"In Syllabam Longam in Voce Vertiginosus A. D. Swift Correptam"
Musarum antistes, Phoebi numerosus alumnus,Vix omnes numeros Vertiginosus habet.Intentat charo capiti vertigo ruinam:Oh! servet cerebro nata Minerva caput.Vertigo nimium longa est, divina poeta;Dent tibi Pierides, donet Apollo, brevem.
Words in this poem
- alumnus n.
- A pupil; especially, a graduate of a college or other seminary of learning. [L., fr. alere to nourish.]
- minerva n.
- The goddess of wisdom, of war, of the arts and sciences, of poetry, and of spinning and weaving; -- identified with the Grecian Pallas Athene. [L.]
- caput n.
- The head; also, a knoblike protuberance or capitulum. [L., the head.]
- dent n.
- A stroke; a blow. [A variant of Dint.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"In Syllabam Longam in Voce Vertiginosus A. D. Swift Correptam" 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 Syllabam Longam in Voce Vertiginosus A. D. Swift Correptam", in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/in-syllabam-longam-in-voce-vertiginosus-a-d-swift-correptam.html, id L24577.
Form and metre
"In Syllabam Longam in Voce Vertiginosus A. D. Swift Correptam" is 6 lines in a single stanza. The metre is anapaestic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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.
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 anapaestic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Musarum antistes, Phoebi numerosus alumnus, | 14 | ···········˘/˘ |
| Vix omnes numeros Vertiginosus habet. | 12 | ············ |
| Intentat charo capiti vertigo ruinam: | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| Oh! servet cerebro nata Minerva caput. | 13 | ······/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| Vertigo nimium longa est, divina poeta; | 14 | /˘·····˘/····· |
| Dent tibi Pierides, donet Apollo, brevem. | 14 | ·/·˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘·· |
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.