Helter Skelter; or, the Hue and Cry After the Attorneys upon Their Riding the Circuit
Now the active young attorneysBriskly travel on their journeys,Looking big as any giants,On the horses of their clients;Like so many little MarsesWith their tilters at their a--s,Brazen-hilted, lately burnish'd,And with harness-buckles furnish'd,And with whips and spurs so neat,And with jockey-coats complete,And with boots so very greasy,And with saddles eke so easy,And with bridles fine and gay,Bridles borrow'd for a day,Bridles destined far to roam,Ah! never, never to come home.And with hats so very big, sir,And with powder'd caps and wigs, sir,And with ruffles to be shown,Cambric ruffles not their own;And with Holland shirts so white,Shirts becoming to the sight,Shirts bewrought with different letters,As belonging to their betters.With their pretty tinsel'd boxes,Gotten from their dainty doxies,And with rings so very trim,Lately taken out of lim--And with very little pence,And as very little sense;With some law, but little justice,Having stolen from my hostess,From the barber and the cutler,Like the soldier from the sutler;From the vintner and the tailor,Like the felon from the jailor;Into this and t'other county,Living on the public bounty;Thorough town and thorough village,All to plunder, all to pillage:Thorough mountains, thorough valleys,Thorough stinking lanes and alleys,Some to--kiss with farmers' spouses,And make merry in their houses;Some to tumble country wenchesOn their rushy beds and benches;And if they begin a fray,Draw their swords, and----run away;All to murder equity,And to take a double fee;Till the people are all quiet,And forget to broil and riot,Low in pocket, cow'd in courage,Safely glad to sup their porridge,And vacation's over--then,Hey, for London town again.
"For he no sooner was at large,But Trulla straight brought on the charge,And in the selfsame Limbo putThe knight and squire where he was shut."Hudibras, Part i, canto iii, 1,000.
Words in this poem
- bewrought a.
- Embroidered. B. Jonson. [Pref. be- + wrought, p. p. of work, v. t.]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- hostess n.
- A female host; a woman who hospitably entertains guests at her house. [OE. hostesse, ostesse. See Host a landlord.]
- 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.]
- cutler n.
- One who makes or deals in cutlery, or knives and other cutting instruments. [OE. coteler, F. coutelier, LL. cultellarius, fr. L. cultellus. See Cutlass.]
- vintner n.
- One who deals in wine; a wine seller, or wine merchant. [OE. vintener, viniter, OF. vinetier, vinotier, LL. vinetarius, fr. L. vinetum a vineyard, fr. vinum wine. See Wine.]
- county n.
- An earldom; the domain of a count or earl. [F. comt, fr. LL. comitatus. See Count.]
- 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.]
- rushy a.
- Abounding with rushes.
- selfsame a.
- Precisely the same; the very same; identical. [Self, a. + same.]
- limbo n.
- An extramundane region where certain classes of souls were supposed to await the judgment. [L. limbus border, edge in limbo on the border. Cf. Limb border.]
- canto n.
- One of the chief divisions of a long poem; a book. [It. canto, fr. L. cantus singing, song. See Chant.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Helter Skelter; or, the Hue and Cry After the Attorneys upon Their Riding the Circuit 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, Helter Skelter; or, the Hue and Cry After the Attorneys upon Their Riding the Circuit, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/helter-skelter-or-the-hue-and-cry-after-the-attorneys-upon-their-riding-the-circuit.html, id L25616.
Form and metre
Helter Skelter; or, the Hue and Cry After the Attorneys upon Their Riding the Circuit is 61 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXXYYZZaabb attorneysA · journeysA · giantsB · clientsB · marsesC · sC · burnish'dD · furnish'dD · neatE · completeE · greasyF · easyF · gayG · dayG · roamH · homeH · sirI · sirI · shownJ · ownJ · whiteK · sightK · lettersL · bettersL · boxesM · doxiesM · trimN · limN · penceO · senseO · justiceP · hostessP · cutlerQ · sutlerQ · tailorR · jailorR · countyS · bountyS · villageT · pillageT · valleysU · alleysU · spousesV · housesV · wenchesW · benchesW · frayX · awayX · equityY · feeY · quietZ · riotZ · couragea · porridgea · thenb · againb
- 2 AA--- largeA · chargeA · put · shut · —
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now the active young attorneys | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Briskly travel on their journeys, | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| Looking big as any giants, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| On the horses of their clients; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Like so many little Marses | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| With their tilters at their a--s, | 8 | ········ |
| Brazen-hilted, lately burnish'd, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| And with harness-buckles furnish'd, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| And with whips and spurs so neat, | 7 | ······· |
| And with jockey-coats complete, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| And with boots so very greasy, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And with saddles eke so easy, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And with bridles fine and gay, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Bridles borrow'd for a day, | 7 | /˘/···· |
| Bridles destined far to roam, | 8 | /˘/˘˘··· |
| Ah! never, never to come home. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And with hats so very big, sir, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And with powder'd caps and wigs, sir, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And with ruffles to be shown, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Cambric ruffles not their own; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| And with Holland shirts so white, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Shirts becoming to the sight, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Shirts bewrought with different letters, | 9 | ·˘/·/˘˘/˘ |
| As belonging to their betters. | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| With their pretty tinsel'd boxes, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Gotten from their dainty doxies, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| And with rings so very trim, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lately taken out of lim-- | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| And with very little pence, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And as very little sense; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| With some law, but little justice, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Having stolen from my hostess, | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| From the barber and the cutler, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Like the soldier from the sutler; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| From the vintner and the tailor, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Like the felon from the jailor; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Into this and t'other county, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Living on the public bounty; | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Thorough town and thorough village, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| All to plunder, all to pillage: | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Thorough mountains, thorough valleys, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Thorough stinking lanes and alleys, | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| Some to--kiss with farmers' spouses, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And make merry in their houses; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Some to tumble country wenches | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| On their rushy beds and benches; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And if they begin a fray, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Draw their swords, and----run away; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| All to murder equity, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| And to take a double fee; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Till the people are all quiet, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And forget to broil and riot, | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| Low in pocket, cow'd in courage, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Safely glad to sup their porridge, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| And vacation's over--then, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Hey, for London town again. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| "For he no sooner was at large, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But Trulla straight brought on the charge, | 8 | ········ |
| And in the selfsame Limbo put | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The knight and squire where he was shut." | 8 | ········ |
| Hudibras, Part i, canto iii, 1,000. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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 28 Limbo, any place of misery and restraint. "For he no sooner was at large, But Trulla straight brought on the charge, And in the selfsame Limbo put The knight and squire where he was shut." Hudibras, Part i, canto iii, 1,000. Here abbreviated by Swift as a cant term for a pawn shop.--W. E. B.
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