Introduction
On the morning of Swift's installation as Dean, the following scurrilouslines by Smedley, Dean of Clogher, were affixed to the doors of St.Patrick's Cathedral:
To-day this Temple gets a DeanOf parts and fame uncommon,Us'd both to pray and to prophane,To serve both God and mammon.When Wharton reign'd a Whig he was;When Pembroke--that's dispute, Sir;In Oxford's time, what Oxford pleased,Non-con, or Jack, or Neuter.This place he got by wit and rhime,And many ways most odd,And might a Bishop be in time,Did he believe in God.Look down, St. Patrick, look, we pray,On thine own church and steeple;Convert thy Dean on this great day,Or else God help the people.And now, whene'er his Deanship dies,Upon his stone be graven,A man of God here buried lies,Who never thought of heaven.
It was by these lines that Smedley earned for himself a niche in "TheDunciad." For Swift's retaliation, see the poems relating to Smedley atthe end of the first volume, and in volume ii, at p. 124, note.
No book for delightMust come in my sight;But instead of new plays,Dull Bacon's Essays,And pore every day onThat nasty Pantheon.
Long be the day that gave you birthSacred to friendship, wit, and mirth;Late dying may you cast a shredOf your rich mantle o'er my head;To bear with dignity my sorrowOne day alone, then die tomorrow.
Humour and mirth had place in all he writ;He reconciled divinity and wit.
Words in this poem
- installation n.
- The act of installing or giving possession of an office, rank, or order, with the usual rites or ceremonies; as, the installation of an ordained minister in a parish. [F. installation, LL. installatio: cf. It. installazione. See Install.]
- mammon n.
- Riches; wealth; the god of riches; riches, personified. [L. mammona, Gr. mam; cf. Heb. matm a hiding place, subterranean storehouse, treasury, fr. taman to hide.]
- deanship n.
- The office of a dean.
- graven p. p.
- Carved. Graven image, an idol; an object of worship carved from wood, stone, etc.
- pantheon n.
- A temple dedicated to all the gods; especially, the building so called at Rome. [L. pantheon, pantheum, Gr. panthéon. See Pan-, and Theism.]
- tomorrow adv.
- On the day after the present day; on the next day; on the morrow. [Prep. to + morrow.]
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Introduction 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, Introduction, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/introduction.html, id L24472.
Form and metre
Introduction is 40 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic 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.
- 2 AA------BCBCDEDEF-F- deanA · uncommonA · prophane · mammon · was · sir · pleased · neuter · rhimeB · oddC · timeB · godC · prayD · steepleE · dayD · peopleE · diesF · graven · liesF · heaven
- 4 AABBCC delightA · sightA · playsB · essaysB · onC · pantheonC
- 5 AABB-- birthA · mirthA · shredB · headB · sorrow · tomorrow
- 6 AA writA · witA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On the morning of Swift's installation as Dean, the following scurrilous | 17 | ··/˘···˘/˘···/˘/˘ |
| lines by Smedley, Dean of Clogher, were affixed to the doors of St. | 16 | ··/˘·····˘/····· |
| Patrick's Cathedral: | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| To-day this Temple gets a Dean | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of parts and fame uncommon, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Us'd both to pray and to prophane, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To serve both God and mammon. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| When Wharton reign'd a Whig he was; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When Pembroke--that's dispute, Sir; | 7 | ·/··˘/· |
| In Oxford's time, what Oxford pleased, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Non-con, or Jack, or Neuter. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| This place he got by wit and rhime, | 8 | ········ |
| And many ways most odd, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And might a Bishop be in time, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Did he believe in God. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Look down, St. Patrick, look, we pray, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On thine own church and steeple; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Convert thy Dean on this great day, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Or else God help the people. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And now, whene'er his Deanship dies, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Upon his stone be graven, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| A man of God here buried lies, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who never thought of heaven. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| It was by these lines that Smedley earned for himself a niche in "The | 16 | ······/˘··˘/···· |
| Dunciad." For Swift's retaliation, see the poems relating to Smedley at | 20 | ····˘·˘/˘··/˘˘/˘·/˘· |
| the end of the first volume, and in volume ii, at p. 124, note. | 15 | ·····/˘··/˘···· |
| No book for delight | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Must come in my sight; | 5 | ····· |
| But instead of new plays, | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| Dull Bacon's Essays, | 5 | ·/˘/· |
| And pore every day on | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| That nasty Pantheon. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Long be the day that gave you birth | 8 | ········ |
| Sacred to friendship, wit, and mirth; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Late dying may you cast a shred | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of your rich mantle o'er my head; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To bear with dignity my sorrow | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| One day alone, then die tomorrow. | 9 | ··˘/··˘/· |
| Humour and mirth had place in all he writ; | 10 | /˘········ |
| He reconciled divinity and wit. | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘·· |
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.