Dropsy was the historical medical term for oedema, a condition in which fluid collects in tissues, causing visible swelling in the limbs or abdomen. In earlier centuries it could result from heart, liver, or kidney disease and was often seen as a sign of severe internal imbalance. Literary references to dropsy frequently emphasise heaviness, distortion of the body, or the grotesque effects of illness. Poets sometimes used the term metaphorically to depict moral corruption, excess, or the uncomfortable weight of worldly burdens pressing upon the human form.

Dropsy was the old medical name for oedema, a swelling caused by fluid retention. In poetry the condition sometimes symbolises unnatural accumulation or stagnation. Writers may use dropsy metaphorically to describe wealth, power, or pride that has grown swollen and unhealthy. Because the disease alters bodily appearance, it can also evoke fragility and suffering. References to dropsy frequently appear in eighteenth and nineteenth century literature when the term was medically common.