Roast Beef of old England
When mighty roast beef was the Englishman's food
It ennobled our hearts and enriched our blood--
Our soldiers were brave and our courtiers were good.
Oh! the roast beef of England.
And Old England's roast beef.
Henry Fielding
Explication
This is an old free verse poem written by Henry Fielding. It is about how roast beef used to be England's food. But after a more in depth analysis I think that this poem is about how food, roast beef in particular, brought the people of England together. This is also the idea of food today. Food is associated with social gatherings and it is a way to be social by sitting around a meal and talking with people. This relates to my theme of food because I wanted to show what is associated with food and not just one particular food. I believe the first three lines would have rhymed in old English but the last two don't so the rhyme scheme is aaabc. There weren't many poetic devices but it was descriptive in the way that I could picture a huge feast with roast beef and the English flag in the background.
I've never had roast beef. Sounds funny. Anyway, I just found out that I missed your blog. So, here I am. This doesn't sound very delicious, and while it does seem that it was a meal that brought people together, the fact that such a food is related to the blood of those who died isn't.. the most pleasant. A meaningful poem nonetheless. Good choice.
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