Written in a Lady's Ivory Table-Book, 1698
Peruse my leaves thro' ev'ry part,And think thou seest my owner's heart,Scrawl'd o'er with trifles thus, and quiteAs hard, as senseless, and as light;Expos'd to ev'ry coxcomb's eyes,But hid with caution from the wise.Here you may read, "Dear charming saint;"Beneath, "A new receipt for paint:"Here, in beau-spelling, "Tru tel deth;"There, in her own, "For an el breth:"Here, "Lovely nymph, pronounce my doom!"There, "A safe way to use perfume:"Here, a page fill'd with billets-doux;On t'other side, "Laid out for shoes"--"Madam, I die without your grace"--"Item, for half a yard of lace."Who that had wit would place it here,For ev'ry peeping fop to jeer?To think that your brains' issue isExposed to th'excrement of his,In pow'r of spittle and a clout,Whene'er he please, to blot it out;And then, to heighten the disgrace,Clap his own nonsense in the place.Whoe'er expects to hold his partIn such a book, and such a heart,If he be wealthy, and a fool,Is in all points the fittest tool;Of whom it may be justly said,He's a gold pencil tipp'd with lead.
Words in this poem
- peruse v. t.
- To observe; to examine with care. [Pref. per- + use.]
- clout n.
- A cloth; a piece of cloth or leather; a patch; a rag. [AS. clut a little cloth, piece of metal; cf. Sw. klut, Icel. klutr a kerchief, or W. clwt a clout, Gael. clud.]
- heighten v. t.
- To make high; to raise higher; to elevate.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Written in a Lady's Ivory Table-Book, 1698 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 in a Lady's Ivory Table-Book, 1698, in On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems (1727), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #14353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems-vol1/written-in-a-lady-s-ivory-table-book-1698.html, id L24479.
Form and metre
Written in a Lady's Ivory Table-Book, 1698 is 30 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 93% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFF--GGHHIIJJGGAAKKLL partA · heartA · quiteB · lightB · eyesC · wiseC · saintD · paintD · dethE · brethE · doomF · perfumeF · doux · shoes · graceG · laceG · hereH · jeerH · isI · hisI · cloutJ · outJ · disgraceG · placeG · partA · heartA · foolK · toolK · saidL · leadL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Peruse my leaves thro' ev'ry part, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And think thou seest my owner's heart, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Scrawl'd o'er with trifles thus, and quite | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As hard, as senseless, and as light; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Expos'd to ev'ry coxcomb's eyes, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| But hid with caution from the wise. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Here you may read, "Dear charming saint;" | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath, "A new receipt for paint:" | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Here, in beau-spelling, "Tru tel deth;" | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| There, in her own, "For an el breth:" | 8 | ········ |
| Here, "Lovely nymph, pronounce my doom!" | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| There, "A safe way to use perfume:" | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Here, a page fill'd with billets-doux; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On t'other side, "Laid out for shoes"-- | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| "Madam, I die without your grace"-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| "Item, for half a yard of lace." | 8 | /˘······ |
| Who that had wit would place it here, | 8 | ········ |
| For ev'ry peeping fop to jeer? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To think that your brains' issue is | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Exposed to th'excrement of his, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| In pow'r of spittle and a clout, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Whene'er he please, to blot it out; | 9 | ········· |
| And then, to heighten the disgrace, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Clap his own nonsense in the place. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Whoe'er expects to hold his part | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| In such a book, and such a heart, | 8 | ········ |
| If he be wealthy, and a fool, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Is in all points the fittest tool; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of whom it may be justly said, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He's a gold pencil tipp'd with lead. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.