A Quiet Life and a Good Name to a Friend Who Married a Shrew. 1724
NELL scolded in so loud a din,That Will durst hardly venture in:He mark'd the conjugal dispute;Nell roar'd incessant, Dick sat mute;But, when he saw his friend appear,Cried bravely, "Patience, good my dear!"At sight of Will she bawl'd no more,But hurried out and clapt the door.Why, Dick! the devil's in thy Nell,(Quoth Will,) thy house is worse than Hell.Why what a peal the jade has rung!D--n her, why don't you slit her tongue?For nothing else will make it cease.Dear Will, I suffer this for peace:I never quarrel with my wife;I bear it for a quiet life.Scripture, you know, exhorts us to it;Bids us to seek peace, and ensue it.Will went again to visit Dick;And entering in the very nick,He saw virago Nell belabour,With Dick's own staff, his peaceful neighbour.Poor Will, who needs must interpose,Received a brace or two of blows.But now, to make my story short,Will drew out Dick to take a quart.Why, Dick, thy wife has devilish whims;Ods-buds! why don't you break her limbs?If she were mine, and had such tricks,I'd teach her how to handle sticks:Z--ds! I would ship her to Jamaica,Or truck the carrion for tobacco:I'd send her far enough away----Dear Will; but what would people say?Lord! I should get so ill a name,The neighbours round would cry out shame.Dick suffer'd for his peace and credit;But who believed him when he said it?Can he, who makes himself a slave,Consult his peace, or credit save?Dick found it by his ill success,His quiet small, his credit less.She served him at the usual rate;She stunn'd, and then she broke his pate:And what he thought the hardest case,The parish jeer'd him to his face;Those men who wore the breeches least,Call'd him a cuckold, fool, and beast.At home he was pursued with noise;Abroad was pester'd by the boys:Within, his wife would break his bones:Without, they pelted him with stones;The 'prentices procured a riding,To act his patience and her chiding.False patience and mistaken pride!There are ten thousand Dicks beside;Slaves to their quiet and good name,Are used like Dick, and bear the blame.
Words in this poem
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- peal v. i.
- To appeal. Spencer.
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- ensue v. t.
- To follow; to pursue; to follow and overtake. [OF. ensevre, OF. & F. ensuivre, fr. L. insequi; in + sequi to pursue. See Sue.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- nick n.
- A notch cut into something; as: (a) A score for keeping an account; a reckoning. [Akin to Nock.]
- virago n.
- A woman of extraordinary stature, strength, and courage; a woman who has the robust body and masculine mind of a man; a female warrior. [L. virago, -intis, from vir a man. See Virile.]
- belabour v. t.
- To ply diligently; to work carefully upon.
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- consult n.
- The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation; also, the result of consulation; determination; decision.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- pate n.
- A pie. See Patty. [F. pâté.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Quiet Life and a Good Name to a Friend Who Married a Shrew. 1724 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 Quiet Life and a Good Name to a Friend Who Married a Shrew. 1724, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/a-quiet-life-and-a-good-name-to-a-friend-who-married-a-shrew.html, id L24529.
Form and metre
A Quiet Life and a Good Name to a Friend Who Married a Shrew. 1724 is 58 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 93% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH--IIJJKKLLMMNN--OOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXXYYZZaa dinA · inA · disputeB · muteB · appearC · dearC · moreD · doorD · nellE · hellE · rungF · tongueF · ceaseG · peaceG · wifeH · lifeH · it · it · dickI · nickI · belabourJ · neighbourJ · interposeK · blowsK · shortL · quartL · whimsM · limbsM · tricksN · sticksN · jamaica · tobacco · awayO · sayO · nameP · shameP · creditQ · itQ · slaveR · saveR · successS · lessS · rateT · pateT · caseU · faceU · leastV · beastV · noiseW · boysW · bonesX · stonesX · ridingY · chidingY · prideZ · besideZ · namea · blamea
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| NELL scolded in so loud a din, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That Will durst hardly venture in: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| He mark'd the conjugal dispute; | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| Nell roar'd incessant, Dick sat mute; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| But, when he saw his friend appear, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Cried bravely, "Patience, good my dear!" | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| At sight of Will she bawl'd no more, | 8 | ········ |
| But hurried out and clapt the door. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Why, Dick! the devil's in thy Nell, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| (Quoth Will,) thy house is worse than Hell. | 8 | ········ |
| Why what a peal the jade has rung! | 8 | ········ |
| D--n her, why don't you slit her tongue? | 9 | ········· |
| For nothing else will make it cease. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Dear Will, I suffer this for peace: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I never quarrel with my wife; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| I bear it for a quiet life. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Scripture, you know, exhorts us to it; | 9 | /˘··˘/··· |
| Bids us to seek peace, and ensue it. | 9 | ······˘/· |
| Will went again to visit Dick; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And entering in the very nick, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He saw virago Nell belabour, | 9 | ··/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| With Dick's own staff, his peaceful neighbour. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Poor Will, who needs must interpose, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Received a brace or two of blows. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| But now, to make my story short, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Will drew out Dick to take a quart. | 8 | ········ |
| Why, Dick, thy wife has devilish whims; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ods-buds! why don't you break her limbs? | 8 | ········ |
| If she were mine, and had such tricks, | 8 | ········ |
| I'd teach her how to handle sticks: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Z--ds! I would ship her to Jamaica, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Or truck the carrion for tobacco: | 9 | ···/˘·˘/· |
| I'd send her far enough away---- | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Dear Will; but what would people say? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Lord! I should get so ill a name, | 8 | ········ |
| The neighbours round would cry out shame. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Dick suffer'd for his peace and credit; | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| But who believed him when he said it? | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| Can he, who makes himself a slave, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Consult his peace, or credit save? | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Dick found it by his ill success, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| His quiet small, his credit less. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| She served him at the usual rate; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She stunn'd, and then she broke his pate: | 8 | ········ |
| And what he thought the hardest case, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The parish jeer'd him to his face; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Those men who wore the breeches least, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Call'd him a cuckold, fool, and beast. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| At home he was pursued with noise; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Abroad was pester'd by the boys: | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Within, his wife would break his bones: | 8 | ········ |
| Without, they pelted him with stones; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The 'prentices procured a riding, | 9 | ·/˘˘˘/·/˘ |
| To act his patience and her chiding. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| False patience and mistaken pride! | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| There are ten thousand Dicks beside; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Slaves to their quiet and good name, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Are used like Dick, and bear the blame. | 8 | ········ |
Notes from the edition 2
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume I, ed. W. E. Browning (Project Gutenberg #14353, 1910).
- Line 31 See post, p. 200, "A beautiful young nymph."
- Line 53 A performance got up by the rustics in some counties to ridicule and shame a man who has been guilty of beating his wife (or in this case, who has been beaten by her), by having a cart drawn through the village, having in it two persons dressed to resemble the woman and her master, and a supposed representation of the beating is inflicted, enacted before the offender's door. "Notes and Queries," 1st S., ix, 370, 578.--W. E. B.
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