I've A Pain In My Head

I've A Pain In My Head

'I've a pain in my head' 
Said the suffering Beckford; 
To her Doctor so dread. 
'Oh! what shall I take for't?'

Said this Doctor so dread 
Whose name it was Newnham. 
'For this pain in your head 
Ah! What can you do Ma'am?'

Said Miss Beckford, 'Suppose 
If you think there's no risk, 
I take a good Dose 
Of calomel brisk.'--

'What a praise worthy Notion.' 
Replied Mr. Newnham. 
'You shall have such a potion 
And so will I too Ma'am.' 

"I've A Pain in My Head" is a narrative poem about a lady named Beckford who goes to see a doctor about her head hurting. In the second stanza the doctor says "For this pain in your head, ah! what can you do ma'am?" The doctor doesn't know what to give the lady for her pain, so she comes up with an idea and they both end up taking it. Austen uses some passive language in this poem like "whose name it was Newnham" instead of how we would just say "the doctor's name is Newnham." It's strange for a doctor to not know what medicine to give a patient and especially end in the patient suggesting her own treatment.