A Quibbling Epigram. 1730
The thresher Duck could o'er the queen prevail,The proverb says, "no fence against a flail."From threshing corn he turns to thresh his brains;For which her majesty allows him grains:Though 'tis confest, that those, who ever sawHis poems, think them all not worth a straw!Thrice happy Duck, employ'd in threshing stubble,Thy toil is lessen'd, and thy profits double.
collection of books in a building called Merlin's Cave, in the RoyalGardens of Richmond."How shall we fill a library with wit,When Merlin's cave is half unfurnish'd yet?"
Words in this poem
- thresher n.
- One who, or that which, thrashes grain; a thrashing machine.
- thresh v. t.
- To beat out grain from, as straw or husks; to beat the straw or husk of (grain) with a flail; to beat off, as the kernels of grain; as, to thrash wheat, rye, or oats; to thrash over the old straw. [OE. , , to beat, AS. , ; akin to D. dorschen, OD. derschen, G. dreschen, OHG. dreskan, Icel. , Sw. tröska, Dan. tærske, Goth. , Lith. traszketi to rattle, Russ.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Quibbling Epigram. 1730 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #14353; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jonathan Swift, A Quibbling Epigram. 1730, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/a-quibbling-epigram-1730.html, id L24547.
Form and metre
A Quibbling Epigram. 1730 is 12 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABBCCDD prevailA · flailA · brainsB · grainsB · sawC · strawC · stubbleD · doubleD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The thresher Duck could o'er the queen prevail, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The proverb says, "no fence against a flail." | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| From threshing corn he turns to thresh his brains; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| For which her majesty allows him grains: | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| Though 'tis confest, that those, who ever saw | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| His poems, think them all not worth a straw! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Thrice happy Duck, employ'd in threshing stubble, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Thy toil is lessen'd, and thy profits double. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| collection of books in a building called Merlin's Cave, in the Royal | 17 | ˘/˘····/˘·/˘···/˘ |
| Gardens of Richmond. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| "How shall we fill a library with wit, | 10 | ·····/·˘·· |
| When Merlin's cave is half unfurnish'd yet?" | 10 | ·/˘······· |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume I, ed. W. E. Browning (Project Gutenberg #14353, 1910).
- Stanza 1, line 1 Who was appointed by Queen Caroline librarian to a small collection of books in a building called Merlin's Cave, in the Royal Gardens of Richmond. "How shall we fill a library with wit, When Merlin's cave is half unfurnish'd yet?" POPE, Imitations of Horace, ii, Ep. 1.--W. E. B.
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