Verses on Two Celebrated Modern Poets
Behold, those monarch oaks, that riseWith lofty branches to the skies,Have large proportion'd roots that growWith equal longitude below:Two bards that now in fashion reign,Most aptly this device explain:If this to clouds and stars will venture,That creeps as far to reach the centre;Or, more to show the thing I mean,Have you not o'er a saw-pit seenA skill'd mechanic, that has stoodHigh on a length of prostrate wood,Who hired a subterraneous friendTo take his iron by the end;But which excell'd was never found,The man above or under ground.The moral is so plain to hit,That, had I been the god of wit,Then, in a saw-pit and wet weather,Should Young and Philips drudge together.
Words in this poem
- aptly adv.
- In an apt or suitable manner; fitly; properly; pertinently; appropriately; readily.
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Verses on Two Celebrated Modern Poets 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, Verses on Two Celebrated Modern Poets, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/verses-on-two-celebrated-modern-poets.html, id L24602.
Form and metre
Verses on Two Celebrated Modern Poets is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 90% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AABBCC--DDEEFFGGHHII riseA · skiesA · growB · belowB · reignC · explainC · venture · centre · meanD · seenD · stoodE · woodE · friendF · endF · foundG · groundG · hitH · witH · weatherI · togetherI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Behold, those monarch oaks, that rise | 8 | ˘/·/···· |
| With lofty branches to the skies, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Have large proportion'd roots that grow | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| With equal longitude below: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Two bards that now in fashion reign, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Most aptly this device explain: | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘/ |
| If this to clouds and stars will venture, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That creeps as far to reach the centre; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Or, more to show the thing I mean, | 8 | ········ |
| Have you not o'er a saw-pit seen | 8 | ········ |
| A skill'd mechanic, that has stood | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| High on a length of prostrate wood, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who hired a subterraneous friend | 8 | ·/······ |
| To take his iron by the end; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But which excell'd was never found, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The man above or under ground. | 8 | ········ |
| The moral is so plain to hit, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That, had I been the god of wit, | 8 | ········ |
| Then, in a saw-pit and wet weather, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Should Young and Philips drudge together. | 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.