On Censure 1727
Ye wise, instruct me to endureAn evil, which admits no cure;Or, how this evil can be borne,Which breeds at once both hate and scorn.Bare innocence is no support,When you are tried in Scandal's court.Stand high in honour, wealth, or wit;All others, who inferior sit,Conceive themselves in conscience boundTo join, and drag you to the ground.Your altitude offends the eyesOf those who want the power to rise.The world, a willing stander-by,Inclines to aid a specious lie:Alas! they would not do you wrong;But all appearances are strong.Yet whence proceeds this weight we layOn what detracting people say!For let mankind discharge their tonguesIn venom, till they burst their lungs,Their utmost malice cannot makeYour head, or tooth, or finger ache;Nor spoil your shape, distort your face,Or put one feature out of place;Nor will you find your fortune sinkBy what they speak or what they think;Nor can ten hundred thousand liesMake you less virtuous, learn'd, or wise.The most effectual way to balkTheir malice, is--to let them talk.
Words in this poem
- instruct a.
- Arranged; furnished; provided. [L. instructus, p. p. of instruere to furnish, provide, construct, instruct; pref. in- in, struere. See Structure.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- virtuous a.
- Possessing or exhibiting virtue. Specifically: -- (a) Exhibiting manly courage and strength; valorous; valiant; brave. [OE. vertuous, OF. vertuos, vertuous, F. vertueux, fr. L. Virtuous. See Virtue, and cf. Virtuoso.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Censure 1727 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, On Censure 1727, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/on-censure-1727.html, id L24533.
Form and metre
On Censure 1727 is 30 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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.
- 1 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMFFNN endureA · cureA · borneB · scornB · supportC · courtC · witD · sitD · boundE · groundE · eyesF · riseF · byG · lieG · wrongH · strongH · layI · sayI · tonguesJ · lungsJ · makeK · acheK · faceL · placeL · sinkM · thinkM · liesF · wiseF · balkN · talkN
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ye wise, instruct me to endure | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| An evil, which admits no cure; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Or, how this evil can be borne, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which breeds at once both hate and scorn. | 8 | ········ |
| Bare innocence is no support, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| When you are tried in Scandal's court. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Stand high in honour, wealth, or wit; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| All others, who inferior sit, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Conceive themselves in conscience bound | 8 | ˘/˘/·/˘· |
| To join, and drag you to the ground. | 8 | ········ |
| Your altitude offends the eyes | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Of those who want the power to rise. | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The world, a willing stander-by, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Inclines to aid a specious lie: | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Alas! they would not do you wrong; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| But all appearances are strong. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Yet whence proceeds this weight we lay | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| On what detracting people say! | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| For let mankind discharge their tongues | 8 | ··//˘/·· |
| In venom, till they burst their lungs, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their utmost malice cannot make | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| Your head, or tooth, or finger ache; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor spoil your shape, distort your face, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Or put one feature out of place; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor will you find your fortune sink | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By what they speak or what they think; | 8 | ········ |
| Nor can ten hundred thousand lies | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Make you less virtuous, learn'd, or wise. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The most effectual way to balk | 9 | ··˘/˘˘··· |
| Their malice, is--to let them talk. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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