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beggar

Historical Office
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A person who lives by asking for money or food, often regulated or licensed in historical contexts

Detailed Definition
The beggar appears in poetry as a moral, social, and spiritual cipher. Historically both pitied and policed, beggars challenged notions of charity, idleness, and divine will. In verse—from medieval allegories to Romantic laments—they embody poverty, humility, or societal failure. Poets use beggars to question justice, evoke compassion, or reflect on the human condition stripped of status, making them enduring figures of ethical and existential inquiry.
Example
Example in poetry:
In William Blake’s "London," the beggar’s cry reveals systemic neglect beneath urban grandeur; John Clare’s poems portray beggars as displaced rural folk stripped of dignity; Thomas Gray’s "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" humanizes the “mute inglorious” beggar; In medieval morality plays rendered in verse, the beggar often embodies Fortune’s caprice; Victorian poets like Coventry Patmore contrast beggars with bourgeois comfort to critique charity; The beggar in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s "Queen Mab" symbolizes the moral cost of inequality.
Additional Notes
Begging was not merely poverty but a regulated social role in many pre-modern societies; some beggars held licenses (e.g., “bedesmen” in Scotland), while others were part of religious orders like mendicants—poetry frequently uses beggars as moral mirrors, symbols of humility, or critiques of social neglect; understanding historical licensing and stigma helps interpret their complex literary presence beyond simple destitution.
Also Known As
pauper vagrant mendicant gaberlunzie tatterdemalion bezonian lazar
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