Laurel · Jonathan Swift · On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems

Dr. Swift to Mr. Pope, While He Was Writing the "Dunciad"

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) · 1727

common measure · ABAB · 28 lines · from On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems

POPE has the talent well to speak,But not to reach the ear;His loudest voice is low and weak,The Dean too deaf to hear.

Awhile they on each other look,Then different studies choose;The Dean sits plodding on a book;Pope walks, and courts the Muse.

Now backs of letters, though design'dFor those who more will need 'em,Are fill'd with hints, and interlined,Himself can hardly read 'em.

Each atom by some other struck,All turns and motions tries;Till in a lump together stuck,Behold a poem rise:

Yet to the Dean his share allot;He claims it by a canon;That without which a thing is not,Is causa sine quâ non.Thus, Pope, in vain you boast your wit;

For, had our deaf divineBeen for your conversation fit,You had not writ a line.

Of Sherlock, thus, for preaching framedThe sexton reason'd well;And justly half the merit claim'd,Because he rang the bell.

Words in this poem

awhile adv.: For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
plodding a.: Progressing in a slow, toilsome manner; characterized by laborious diligence; as, a plodding peddler; a plodding student; a man of plodding habits. --Plod"ding*ly, adv.
backs n.: Among leather dealers, the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Dr. Swift to Mr. Pope, While He Was Writing the "Dunciad" 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, Dr. Swift to Mr. Pope, While He Was Writing the "Dunciad", in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/dr-swift-to-mr-pope-while-he-was-writing-the-dunciad.html, id L25614.

Form and metre

Dr. Swift to Mr. Pope, While He Was Writing the "Dunciad" is 28 lines in 7 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).

See other poems in common measure.

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 ABAB speak^A · ear^B · weak^A · hear^B
2 ABAB look^A · choose^B · book^A · muse^B
3 ABAB design'd^A · em^B · interlined^A · em^B
4 ABAB struck^A · tries^B · stuck^A · rise^B
5 ABAB- allot^A · canon^B · not^A · non^B · wit
6 A-A divine^A · fit · line^A
7 ABAB framed^A · well^B · claim'd^A · bell^B

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 common measure. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
POPE has the talent well to speak,	8	···/˘···
But not to reach the ear;	6	······
His loudest voice is low and weak,	8	·/˘·····
The Dean too deaf to hear.	6	······
Awhile they on each other look,	8	˘/···/˘·
Then different studies choose;	7	·/˘˘/˘·
The Dean sits plodding on a book;	8	···/˘···
Pope walks, and courts the Muse.	6	······
Now backs of letters, though design'd	8	···/˘·˘/
For those who more will need 'em,	7	·······
Are fill'd with hints, and interlined,	8	········
Himself can hardly read 'em.	7	˘/·/˘··
Each atom by some other struck,	8	·/˘··/˘·
All turns and motions tries;	6	···/˘·
Till in a lump together stuck,	8	····˘/˘·
Behold a poem rise:	6	˘/·/˘·
Yet to the Dean his share allot;	8	······˘/
He claims it by a canon;	7	·····/˘
That without which a thing is not,	8	········
Is causa sine quâ non.	6	······
Thus, Pope, in vain you boast your wit;	8	········
For, had our deaf divine	7	··/˘·˘/
Been for your conversation fit,	8	····˘/˘·
You had not writ a line.	6	······
Of Sherlock, thus, for preaching framed	8	·/···/˘·
The sexton reason'd well;	6	·/˘/˘·
And justly half the merit claim'd,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Because he rang the bell.	6	······

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

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