A Pastoral Dialogue. 1728
A Nymph and swain, Sheelah and Dermot hight;Who wont to weed the court of Gosford knight;While each with stubbed knife removed the roots,That raised between the stones their daily shoots;As at their work they sate in counterview,With mutual beauty smit, their passion grew.Sing, heavenly Muse, in sweetly flowing strain,The soft endearments of the nymph and swain.
My love to Sheelah is more firmly fixt,Than strongest weeds that grow those stones betwixt;My spud these nettles from the stones can part;No knife so keen to weed thee from my heart.
My love for gentle Dermot faster grows,Than yon tall dock that rises to thy nose.Cut down the dock, 'twill sprout again; but, O!Love rooted out, again will never grow.
No more that brier thy tender leg shall rake:(I spare the thistles for Sir Arthur's sake)Sharp are the stones; take thou this rushy mat;The hardest bum will bruise with sitting squat.
Thy breeches, torn behind, stand gaping wide;This petticoat shall save thy dear backside;Nor need I blush; although you feel it wet,Dermot, I vow, 'tis nothing else but sweat.
At an old stubborn root I chanced to tug,When the Dean threw me this tobacco-plug;A longer ha'p'orth never did I see;This, dearest Sheelah, thou shall share with me.
In at the pantry door, this morn I slipt,And from the shelf a charming crust I whipt:Dennis was out, and I got hither safe;And thou, my dear, shall have the bigger half.
When you saw Tady at long bullets play,You sate and loused him all a sunshine day:How could you, Sheelah, listen to his tales,Or crack such lice as his between your nails?
When you with Oonah stood behind a ditch,I peep'd, and saw you kiss the dirty bitch;Dermot, how could you touch these nasty sluts?I almost wish'd this spud were in your guts.
If Oonah once I kiss'd, forbear to chide;Her aunt's my gossip by my father's side:But, if I ever touch her lips again,May I be doom'd for life to weed in rain!
Dermot, I swear, though Tady's locks could holdTen thousand lice, and every louse was gold;Him on my lap you never more shall see;Or may I lose my weeding knife--and thee!
O, could I earn for thee, my lovely lass,A pair of brogues to bear thee dry to mass!But see, where Norah with the sowins comes--Then let us rise, and rest our weary bums.
Words in this poem 18
- hight v. t.
- To be called or named. [OE. heiten, highten, haten, hoten; also hight, hatte, hette, is called, was called, AS. hatan to call, name, be called, to command, promise; also hatte is calle]
- stubbed a.
- Reduced to a stub; short and thick, like something truncated; blunt; obtuse.
- sate v. t.
- To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
- counterview n.
- An opposite or opposing view; opposition; a posture in which two persons front each other.
- smit
- 3d. pers. sing. pres. of Smite.
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
- spud n.
- A sharp, narrow spade, usually with a long handle, used by farmers for digging up large-rooted weeds; a similarly shaped implement used for various purposes. [Cf. Dan. spyd a spear.]
- brier n.
- A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax. [OE. brere, brer, AS. brer, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg.]
- 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,]
- rushy a.
- Abounding with rushes.
- backside n.
- The hinder part, posteriors, or rump of a person or animal. [Back, a. + side.]
- 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.]
- bigger a.
- , compar. of Big.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- bitch n.
- The female of the canine kind, as of the dog, wolf, and fox. [OE. biche, bicche, AS. bicce; cf. Icel. bikkja, G. betze, peize.]
- weeding
- a. & n. from Weed, v. Weeding chisel, a tool with a divided chisel-like end, for cutting the roots of large weeds under ground.
- lass n.
- A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
- brogues n.
- Breeches. Shenstone. [Cf. Breeches.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Pastoral Dialogue. 1728 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #13621; 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, A Pastoral Dialogue. 1728, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/a-pastoral-dialogue-1728.html, id L25676.
Form and metre
A Pastoral Dialogue. 1728 is 52 lines in 12 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 11 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See 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 AABBCCDD hightA · knightA · rootsB · shootsB · counterviewC · grewC · strainD · swainD
- 2 AABB fixtA · betwixtA · partB · heartB
- 3 AABB growsA · noseA · oB · growB
- 4 AABB rakeA · sakeA · matB · squatB
- 5 AABB wideA · backsideA · wetB · sweatB
- 6 AABB tugA · plugA · seeB · meB
- 7 AABB sliptA · whiptA · safeB · halfB
- 8 AABB playA · dayA · talesB · nailsB
- 9 AABB ditchA · bitchA · slutsB · gutsB
- 10 AABB chideA · sideA · againB · rainB
- 11 AABB holdA · goldA · seeB · theeB
- 12 AABB lassA · massA · comesB · bumsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A Nymph and swain, Sheelah and Dermot hight; | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Who wont to weed the court of Gosford knight; | 10 | ·········· |
| While each with stubbed knife removed the roots, | 10 | ····˘·˘/·· |
| That raised between the stones their daily shoots; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| As at their work they sate in counterview, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| With mutual beauty smit, their passion grew. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Sing, heavenly Muse, in sweetly flowing strain, | 10 | ·/˘˘··/˘/· |
| The soft endearments of the nymph and swain. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| My love to Sheelah is more firmly fixt, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Than strongest weeds that grow those stones betwixt; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| My spud these nettles from the stones can part; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| No knife so keen to weed thee from my heart. | 10 | ·········· |
| My love for gentle Dermot faster grows, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Than yon tall dock that rises to thy nose. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Cut down the dock, 'twill sprout again; but, O! | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Love rooted out, again will never grow. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| No more that brier thy tender leg shall rake: | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| (I spare the thistles for Sir Arthur's sake) | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Sharp are the stones; take thou this rushy mat; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The hardest bum will bruise with sitting squat. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Thy breeches, torn behind, stand gaping wide; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| This petticoat shall save thy dear backside; | 10 | ·/˘·····/· |
| Nor need I blush; although you feel it wet, | 10 | ·········· |
| Dermot, I vow, 'tis nothing else but sweat. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| At an old stubborn root I chanced to tug, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| When the Dean threw me this tobacco-plug; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| A longer ha'p'orth never did I see; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| This, dearest Sheelah, thou shall share with me. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| In at the pantry door, this morn I slipt, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And from the shelf a charming crust I whipt: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Dennis was out, and I got hither safe; | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| And thou, my dear, shall have the bigger half. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When you saw Tady at long bullets play, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| You sate and loused him all a sunshine day: | 10 | ·······/·· |
| How could you, Sheelah, listen to his tales, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Or crack such lice as his between your nails? | 10 | ·········· |
| When you with Oonah stood behind a ditch, | 10 | ·········· |
| I peep'd, and saw you kiss the dirty bitch; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Dermot, how could you touch these nasty sluts? | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| I almost wish'd this spud were in your guts. | 10 | ·/········ |
| If Oonah once I kiss'd, forbear to chide; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Her aunt's my gossip by my father's side: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But, if I ever touch her lips again, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| May I be doom'd for life to weed in rain! | 10 | ·········· |
| Dermot, I swear, though Tady's locks could hold | 10 | /˘········ |
| Ten thousand lice, and every louse was gold; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Him on my lap you never more shall see; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Or may I lose my weeding knife--and thee! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| O, could I earn for thee, my lovely lass, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A pair of brogues to bear thee dry to mass! | 10 | ·········· |
| But see, where Norah with the sowins comes-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Then let us rise, and rest our weary bums. | 10 | ······//˘· |
Notes from the edition 6
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Stanza 1, line 2 Sir Arthur Acheson, whose great-grandfather was Sir Archibald, of Gosford, in Scotland.
- Stanza 4, line 2 Who was a great lover of Scotland.
- Stanza 6, line 3 Halfpenny-worth.
- Stanza 7, line 3 Sir Arthur's butler.
- Stanza 12, line 2 Shoes with flat low heels.
- Stanza 12, line 3 A sort of flummery.
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.