In Comitatu Corgagensi. Scripsit Jun. Ann. Dom. 1723

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) · 1727

trochaic heptameter · 33 lines · from On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems

Ecce ingens fragmen scopuli, quod vertice summoDesuper impendet, nullo fundamine nixum,Decidit in fluctus: maria undique et undique saxaHorrisono stridore tenant, et ad aethera murmurErigitur; trepidatque suis Neptunus in undis.Nam, longâ venti rabie, atque aspergine crebrâAequorei laticis, specus imâ rupe cavatur:Jam fultura ruit, jam summa cacumina nutant;Jam cadit in praeceps moles, et verberat undas.Attonitus credas, hinc dejecisse TonantemMontibus impositos montes, et Pelion altumIn capita anguipedum coelo jaculâsse gigantum.Saepe etiam spelunca immani aperitur hiatuExesa è scopulis, et utrinque foramina pandit,Hinc atque hinc a ponto ad pontum pervia PhoeboCautibus enormè junctis laquearia tectiFormantur; moles olim ruitura supernè.Fornice sublimi nidos posuere palumbes,Inque imo stagni posuere cubilia phocae.Sed, cum saevit hyems, et venti, carcere rupto,Immensos volvunt fluctus ad culmina montis;Non obsessae arces, non fulmina vindice dextrâMissa Jovis, quoties inimicus saevit in urbes,Exaequant sonitum undarum, veniente procellâ:Littora littoribus reboant; vicinia latè,Gens assueta mari, et pedibus percurrere rupes,Terretur tamen, et longè fugit, arva relinquens.Gramina dum carpunt pendentes rupe capellae,Vi salientis aquae de summo praecipitantur,Et dulces animas imo sub gurgite linquunt.Piscator terrâ non audet vellere funem;Sed latet in portu tremebundus, et aëra sudumHaud sperans, Nereum precibus votisque fatigat.

Words in this poem

quod v.
Quoth; said. See Quoth.
nutant a.
Nodding; having the top bent downward.
missa n.
The service or sacrifice of the Mass. [LL. See 1st Mass.]
reboant a.
Rebellowing; resounding loudly. Mrs. Browning. [L. reboans, p. pr. of reboare; pref. re- re- + boare to cry aloud.]
gens n.
A clan or family connection, embracing several families of the same stock, who had a common name and certain common religious rites; a subdivision of the Roman curia or tribe. [L. See Gentle, a.]
piscator n.
A fisherman; an angler. [L.]

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

About this text

In Comitatu Corgagensi. Scripsit Jun. Ann. Dom. 1723 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, In Comitatu Corgagensi. Scripsit Jun. Ann. Dom. 1723, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/in-comitatu-corgagensi-scripsit-jun-ann-dom-1723.html, id L24524.

Form and metre

In Comitatu Corgagensi. Scripsit Jun. Ann. Dom. 1723 is 33 lines in a single stanza. The metre is trochaic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).

See other poems in trochaic heptameter.

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. 1 ----------AA--------------------- summo · nixum · saxa · murmur · undis · crebrâ · cavatur · nutant · undas · tonantem · altumA · gigantumA · hiatu · pandit · phoebo · tecti · supernè · palumbes · phocae · rupto · montis · dextrâ · urbes · procellâ · latè · rupes · relinquens · capellae · praecipitantur · linquunt · funem · sudum · fatigat
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 heptameter. How this is done.

LineSyl.Stress
Ecce ingens fragmen scopuli, quod vertice summo13·············
Desuper impendet, nullo fundamine nixum,13·············
Decidit in fluctus: maria undique et undique saxa16······˘/˘·······
Horrisono stridore tenant, et ad aethera murmur15······/˘·····/˘
Erigitur; trepidatque suis Neptunus in undis.14··············
Nam, longâ venti rabie, atque aspergine crebrâ11··/˘·······
Aequorei laticis, specus imâ rupe cavatur:13·············
Jam fultura ruit, jam summa cacumina nutant;14······/˘····/˘
Jam cadit in praeceps moles, et verberat undas.13·············
Attonitus credas, hinc dejecisse Tonantem13·············
Montibus impositos montes, et Pelion altum14·······/˘·····
In capita anguipedum coelo jaculâsse gigantum.15·/˘············
Saepe etiam spelunca immani aperitur hiatu15···············
Exesa è scopulis, et utrinque foramina pandit,15·············/˘
Hinc atque hinc a ponto ad pontum pervia Phoebo13····/˘·······
Cautibus enormè junctis laquearia tecti12···˘/·······
Formantur; moles olim ruitura supernè.11···········
Fornice sublimi nidos posuere palumbes,11···········
Inque imo stagni posuere cubilia phocae.11·/˘········
Sed, cum saevit hyems, et venti, carcere rupto,12······/˘····
Immensos volvunt fluctus ad culmina montis;13···········/˘
Non obsessae arces, non fulmina vindice dextrâ12···/˘·······
Missa Jovis, quoties inimicus saevit in urbes,13/˘/˘·········
Exaequant sonitum undarum, veniente procellâ:13···········˘/
Littora littoribus reboant; vicinia latè,14·······˘/˘····
Gens assueta mari, et pedibus percurrere rupes,14····/˘········
Terretur tamen, et longè fugit, arva relinquens.14·········/˘···
Gramina dum carpunt pendentes rupe capellae,11···········
Vi salientis aquae de summo praecipitantur,13·············
Et dulces animas imo sub gurgite linquunt.13·/˘···/˘·····
Piscator terrâ non audet vellere funem;11˘/˘··˘/····
Sed latet in portu tremebundus, et aëra sudum15···········/˘··
Haud sperans, Nereum precibus votisque fatigat.13·············

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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