An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog

Perhaps the central theme of Goldsmith’s poem is the idea that appearances can be deceiving and that not everything is as it looks. This moral is first expressed through the example of the man, whose reputation for godliness (Line 7), charity, kindness, and gentleness (Line 9) has thoroughly deceived his neighbors. Of course, the fight between the man and the dog, as well as the poem’s conclusion, ultimately proves that reputation false. Furthermore, the man’s wound similarly shows how appearances can be deceiving. Upon seeing the man’s wound from the dog, the neighbors lament that it looks “both sore and sad” (Line 25) and assert that the man will die from it (Line 28). However, the neighbors’ assertions are proven to be erroneous, since the man recovers from the wound without any complications.

In addition to the man, the theme of deceptive appearances is also expressed in the character of the dog. The speaker initially describes the dog as one of the many strays in Islington and groups him with the “curs of low degree” (Line 16). The speaker is the first to