Poetry · Chapter
LXXX explained
A brief, macabre poem describes a human pericardium displayed in a dissecting room, labeled with the word 'Charity' to instruct students on what it once enclosed.
What happens
A brief, macabre poem describes a human pericardium displayed in a dissecting room, labeled with the word 'Charity' to instruct students on what it once enclosed.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Corruption
The juxtaposition of a human heart's covering with the word 'Charity' in a dissecting room suggests a cynical commentary on the gap between noble ideals and grim reality.
Key passages
“Artistically set to grace The wall of a dissecting-place, A human pericardium Was fastened with a bit of gum, While, simply underrunning it, The one word, 'Charity,' was writ To show the student band that hovered About it what it once had covered.”
A human pericardium was displayed on a dissecting room wall, labeled 'Charity' to remind students of the organ it once enclosed.
The poem uses the heart's membrane as a symbol for the hollow or ironic application of the word 'Charity.'