The Discovery
When wise Lord Berkeley first came here,Statesmen and mob expected wonders,Nor thought to find so great a peerEre a week past committing blunders.Till on a day cut out by fate,When folks came thick to make their court,Out slipt a mystery of stateTo give the town and country sport.Now enters Bush with new state airs,His lordship's premier minister;And who in all profound affairs,Is held as needful as his clyster.With head reclining on his shoulder,He deals and hears mysterious chat,While every ignorant beholderAsks of his neighbour, who is that?With this he put up to my lord,The courtiers kept their distance due,He twitch'd his sleeve, and stole a word;Then to a corner both withdrew.Imagine now my lord and BushWhispering in junto most profound,Like good King Phys and good King Ush,While all the rest stood gaping round.At length a spark, not too well bred,Of forward face and ear acute,Advanced on tiptoe, lean'd his head,To overhear the grand dispute;To learn what Northern kings design,Or from Whitehall some new express,Papists disarm'd, or fall of coin;For sure (thought he) it can't be less.My lord, said Bush, a friend and I,Disguised in two old threadbare coats,Ere morning's dawn, stole out to spyHow markets went for hay and oats.With that he draws two handfuls out,The one was oats, the other hay;Puts this to's excellency's snout,And begs he would the other weigh.My lord seems pleased, but still directsBy all means to bring down the rates;Then, with a congee circumflex,Bush, smiling round on all, retreats.Our listener stood awhile confused,But gathering spirits, wisely ran for't,Enraged to see the world abused,By two such whispering kings of Brentford.
Words in this poem
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- premier a.
- First; chief; principal; as, the premier place; premier minister. [F. premier, fr. L. primarius of the first rank, principal, fr. primus the first. See Primary, Prime, a.]
- needful a.
- Full of need; in need or want; needy; distressing.
- beholder n.
- One who beholds; a spectator.
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- junto n.
- A secret council to deliberate on affairs of government or politics; a number of men combined for party intrigue; a faction; a cabal; as, a junto of ministers; a junto of politicians. [Sp. junto united. See Junta.]
- tiptoe n.
- The end, or tip, of the toe.
- overhear v. t.
- To hear more of (anything) than was intended to be heard; to hear by accident or artifice. [AS. oferhiéran.]
- threadbare a.
- Worn to the naked thread; having the nap worn off; threadbare clothes.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- congee n.
- [Tamil kashi boilings.]
- circumflex n.
- A wave of the voice embracing both a rise and fall or a fall and a rise on the same a syllable. Walker. [L. circumflexus a bending round, fr. circumflectere, circumflexum, to bend or turn about; circum + flectere to bend. See Flexible.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Discovery 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, The Discovery, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/the-discovery.html, id L24483.
Form and metre
The Discovery is 48 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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.
- 1 ABABCDCDE-E-FGFG-H-HIJIJKLKL-M-MNONOPQPQ----R-R- hereA · wondersB · peerA · blundersB · fateC · courtD · stateC · sportD · airsE · minister · affairsE · clyster · shoulderF · chatG · beholderF · thatG · lord · dueH · word · withdrewH · bushI · profoundJ · ushI · roundJ · bredK · acuteL · headK · disputeL · design · expressM · coin · lessM · iN · coatsO · spyN · oatsO · outP · hayQ · snoutP · weighQ · directs · rates · circumflex · retreats · confusedR · for't · abusedR · brentford
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When wise Lord Berkeley first came here, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Statesmen and mob expected wonders, | 9 | /˘··˘/˘/˘ |
| Nor thought to find so great a peer | 8 | ········ |
| Ere a week past committing blunders. | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Till on a day cut out by fate, | 8 | ········ |
| When folks came thick to make their court, | 8 | ········ |
| Out slipt a mystery of state | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| To give the town and country sport. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Now enters Bush with new state airs, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His lordship's premier minister; | 8 | ···˘//˘˘ |
| And who in all profound affairs, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Is held as needful as his clyster. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| With head reclining on his shoulder, | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| He deals and hears mysterious chat, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| While every ignorant beholder | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Asks of his neighbour, who is that? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With this he put up to my lord, | 8 | ········ |
| The courtiers kept their distance due, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He twitch'd his sleeve, and stole a word; | 8 | ········ |
| Then to a corner both withdrew. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Imagine now my lord and Bush | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Whispering in junto most profound, | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Like good King Phys and good King Ush, | 8 | ········ |
| While all the rest stood gaping round. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At length a spark, not too well bred, | 8 | ········ |
| Of forward face and ear acute, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Advanced on tiptoe, lean'd his head, | 8 | ˘/·/···· |
| To overhear the grand dispute; | 8 | ·/˘/··˘/ |
| To learn what Northern kings design, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Or from Whitehall some new express, | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| Papists disarm'd, or fall of coin; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| For sure (thought he) it can't be less. | 8 | ········ |
| My lord, said Bush, a friend and I, | 8 | ········ |
| Disguised in two old threadbare coats, | 8 | ˘/···/·· |
| Ere morning's dawn, stole out to spy | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| How markets went for hay and oats. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With that he draws two handfuls out, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| The one was oats, the other hay; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Puts this to's excellency's snout, | 7 | ···//˘· |
| And begs he would the other weigh. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My lord seems pleased, but still directs | 8 | ······˘/ |
| By all means to bring down the rates; | 8 | ········ |
| Then, with a congee circumflex, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Bush, smiling round on all, retreats. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Our listener stood awhile confused, | 8 | //˘·˘/˘/ |
| But gathering spirits, wisely ran for't, | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘·· |
| Enraged to see the world abused, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| By two such whispering kings of Brentford. | 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.