Epilogue to a Benefit Play, Given in Behalf of the Distressed Weavers
Who dares affirm this is no pious age,When charity begins to tread the stage?When actors, who at best are hardly savers,Will give a night of benefit to weavers?Stay--let me see, how finely will it sound!Imprimis, From his grace a hundred pound.Peers, clergy, gentry, all are benefactors;And then comes in the item of the actors.Item, The actors freely give a day--The poet had no more who made the play.But whence this wondrous charity in players?They learn it not at sermons, or at prayers:Under the rose, since here are none but friends,(To own the truth) we have some private ends.Since waiting-women, like exacting jades,Hold up the prices of their old brocades;We'll dress in manufactures made at home;Equip our kings and generals at the Comb.We'll rig from Meath Street Egypt's haughty queenAnd Antony shall court her in ratteen.In blue shalloon shall Hannibal be clad,And Scipio trail an Irish purple plaid,In drugget drest, of thirteen pence a-yard,See Philip's son amidst his Persian guard;And proud Roxana, fired with jealous rage,With fifty yards of crape shall sweep the stage.In short, our kings and princesses withinAre all resolved this project to begin;And you, our subjects, when you here resort,Must imitate the fashion of the court.O! could I see this audience clad in stuff,Though money's scarce, we should have trade enough:But chintz, brocades, and lace, take all away,And scarce a crown is left to see the play.Perhaps you wonder whence this friendship springsBetween the weavers and us playhouse kings;But wit and weaving had the same beginning;Pallas first taught us poetry and spinning:And, next, observe how this alliance fits,For weavers now are just as poor as wits:Their brother quillmen, workers for the stage,For sorry stuff can get a crown a page;But weavers will be kinder to the players,And sell for twenty pence a yard of theirs.And to your knowledge, there is often less inThe poet's wit, than in the player's dressing.Femineo generi tribuantur.
Words in this poem
- imprimis adv.
- In the first place; first in order. [L., for in primis among the first, chiefly; in in + primus first.]
- gentry n.
- Birth; condition; rank by birth. [OE. genterie, gentrie, noble birth, nobility, cf. gentrise, and OF. gentelise, genterise, E. gentilesse, also OE. genteleri high-mindedness. See Gent, a., Gentl]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- meath n.
- A sweet liquor; mead. Chaucer. [See Mead.]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- 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,]
- ratteen n.
- A thick woolen stuff quilled or twilled. [F. ratine.]
- shalloon n.
- A thin, loosely woven, twilled worsted stuff. [F. chalon, from Châlons, in France, where it was first made.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- chintz n.
- Cotton cloth, printed with flowers and other devices, in a number of different colors, and often glazed. [Hindi chint spotted cotton clooth, chinta spot.]
- playhouse n.
- A building used for dramatic exhibitions; a theater. [AS. pleghus.]
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epilogue to a Benefit Play, Given in Behalf of the Distressed Weavers 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, Epilogue to a Benefit Play, Given in Behalf of the Distressed Weavers, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/epilogue-to-a-benefit-play-given-in-behalf-of-the-distressed-weavers.html, id L25607.
Form and metre
Epilogue to a Benefit Play, Given in Behalf of the Distressed Weavers is 47 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 81% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AA--BBCCDD--EEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSS----- ageA · stageA · savers · weavers · soundB · poundB · benefactorsC · actorsC · dayD · playD · players · prayers · friendsE · endsE · jadesF · brocadesF · homeG · combG · queenH · ratteenH · cladI · plaidI · yardJ · guardJ · rageK · stageK · withinL · beginL · resortM · courtM · stuffN · enoughN · awayO · playO · springsP · kingsP · beginningQ · spinningQ · fitsR · witsR · stageS · pageS · players · theirs · in · dressing · tribuantur
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who dares affirm this is no pious age, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| When charity begins to tread the stage? | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
| When actors, who at best are hardly savers, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Will give a night of benefit to weavers? | 11 | ·····/˘˘·/˘ |
| Stay--let me see, how finely will it sound! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Imprimis, From his grace a hundred pound. | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Peers, clergy, gentry, all are benefactors; | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘·˘ |
| And then comes in the item of the actors. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Item, The actors freely give a day-- | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| The poet had no more who made the play. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But whence this wondrous charity in players? | 11 | ···/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| They learn it not at sermons, or at prayers: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Under the rose, since here are none but friends, | 10 | ·········· |
| (To own the truth) we have some private ends. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Since waiting-women, like exacting jades, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Hold up the prices of their old brocades; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| We'll dress in manufactures made at home; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Equip our kings and generals at the Comb. | 10 | ˘//··/˘··· |
| We'll rig from Meath Street Egypt's haughty queen | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And Antony shall court her in ratteen. | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| In blue shalloon shall Hannibal be clad, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘·· |
| And Scipio trail an Irish purple plaid, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| In drugget drest, of thirteen pence a-yard, | 10 | ·/˘··//··· |
| See Philip's son amidst his Persian guard; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| And proud Roxana, fired with jealous rage, | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/˘· |
| With fifty yards of crape shall sweep the stage. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In short, our kings and princesses within | 10 | ··/··/˘˘·· |
| Are all resolved this project to begin; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| And you, our subjects, when you here resort, | 10 | ··//˘···˘/ |
| Must imitate the fashion of the court. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| O! could I see this audience clad in stuff, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Though money's scarce, we should have trade enough: | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| But chintz, brocades, and lace, take all away, | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| And scarce a crown is left to see the play. | 10 | ·········· |
| Perhaps you wonder whence this friendship springs | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Between the weavers and us playhouse kings; | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| But wit and weaving had the same beginning; | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Pallas first taught us poetry and spinning: | 11 | ·····/˘˘·/˘ |
| And, next, observe how this alliance fits, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| For weavers now are just as poor as wits: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Their brother quillmen, workers for the stage, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| For sorry stuff can get a crown a page; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But weavers will be kinder to the players, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| And sell for twenty pence a yard of theirs. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And to your knowledge, there is often less in | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| The poet's wit, than in the player's dressing. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Femineo generi tribuantur. | 9 | ········· |
Notes from the edition 3
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume I, ed. W. E. Browning (Project Gutenberg #14353, 1910).
- Line 6 Archbishop King.
- Line 18 A street famous for woollen manufactures.--F.
- Line 38 See the fable of Pallas and Arachne in Ovid, "Metamorph.," lib. vi, applied in "A proposal for the Universal use of Irish Manufacture," "Prose Works," vii, at p. 21.--W. E. B.
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