Dives and Lazarus by L. Edna Walter
Rich Dives feasts and refuses beggar Lazarus food; his dogs lick Lazarus's sores instead of biting. Both die; angels guide Lazarus's soul, serpents guide Dives's. Dives, burning in hell, begs Lazarus for water; none comes, and his torment is endless.
By L. Edna Walter · First published 1922 · Genre: Ballad, Religious Poetry, Moral/Didactic Poetry · 327 words
First lines
[Music]
1. As it fell out upon a day, / Rich Dives made a feast, / And he invited all his friends, / And gentry of the best.
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Genres
- Ballad — The work is structured as a traditional narrative ballad with regular stanzaic verse form, repetitive rhyme scheme, and indicated musical accompaniment, featuring sequential storytelling in accessible poetic meter.
- Religious Poetry — The work directly adapts the biblical parable of Dives and Lazarus from Luke 16, engaging with themes of divine judgment, the afterlife, spiritual consequences, and Christian morality.
- Moral/Didactic Poetry — The narrative serves primarily to impart an ethical lesson about the consequences of greed, lack of charity toward the poor, and the moral imperative of compassion as divinely judged.
- Cautionary Tale — The narrative functions as a warning against the spiritual dangers of wealth without virtue, as Dives faces eternal torment in Hell while Lazarus is blessed in Heaven for their opposing moral states.
Tags
ballad · carol · biblical parable · moral judgment · divine retribution · wealth and poverty · social inequality · charity · compassion · arrogance · greed · suffering
What this Textopian page supports
Dives and Lazarus is listed on Textopian as a poem by L. Edna Walter, dated 1922 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: L. Edna Walter
- Date: 1922 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Ballad, Religious Poetry, Moral/Didactic Poetry, Cautionary Tale, Folk Poetry
- Length: 327 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for Dives and Lazarus by L. Edna Walter
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