crime would decrease and be at a stand,
And Christ's Kingdom would soon be established throughout the land.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, pause and think,
And try to abolish the foul fiend, Drink.
Let such doctrine be taught in church and school,
That the abolition of strong drink is the only Home Rule.
William
Topaz McGonagall’s “The Demon Drink” (1890)
is a poem that discusses the evils of the Demon Drink and teaches that the
abolition of this drink would make increase peaceful homes. This demon drink
destroys the society and it is proper that the abolition of this strong drink
be taught in church and in school. A man and a woman may behave wildly when he
or she is drunk and may promote troubles in the family if this foolishness
continues. This theme makes the whole poem of William Topaz McGonagall.
In “The Republic” (360
B.C.), Plato presents Socrates setting the requirements of the stories that are
to be read to the children in the State. It must teach a lesson and should not
contain false accounts on gods and heroes that will corrupt the youth’s minds
into believing that gods and heroes perform evil deeds. Some of the rules in “The Republic”, which are the bases
for discussion in this paper, state that
evil acts are unholy, that God causes only good things, that lamentations are
not for famous men, that temperance must be taught to the youth, and that Simple
Narration is a better style than Imitation.
Evil acts are unholy
Socrates in “The
Republic” said that the stories to be read and to be accepted in the state should
be stories which persuade children that evil acts, such as a citizen
quarrelling with another, should not be acted out by the youth for it is
impious to do so. Stories presenting evil acts must be rejected while the
stories that have a virtuous influence must be accepted. Such view is stated in
this passage:
No, we shall never mention the battles of the giants, or let them be embroidered on garments; and we shall be silent about the innumerable other quarrels of gods and heroes with their friends and relatives. If they would only believe us we would tell them that quarrelling is unholy, and that never up to this time has there been any, quarrel between citizens; this is what old men and old women should begin by telling children; and when they grow up, the poets also should be told to compose for them in a similar spirit. . . and therefore it is most important that the tales which the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts. (The Republic, 66)
In “The Demon Drink”, the persona narrates a story of the evils of the
demon drink where a man behaves wildly when drunk. Such was an act of an
impious man. It is an unholy act to neglect a loving wife and a family, to
spend earnings foolishly on whisky, rum and beer, and to beat and knock a wife
down which kills her at the end:
O admit, a man may be a very good man,
But in my opinion he cannot be a true Christian
As long as he partakes of strong drink,
The more that he may differently think. (McGonagall, 1890)
At the end of the poem, the persona
stated his thoughts of advocating that the abolition of this foul fiend, Drink,
must be taught in church and school and must be the only House Rule:
Therefore, brothers and sisters, pause and think,
And try to abolish the foul fiend, Drink.
Let such doctrine be taught in church and school,
That the abolition of strong drink is the only Home Rule. (McGonagall, 1890)
This poem presents drinking the
Demon Drink as unholy and influences virtuous thoughts to the readers;
therefore it is an acceptable work of fiction to be shared among the young
ones.
God causes only good things
First of the qualifications of a good fiction is that it
should not teach that God is the cause of everything, including evil. It should
teach that God only causes all good things. Here is the passage from “The Republic” that states this rule:
he must say that God did what was just and right, and they were the better for being punished; but that those who are punished are miserable, and that God is the author of their misery — the poet is not to be permitted to say; though he may say that the wicked are miserable because they require to be punished, and are benefited by receiving punishment from God; but that God being good is the author of evil to any one is to be strenuously denied, and not to be said or sung or heard in verse or prose by any one whether old or young in any well-ordered commonwealth. Such a fiction is suicidal, ruinous, impious. (The Republic, 68)
In “The Demon Drink”, the persona who narrates a story of the evils of
the demon drink says that the man who got drunk and killed his wife was to be
punished by trial and that the thing to be blamed is the demon Drink. Here are
the lines:
And when the day of his trial draws near,
No doubt for the murdering of his wife he drops a tear,
And he exclaims, "Oh, thou demon Drink, through thee I must die,"
And on the scaffold he warns the people from drink to fly,
In relation to the rule stated by
Socrates in Plato’s “The Republic”,
the man did not blame God for the crime he committed and the misfortune he is
about to have, but the demon drink through which he was sunken drunk, through
which he stated “through thee (demon drink) I must die”. McGonagall did not
present God as the author of the things that the wicked man in his poem is
experiencing, for God authors only good things, whereas the thing experienced
by the man is bad. This work of fiction can be accepted in the state to be read
to the youth, since it teaches that the evil things that happen to man is not
caused by God but by some evil things like the demon drink.
Lamentations are not for famous men
Socrates argued about the lamentations the poets assigned to
famous men in “The Republic”. He
contends that they, as guardians, must get rid of these lamentations to be read
to the youth in the state. Lamentations are not for famous men because “a good man will not consider death terrible to any other good
man who is his comrade” and “the loss of a son or brother, or the deprivation
of fortune, is to him of all men least terrible” (The Republic, 73-74).
Therefore, the lamentations should only be presented by women who are of lower
rank or common men in society:
Then we shall be right in getting rid of the lamentations of famous men, and making them over to women (and not even to women who are good for anything), or to men of a baser sort, that those who are being educated by us to be the defenders of their country may scorn to do the like. (The Republic, 74)
In
“The Demon Drink”, the lamenter is a
man who is not of a higher rank; he is a common man who has committed crime by
killing his wife out of drunkenness. This
is presented in the following stanzas:
Then the unfortunate husband is arrested and cast into jail,
And sadly his fate he does bewail;
And he curses the hour that ever was born,
And paces his cell up and down very forlorn.
And when the day of his trial draws near,
No doubt for the murdering of his wife he drops a tear,
And he exclaims, "Oh, thou demon Drink, through thee I must die,"
And on the scaffold he warns the people from drink to fly, (McGonagall, 1890)
This poem therefore is acceptable in
the State for it does not show a famous man lamenting over his misfortunes and
despair, but a common man exclaiming his despair over what he had done caused
by drinking the Demon Drink.
Temperance must be taught to the youth
The temperance
must be shown in the literature that is to be read in the state. Temperance,
according to Socrates in “The Republic”, is
“obedience to commanders and self-control in sensual pleasures” (Plato, 76).
The temperance to drink is one example to this:
What of this line,
O heavy with wine, who hast the eyes of a dog and the heart of a stag,
and of the words which follow? Would you say that these, or any similar impertinences which private individuals are supposed to address to their rulers, whether in verse or prose, are well or ill spoken?
They are ill spoken.
They may very possibly afford some amusement, but they do not conduce to temperance. And therefore they are likely to do harm to our young men… (The Republic,76)
In “The Demon Drink”, the persona advocates the abolition of the strong
demon drink or wine because the drink does harm to families and it does not
promote peace in the community. The persona states it in these stanzas:
The man that gets drunk is little else than a fool,
And is in the habit, no doubt, of advocating for Home Rule;
But the best Home Rule for him, as far as I can understand,
Is the abolition of strong drink from the land.
And the men that get drunk in general wants Home Rule;
But such men, I rather think, should keep their heads cool,
And try and learn more sense, I most earnestlty do pray,
And help to get strong drink abolished without delay. (McGonagall, 1890)
The temperance to drink is taught
by the persona in McGonagall’s “The Demon
Drink”. In conformation to Socrates’ appeal to temperance in “The Republic”,
this poem can be accepted in the State.
Simple Narration is a better style than Imitation
There are two styles or methods of
narration. First is the Imitation, the other is Simple Narration. If the poet
speaks in the person of another, “he assimilates his style to that of the
person who, as he informs you, is going to speak” (The Republic, 80) or, simply,
imitates the character of that person, we call this style Imitation. If the
poet “everywhere appears and never conceals himself, then again the imitation
is dropped, and his poetry becomes simple narration” (ibid).
When the question whether which of
the two narrative style is to be accepted in the State was to be asked,
Socrates said that the Simple Narration is better than Imitation. Yet, he will
also accept the kind of imitation when the poet imitates what will only aid the
youth in their duties, as presented in this passage:
if they imitate at all, they should imitate from youth upward only those characters which are suitable to their profession — the courageous, temperate, holy, free, and the like; but they should not depict or be skilful at imitating any kind of illiberality or baseness, lest from imitation they should come to be what they imitate. (The Republic, 82)
In “The Demon Drink”, the style being used
is a Simple Narration, for the poet is embodied on a persona who narrates the
story of the evils of the Demon Drink and his advocacy for its abolition,
however there is a stanza where the poet imitated the unfortunate man exclaims his
grief over his misfortune, yet imitation here was less used:
And he exclaims, "Oh, thou demon Drink, through thee I must die," (McGonagall, 1890)
The persona
telling the story imitated by the poet in a simple narration is courageous,
temperate, holy, and free, which follows Socrates’ qualification of the object
for imitation. The persona, being holy, is reflected in these lines:
Then, for the sake of society and the Church of God,
Let each one try to abolish it at home and abroad;
Then poverty and crime would decrease and be at a stand,
And Christ's Kingdom would soon be established throughout the land. (McGonagall, 1890)
Moreover, Socrates also contends that the
youth must not be trained to imitate women and slaves who do no good;
And surely not bad men, whether cowards or any others, who do the reverse of what we have just been prescribing, who scold or mock or revile one another in drink or out of in drink or, or who in any other manner sin against themselves and their neighbours in word or deed, as the manner of such is. Neither should they be trained to imitate the action or speech of men or women who are mad or bad; for madness, like vice, is to be known but not to be practised or imitated. (The Republic, 82-83)
The persona in “The Demon Drink” told the story of the drunken man in the poem who
performs madness, like vice, to be known but not to be practiced or imitated.
In the following stanzas, the evils of the Demon Drink are stated:
Thou causeth the mother to neglect her child,
Also the father to act as he were wild,
So that he neglects his loving wife and family dear,
By spending his earnings foolishly on whisky, rum and beer.
And after spending his earnings foolishly he beats his wife-
The man that promised to protect her during life-
And so the man would if there was no drink in society,
For seldom a man beats his wife in a state of sobriety.
And if he does, perhaps he finds his wife fou',
Then that causes, no doubt, a great hullaballo;
When he finds his wife drunk he begins to frown,
And in a fury of passion he knocks her down.
And in that knock down she fractures her head,
And perhaps the poor wife she is killed dead,
Whereas, if there was no strong drink to be got,
To be killed wouldn't have been the poor wife's lot. (McGonagall, 1890)
The four stanzas were presented by
the poet so that this madness is to be known but he did not intend to teach his
readers to imitate this, instead he teaches them to scorn those actions for it
does not promote peace, thus in the next four stanzas he states his advocacy of
abolishing the vice like drinking:
If drink was abolished how many peaceful homes would there be,
Just, for instance in the beautiful town of Dundee;
then this world would be heaven, whereas it's a hell,
And the people would have more peace in it to dwell
Alas! strong drink makes men and women fanatics,
And helps to fill our prisons and lunatics;
And if there was no strong drink such cases wouldn't be,
Which would be a very glad sight for all christians to see
O admit, a man may be a very good man,
But in my opinion he cannot be a true Christian
As long as he partakes of strong drink,
The more that he may differently think.
But no matter what he thinks, I say nay,
For by taking it he helps to lead his brither astray,
Whereas, if he didn't drink, he would help to reform society,
And we would soon do away with all inebriety. (McGonagall, 1890)
This kind of poetry is acceptable in
the State for it does not make citizens, especially the youth, to imitate bad
actions rather to dislike these acts and consider it unworthy of practice. In
addition, the persona reflects a character of virtue that he advocates good
things.
Conclusion
“The Demon Drink” by William Topaz McGonagall
has followed the rules presented by Plato in “The Republic”. The poem has matched the views which state that evil
acts are unholy, that God causes only good things, that lamentations are not
for famous men, that temperance must be taught to the youth, and that Simple
Narration is a better style than Imitation. In the light of Plato’s “The Republic”, McGomagall’s “The Demon Drink” can be considered as
an acceptable literary work that should be read to the youth in the State for
it inspires virtuous acts and abolishes evil acts like drinking alcoholic
beverages (demon Wine).
Bibliography
Plato. (360 B.C.). THE REPUBLIC by Plato (360 B.C.), translated by Benjamin Jowett. Copyright
© 1998 – 2013 The Electronic Classics Series, Jim Manis. PSU-Hazleton, Hazleton,
PA 18202.
McGonagall, William Topaz. (1890). The Demon Drink. Copyright © 2006 - 2010
Famous Poets And Poems . com. All Rights Reserved.. Retrieved 31 July 2013 from
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/william_topaz_mcgonagall/poems/5594.html
No comments:
Post a Comment