On Dreams
THOSE dreams, that on the silent night intrude,And with false flitting shades our minds deludeJove never sends us downward from the skies;Nor can they from infernal mansions rise;But are all mere productions of the brain,And fools consult interpreters in vain.
For when in bed we rest our weary limbs,The mind unburden'd sports in various whims;The busy head with mimic art runs o'erThe scenes and actions of the day before.
The drowsy tyrant, by his minions led,To regal rage devotes some patriot's head.With equal terrors, not with equal guilt,The murderer dreams of all the blood he spilt.
The soldier smiling hears the widow's cries,And stabs the son before the mother's eyes.With like remorse his brother of the trade,The butcher, fells the lamb beneath his blade.
The statesman rakes the town to find a plot,And dreams of forfeitures by treason got.Nor less Tom-t--d-man, of true statesman mould,Collects the city filth in search of gold.
Orphans around his bed the lawyer sees,And takes the plaintiff's and defendant's fees.His fellow pick-purse, watching for a job,Fancies his fingers in the cully's fob.
The kind physician grants the husband's prayers,Or gives relief to long-expecting heirs.The sleeping hangman ties the fatal noose,Nor unsuccessful waits for dead men's shoes.
The grave divine, with knotty points perplext,As if he were awake, nods o'er his text:While the sly mountebank attends his trade,Harangues the rabble, and is better paid.
The hireling senator of modern daysBedaubs the guilty great with nauseous praise:And Dick, the scavenger, with equal graceFlirts from his cart the mud in Walpole's face.
"Somnia quae mentes ludunt volitantibus umbris,Non delubra deum nec ab aethere numina mittunt,
"Nam cum prostrata soporeUrguet membra quies et mens sine pondere ludit,
Words in this poem
- flitting n.
- A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering.
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- consult n.
- The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation; also, the result of consulation; determination; decision.
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- unsuccessful a.
- Not successful; not producing the desired event; not fortunate; meeting with, or resulting in, failure; unlucky; unhappy.
- hireling n.
- One who is hired, or who serves for wages; esp., one whose motive and interest in serving another are wholly gainful; a mercenary. [AS. h. See Hire, n., and -ling.]
- senator n.
- A member of a senate. [OE. senatour, OF. senatour, F. sénateur, fr. L. senator.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Dreams 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 Dreams, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/on-dreams.html, id L25611.
Form and metre
On Dreams is 42 lines in 11 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic 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.
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 AABBCC intrudeA · deludeA · skiesB · riseB · brainC · vainC
- 2 AA-- limbsA · whimsA · o'er · before
- 3 AABB ledA · headA · guiltB · spiltB
- 4 AABB criesA · eyesA · tradeB · bladeB
- 5 AABB plotA · gotA · mouldB · goldB
- 6 AA-- seesA · feesA · job · fob
- 7 AA-- prayersA · heirsA · noose · shoes
- 8 AABB perplextA · textA · tradeB · paidB
- 9 AABB daysA · praiseA · graceB · faceB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THOSE dreams, that on the silent night intrude, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And with false flitting shades our minds delude | 10 | ···/˘·/·˘/ |
| Jove never sends us downward from the skies; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Nor can they from infernal mansions rise; | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| But are all mere productions of the brain, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And fools consult interpreters in vain. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| For when in bed we rest our weary limbs, | 10 | ······//˘· |
| The mind unburden'd sports in various whims; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| The busy head with mimic art runs o'er | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The scenes and actions of the day before. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The drowsy tyrant, by his minions led, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| To regal rage devotes some patriot's head. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| With equal terrors, not with equal guilt, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The murderer dreams of all the blood he spilt. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The soldier smiling hears the widow's cries, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And stabs the son before the mother's eyes. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With like remorse his brother of the trade, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| The butcher, fells the lamb beneath his blade. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The statesman rakes the town to find a plot, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And dreams of forfeitures by treason got. | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Nor less Tom-t--d-man, of true statesman mould, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Collects the city filth in search of gold. | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Orphans around his bed the lawyer sees, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| And takes the plaintiff's and defendant's fees. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| His fellow pick-purse, watching for a job, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Fancies his fingers in the cully's fob. | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| The kind physician grants the husband's prayers, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Or gives relief to long-expecting heirs. | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| The sleeping hangman ties the fatal noose, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Nor unsuccessful waits for dead men's shoes. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The grave divine, with knotty points perplext, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| As if he were awake, nods o'er his text: | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| While the sly mountebank attends his trade, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/·· |
| Harangues the rabble, and is better paid. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| The hireling senator of modern days | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| Bedaubs the guilty great with nauseous praise: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And Dick, the scavenger, with equal grace | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Flirts from his cart the mud in Walpole's face. | 10 | ·······/·· |
| "Somnia quae mentes ludunt volitantibus umbris, | 13 | ············· |
| Non delubra deum nec ab aethere numina mittunt, | 14 | ·············· |
| "Nam cum prostrata sopore | 7 | ······· |
| Urguet membra quies et mens sine pondere ludit, | 12 | ············ |
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.