An Epistle upon an Epistle
As Jove will not attend on less,When things of more importance press:You can't, grave sir, believe it hard,That you, a low Hibernian bard,Should cool your heels a while, and waitUnanswer'd at your patron's gate;And would my lord vouchsafe to grantThis one poor humble boon I want,Free leave to play his secretary,As Falstaff acted old king Harry;I'd tell of yours in rhyme and print,Folks shrug, and cry, "There's nothing in't."And, after several readings over,It shines most in the marble cover.How could so fine a taste dispenseWith mean degrees of wit and sense?Nor will my lord so far beguileThe wise and learned of our isle;To make it pass upon the nation,By dint of his sole approbation.The task is arduous, patrons find,To warp the sense of all mankind:Who think your Muse must first aspire,Ere he advance the doctor higher.You've cause to say he meant you well:That you are thankful, who can tell?For still you're short (which grieves your spirit)Of his intent: you mean your merit.Ah! quanto rectius, tu adepte,Qui nil moliris tarn inepte?Smedley, thou Jonathan of Clogher,"When thou thy humble lay dost offerTo Grafton's grace, with grateful heart,Thy thanks and verse devoid of art:Content with what his bounty gave,No larger income dost thou crave."But you must have cascades, and allIërne's lake, for your canal,Your vistoes, barges, and (a pox onAll pride!) our speaker for your coxon:It's pity that he can't bestow youTwelve commoners in caps to row you.Thus Edgar proud, in days of yore,Held monarchs labouring at the oar;And, as he pass'd, so swell'd the Dee,Enraged, as Ern would do at thee.How different is this from Smedley!(His name is up, he may in bed lie)"Who only asks some pretty cure,In wholesome soil and ether pure:The garden stored with artless flowers,In either angle shady bowers:No gay parterre with costly greenMust in the ambient hedge be seen;But Nature freely takes her course,Nor fears from him ungrateful force:No shears to check her sprouting vigour,Or shape the yews to antic figure."But you, forsooth, your all must squanderOn that poor spot, call'd Dell-ville, yonder;And when you've been at vast expensesIn whims, parterres, canals, and fences,Your assets fail, and cash is wanting;Nor farther buildings, farther planting:No wonder, when you raise and level,Think this wall low, and that wall bevel.Here a convenient box you found,Which you demolish'd to the ground:Then built, then took up with your arbour,And set the house to Rupert Barber.You sprang an arch which, in a scurvyHumour, you tumbled topsy-turvy.You change a circle to a square,Then to a circle as you were:Who can imagine whence the fund is,That you quadrata change rotundis?To Fame a temple you erect,A Flora does the dome protect;Mounts, walks, on high; and in a hollowYou place the Muses and Apollo;There shining 'midst his train, to graceYour whimsical poetic place.These stories were of old design'dAs fables: but you have refinedThe poets mythologic dreams,To real Muses, gods, and streams.Who would not swear, when you contrive thus,That you're Don Quixote redivivus?Beneath, a dry canal there lies,Which only Winter's rain supplies.O! couldst thou, by some magic spell,Hither convey St. Patrick's well!Here may it reassume its stream,And take a greater Patrick's name!If your expenses rise so high;What income can your wants supply?Yet still you fancy you inheritA fund of such superior merit,That you can't fail of more provision,All by my lady's kind decision.For, the more livings you can fish up,You think you'll sooner be a bishop:That could not be my lord's intent,Nor can it answer the event.Most think what has been heap'd on youTo other sort of folk was due:Rewards too great for your flim-flams,Epistles, riddles, epigrams.Though now your depth must not be sounded,The time was, when you'd have compoundedFor less than Charley Grattan's school!Five hundred pound a-year's no fool!Take this advice then from your friend,To your ambition put an end,Be frugal, Pat: pay what you owe,Before you build and you bestow.Be modest, nor address your bettersWith begging, vain, familiar letters.A passage may be found, I've heard,In some old Greek or Latian bard,Which says, "Would crows in silence eatTheir offals, or their better meat,Their generous feeders not provokingBy loud and inharmonious croaking,They might, unhurt by Envy's claws,Live on, and stuff to boot their maws."
"Sed tacitus pasci si corvus posset, haberetPlus dapis, et rixae multo minus invidiaeque."I append the original, for the sake of Swift's very free
Words in this poem 39
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- hibernian a.
- Of or pertaining to Hibernia, now Ireland; Irish. [L. Hibernia, Ireland.]
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- harry v. i.
- To make a predatory incursion; to plunder or lay waste.
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- shrug v. t.
- To draw up or contract (the shoulders), especially by way of expressing dislike, dread, doubt, or the like. [Probably akin to shrink, p. p. shrunk; cf. Dan. skrugge, skrukke, to stoop, dial. Sw. skrukka, skruga, to crouch.]
- dispense v. i.
- To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- dint n.
- A blow; a stroke. [OE. dint, dent, dunt, a blow, AS. dynt; akin to Icel. dyntr a dint, dynta to dint, and perh. to L. fendere (in composition). Cf. 1st Dent, Defend.]
- approbation n.
- Proof; attestation. [L. approbatio: cf. F. approbation. See Approve to prove.]
- arduous a.
- Steep and lofty, in a literal sense; hard to climb. [L. arduus steep, high; akin to Ir. ard high, height.]
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
- thankful a.
- Obtaining or deserving thanks; thankworthy. [AS. Þancfull.]
- tarn n.
- A mountain lake or pool. [OE. terne, Icel. tjörn.]
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- income n.
- A coming in; entrance; admittance; ingress; infusion.
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- parterre n.
- An ornamental and diversified arrangement of beds or plots, in which flowers are cultivated, with intervening spaces of gravel or turf for walking on. [F., fr. par on, by (L. per)+terre earth, ground, L. terra. See Terrace.]
- ambient a.
- Encompassing on all sides; circumfused; investing. [L. ambiens, p. pr. of ambire to go around; amb- + ire to go.]
- ungrateful a.
- Not grateful; not thankful for favors; making no returns, or making ill return for kindness, attention, etc.; ingrateful. South.
- vigour v. t.
- To invigorate. Feltham.
- antic v. t.
- To make appear like a buffoon.
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- convenient a.
- Fit or adapted; suitable; proper; becoming; appropriate. [L. conveniens, -entis, suitable, p.pr. of convenire to be suitable, to come. See Convene, v. i.]
- arbour n.
- A kind of latticework formed of, or covered with, vines, branches of trees, or other plants, for shade; a bower. Sir P. [OE. herber, herbere, properly a garden of herbs, F. herbier, fr. L. herbarium. See Herb, and cf. Herbarium.]
- barber n.
- One whose occupation it is to shave or trim the beard, and to cut and dress the hair of his patrons. Barber's itch. See under Itch. [OE. barbour, OF. barbeor, F. barbier, as if fr. an assumed L. barbator, fr. barba beard. See 1st Barb.]
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
- flora n.
- The goddess of flowers and spring. [L., the goddess of flowers, from flos, floris, flower. See Flower.]
- mythologic a.
- Of or pertaining to mythology or to myths; mythical; fabulous. [L. mythologicus: cf. F. mytholigique.]
- redivivus a.
- Living again; revived; restored.
- reassume v. t.
- To assume again or anew; to resume.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- latian a.
- Belonging, or relating, to Latium, a country of ancient Italy.
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- posset v. t.
- To curdle; to turn, as milk; to coagulate; as, to posset the blood.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Epistle upon an Epistle 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, An Epistle upon an Epistle, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/an-epistle-upon-an-epistle.html, id L25637.
Form and metre
An Epistle upon an Epistle is 129 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% 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 AABBCC-DEEDD--FFGGHHII--JJ--KK--LLMM--NN--OOPP-PQQRRSSTT--UUVV--WWXXYYZZ----aabbccddee--ffgg--hhiijjkkllmmnnooppqqrrss--ttuuvv lessA · pressA · hardB · bardB · waitC · gateC · grant · wantD · secretaryE · harryE · printD · in'tD · over · cover · dispenseF · senseF · beguileG · isleG · nationH · approbationH · findI · mankindI · aspire · higher · wellJ · tellJ · spirit · merit · adepteK · inepteK · clogher · offer · heartL · artL · gaveM · craveM · all · canal · onN · coxonN · you · you · yoreO · oarO · deeP · theeP · smedley · lieP · cureQ · pureQ · flowersR · bowersR · greenS · seenS · courseT · forceT · vigour · figure · squanderU · yonderU · expensesV · fencesV · wanting · planting · levelW · bevelW · foundX · groundX · arbourY · barberY · scurvyZ · turvyZ · square · were · is · rotundis · erecta · protecta · hollowb · apollob · gracec · placec · design'dd · refinedd · dreamse · streamse · thus · redivivus · liesf · suppliesf · spellg · wellg · stream · name · highh · supplyh · inheriti · meriti · provisionj · decisionj · upk · bishopk · intentl · eventl · youm · duem · flamsn · epigramsn · soundedo · compoundedo · schoolp · foolp · friendq · endq · ower · bestowr · betterss · letterss · heard · bard · eatt · meatt · provokingu · croakingu · clawsv · mawsv
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As Jove will not attend on less, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| When things of more importance press: | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| You can't, grave sir, believe it hard, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| That you, a low Hibernian bard, | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| Should cool your heels a while, and wait | 8 | ········ |
| Unanswer'd at your patron's gate; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And would my lord vouchsafe to grant | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| This one poor humble boon I want, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Free leave to play his secretary, | 9 | ·····/˘·˘ |
| As Falstaff acted old king Harry; | 9 | ·/·/˘··/˘ |
| I'd tell of yours in rhyme and print, | 8 | ········ |
| Folks shrug, and cry, "There's nothing in't." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And, after several readings over, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| It shines most in the marble cover. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| How could so fine a taste dispense | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With mean degrees of wit and sense? | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Nor will my lord so far beguile | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The wise and learned of our isle; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To make it pass upon the nation, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| By dint of his sole approbation. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| The task is arduous, patrons find, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To warp the sense of all mankind: | 8 | ······// |
| Who think your Muse must first aspire, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ere he advance the doctor higher. | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| You've cause to say he meant you well: | 8 | ········ |
| That you are thankful, who can tell? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For still you're short (which grieves your spirit) | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Of his intent: you mean your merit. | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| Ah! quanto rectius, tu adepte, | 8 | ········ |
| Qui nil moliris tarn inepte? | 8 | ········ |
| Smedley, thou Jonathan of Clogher, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| "When thou thy humble lay dost offer | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| To Grafton's grace, with grateful heart, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thy thanks and verse devoid of art: | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Content with what his bounty gave, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| No larger income dost thou crave." | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| But you must have cascades, and all | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Iërne's lake, for your canal, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Your vistoes, barges, and (a pox on | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| All pride!) our speaker for your coxon: | 9 | ··//˘··/˘ |
| It's pity that he can't bestow you | 9 | ·/˘···˘/· |
| Twelve commoners in caps to row you. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thus Edgar proud, in days of yore, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Held monarchs labouring at the oar; | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| And, as he pass'd, so swell'd the Dee, | 8 | ········ |
| Enraged, as Ern would do at thee. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| How different is this from Smedley! | 9 | ·/˘˘···/˘ |
| (His name is up, he may in bed lie) | 9 | ········· |
| "Who only asks some pretty cure, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In wholesome soil and ether pure: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The garden stored with artless flowers, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| In either angle shady bowers: | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| No gay parterre with costly green | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Must in the ambient hedge be seen; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But Nature freely takes her course, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Nor fears from him ungrateful force: | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| No shears to check her sprouting vigour, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Or shape the yews to antic figure." | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| But you, forsooth, your all must squander | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| On that poor spot, call'd Dell-ville, yonder; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And when you've been at vast expenses | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| In whims, parterres, canals, and fences, | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| Your assets fail, and cash is wanting; | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| Nor farther buildings, farther planting: | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| No wonder, when you raise and level, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Think this wall low, and that wall bevel. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Here a convenient box you found, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Which you demolish'd to the ground: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Then built, then took up with your arbour, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And set the house to Rupert Barber. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| You sprang an arch which, in a scurvy | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Humour, you tumbled topsy-turvy. | 9 | /˘·/˘/˘/˘ |
| You change a circle to a square, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then to a circle as you were: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who can imagine whence the fund is, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| That you quadrata change rotundis? | 9 | ········· |
| To Fame a temple you erect, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| A Flora does the dome protect; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Mounts, walks, on high; and in a hollow | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| You place the Muses and Apollo; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| There shining 'midst his train, to grace | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your whimsical poetic place. | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/˘· |
| These stories were of old design'd | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| As fables: but you have refined | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The poets mythologic dreams, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To real Muses, gods, and streams. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who would not swear, when you contrive thus, | 9 | ······˘/· |
| That you're Don Quixote redivivus? | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
| Beneath, a dry canal there lies, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Which only Winter's rain supplies. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| O! couldst thou, by some magic spell, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Hither convey St. Patrick's well! | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘· |
| Here may it reassume its stream, | 8 | ···˘˘/·· |
| And take a greater Patrick's name! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| If your expenses rise so high; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| What income can your wants supply? | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| Yet still you fancy you inherit | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| A fund of such superior merit, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| That you can't fail of more provision, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| All by my lady's kind decision. | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| For, the more livings you can fish up, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| You think you'll sooner be a bishop: | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| That could not be my lord's intent, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Nor can it answer the event. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Most think what has been heap'd on you | 8 | ········ |
| To other sort of folk was due: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Rewards too great for your flim-flams, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Epistles, riddles, epigrams. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Though now your depth must not be sounded, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The time was, when you'd have compounded | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| For less than Charley Grattan's school! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Five hundred pound a-year's no fool! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Take this advice then from your friend, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To your ambition put an end, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Be frugal, Pat: pay what you owe, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Before you build and you bestow. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Be modest, nor address your betters | 9 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| With begging, vain, familiar letters. | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| A passage may be found, I've heard, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In some old Greek or Latian bard, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which says, "Would crows in silence eat | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their offals, or their better meat, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their generous feeders not provoking | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| By loud and inharmonious croaking, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| They might, unhurt by Envy's claws, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Live on, and stuff to boot their maws." | 8 | ········ |
| "Sed tacitus pasci si corvus posset, haberet | 14 | ·······/˘/˘··· |
| Plus dapis, et rixae multo minus invidiaeque." | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| I append the original, for the sake of Swift's very free | 15 | ·˘/·˘/˘·····/˘· |
Notes from the edition 7
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume I, ed. W. E. Browning (Project Gutenberg #14353, 1910).
- Stanza 1, line 10 "King Henry the Fourth," Part I, Act ii, Scene 4.--W. E. B.
- Stanza 1, line 30 Adapted from Hor., "Epist. ad Pisones," 140.--W. E. B.
- Stanza 1, line 31 See the "Petition to the Duke of Grafton," post, p. 345.--W. E. B.
- Stanza 1, line 40 Alluding to Dr. Delany's ambitious choice of fixing in the island of the Lake of Erin, where Sir Ralph Gore had a villa.--Scott.
- Stanza 1, line 43 When residing at Chester, he obliged eight of his tributary princes to row him in a barge upon the Dee. Hume's "History of England," vol. i, p. 106.--W. E. B.
- Stanza 1, line 92 Which had suddenly dried up. See post, vol. ii, "Verses on the sudden drying up of St. Patrick's Well, near Trinity College, Dublin."--W.E.B.
- Stanza 1, line 119 Hor., "Epist.," lib. I, xvii, 50. "Sed tacitus pasci si corvus posset, haberet Plus dapis, et rixae multo minus invidiaeque." I append the original, for the sake of Swift's very free rendering.--W. E. B.
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