Written for the Honour of the Fair Sex. 1731
Corinna, pride of Drury-Lane,For whom no shepherd sighs in vain;Never did Covent-Garden boastSo bright a batter'd strolling toast!No drunken rake to pick her up,No cellar where on tick to sup;Returning at the midnight hour,Four stories climbing to her bower;Then, seated on a three-legg'd chair,Takes off her artificial hair;Now picking out a crystal eye,She wipes it clean, and lays it by.Her eyebrows from a mouse's hideStuck on with art on either side,Pulls off with care, and first displays 'em,Then in a play-book smoothly lays 'em.Now dext'rously her plumpers draws,That serve to fill her hollow jaws,Untwists a wire, and from her gumsA set of teeth completely comes;Pulls out the rags contrived to propHer flabby dugs, and down they drop.Proceeding on, the lovely goddessUnlaces next her steel-ribb'd bodice,Which, by the operator's skill,Press down the lumps, the hollows fill.Up goes her hand, and off she slipsThe bolsters that supply her hips;With gentlest touch she next exploresHer chancres, issues, running sores;Effects of many a sad disaster,And then to each applies a plaster:But must, before she goes to bed,Rub off the daubs of white and red,And smooth the furrows in her frontWith greasy paper stuck upon't.She takes a bolus ere she sleeps;And then between two blankets creeps.With pains of love tormented lies;Or, if she chance to close her eyes,Of Bridewell and the Compter dreams,And feels the lash, and faintly screams;Or, by a faithless bully drawn,At some hedge-tavern lies in pawn;Or to Jamaica seems transportedAlone, and by no planter courted;Or, near Fleet-ditch's oozy brinks,Surrounded with a hundred stinks,Belated, seems on watch to lie,And snap some cully passing by;Or, struck with fear, her fancy runsOn watchmen, constables, and duns,From whom she meets with frequent rubs;But never from religious clubs;Whose favour she is sure to find,Because she pays them all in kind.Corinna wakes. A dreadful sight!Behold the ruins of the night!A wicked rat her plaster stole,Half eat, and dragg'd it to his hole.The crystal eye, alas! was miss'd;And puss had on her plumpers p--st,A pigeon pick'd her issue-pease:And Shock her tresses fill'd with fleas.The nymph, though in this mangled plightMust ev'ry morn her limbs unite.But how shall I describe her artsTo re-collect the scatter'd parts?Or show the anguish, toil, and pain,Of gath'ring up herself again?The bashful Muse will never bearIn such a scene to interfere.Corinna, in the morning dizen'd,Who sees, will spew; who smells, be poison'd.
Words in this poem 15
- bodice n.
- A kind of under waist stiffened with whalebone, etc., worn esp. by women; a corset; stays. [This is properly the plural of body, Oe. bodise a pair of bodies, equiv. to a bodice. Cf. Corset, and see Body.]
- disaster n.
- An unpropitious or baleful aspect of a planet or star; malevolent influence of a heavenly body; hence, an ill portent. [F. désastre; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + astre star, fr. L. astrum; a word of astrological origin. See Aster, Astral, Star.]
- bolus n.
- A rounded mass of anything, esp. a large pill. [L. bolus bit, morsel; cf. G. lump of earth. See Bole, n., clay.]
- bridewell n.
- A house of correction for the confinement of disorderly persons; -- so called from a hospital built in 1553 near St. Bride's (or Bridget's) well, in London, which was subsequently a penal workhouse.
- planter n.
- One who, or that which, plants or sows; as, a planterof corn; a machine planter.
- belated a.
- Delayed beyond the usual time; too late; overtaken by night; benighted.
- cully n.
- A person easily deceived, tricked, or imposed on; a mean dupe; a gull. [Abbrev. fr. cullion.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- puss n.
- A cat; -- a fondling appellation. [Cf. D. poes, Ir. & Gael. pus.]
- plight v. t.
- To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. [OE. pliten; probably through Old French, fr. LL. plectare, L. plectere. See Plait, Ply.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- bashful a.
- Abashed; daunted; dismayed. [See Bash.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Written for the Honour of the Fair Sex. 1731 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, Written for the Honour of the Fair Sex. 1731, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/written-for-the-honour-of-the-fair-sex-1731.html, id L24551.
Form and metre
Written for the Honour of the Fair Sex. 1731 is 74 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGG--HHIIJJ--KKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTT--UUVVWWXXYYZZaa--bbccdd--eeff laneA · vainA · boastB · toastB · upC · supC · hourD · bowerD · chairE · hairE · eyeF · byF · hideG · sideG · em · em · drawsH · jawsH · gumsI · comesI · propJ · dropJ · goddess · bodice · skillK · fillK · slipsL · hipsL · exploresM · soresM · disasterN · plasterN · bedO · redO · frontP · upon'tP · sleepsQ · creepsQ · liesR · eyesR · dreamsS · screamsS · drawnT · pawnT · transported · courted · brinksU · stinksU · lieV · byV · runsW · dunsW · rubsX · clubsX · findY · kindY · sightZ · nightZ · stolea · holea · miss'd · — · peaseb · fleasb · plightc · unitec · artsd · partsd · pain · again · beare · interferee · dizen'df · poison'df
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Corinna, pride of Drury-Lane, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For whom no shepherd sighs in vain; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Never did Covent-Garden boast | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| So bright a batter'd strolling toast! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| No drunken rake to pick her up, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No cellar where on tick to sup; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Returning at the midnight hour, | 9 | ˘/˘··/·/˘ |
| Four stories climbing to her bower; | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Then, seated on a three-legg'd chair, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Takes off her artificial hair; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Now picking out a crystal eye, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| She wipes it clean, and lays it by. | 8 | ········ |
| Her eyebrows from a mouse's hide | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Stuck on with art on either side, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Pulls off with care, and first displays 'em, | 9 | ······˘/· |
| Then in a play-book smoothly lays 'em. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Now dext'rously her plumpers draws, | 8 | ········ |
| That serve to fill her hollow jaws, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Untwists a wire, and from her gums | 8 | ···/···· |
| A set of teeth completely comes; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Pulls out the rags contrived to prop | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Her flabby dugs, and down they drop. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Proceeding on, the lovely goddess | 9 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Unlaces next her steel-ribb'd bodice, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Which, by the operator's skill, | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| Press down the lumps, the hollows fill. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Up goes her hand, and off she slips | 8 | ········ |
| The bolsters that supply her hips; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| With gentlest touch she next explores | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Her chancres, issues, running sores; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Effects of many a sad disaster, | 9 | ˘/·/··˘/˘ |
| And then to each applies a plaster: | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| But must, before she goes to bed, | 8 | ········ |
| Rub off the daubs of white and red, | 8 | ········ |
| And smooth the furrows in her front | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With greasy paper stuck upon't. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| She takes a bolus ere she sleeps; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And then between two blankets creeps. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With pains of love tormented lies; | 8 | ····/·˘· |
| Or, if she chance to close her eyes, | 8 | ········ |
| Of Bridewell and the Compter dreams, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And feels the lash, and faintly screams; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or, by a faithless bully drawn, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| At some hedge-tavern lies in pawn; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or to Jamaica seems transported | 9 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Alone, and by no planter courted; | 9 | ˘/···/˘/˘ |
| Or, near Fleet-ditch's oozy brinks, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Surrounded with a hundred stinks, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Belated, seems on watch to lie, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| And snap some cully passing by; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Or, struck with fear, her fancy runs | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On watchmen, constables, and duns, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| From whom she meets with frequent rubs; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But never from religious clubs; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Whose favour she is sure to find, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Because she pays them all in kind. | 8 | ········ |
| Corinna wakes. A dreadful sight! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Behold the ruins of the night! | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| A wicked rat her plaster stole, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Half eat, and dragg'd it to his hole. | 8 | ········ |
| The crystal eye, alas! was miss'd; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And puss had on her plumpers p--st, | 9 | ········· |
| A pigeon pick'd her issue-pease: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And Shock her tresses fill'd with fleas. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The nymph, though in this mangled plight | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Must ev'ry morn her limbs unite. | 8 | ······/· |
| But how shall I describe her arts | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| To re-collect the scatter'd parts? | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Or show the anguish, toil, and pain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of gath'ring up herself again? | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| The bashful Muse will never bear | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In such a scene to interfere. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Corinna, in the morning dizen'd, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| Who sees, will spew; who smells, be poison'd. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
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