A Poem on High Church
High Church is undone,As sure as a gun,For old Peter Patch is departed;And Eyres and Delaune,And the rest of that spawn,Are tacking about broken-hearted.
For strong Gill of Sarum,That decoctum amarum,Has prescribed a dose of cant-fail;Which will make them resignTheir flasks of French wine,And spice up their Nottingham ale.
It purges the spleenOf dislike to the queen,And has one effect that is odder;When easement they use,They always will chuseThe Conformity Bill for bumfodder.
Words in this poem
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- tacking n.
- A union of securities given at different times, all of which must be redeemed before an intermediate purchaser can interpose his claim. Bouvier.
- easement n.
- That which gives ease, relief, or assistance; convenience; accommodation. [OF. aisement. See Ease, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Poem on High Church 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 Poem on High Church, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/a-poem-on-high-church.html, id L25688.
Form and metre
A Poem on High Church is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 AABAAB undoneA · gunA · departedB · delauneA · spawnA · heartedB
- 2 --ABBA sarum · amarum · failA · resignB · wineB · aleA
- 3 AABCCB spleenA · queenA · odderB · useC · chuseC · bumfodderB
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| High Church is undone, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| As sure as a gun, | 5 | ····· |
| For old Peter Patch is departed; | 9 | ··/˘··˘/˘ |
| And Eyres and Delaune, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And the rest of that spawn, | 6 | ······ |
| Are tacking about broken-hearted. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| For strong Gill of Sarum, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| That decoctum amarum, | 7 | ······· |
| Has prescribed a dose of cant-fail; | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Which will make them resign | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Their flasks of French wine, | 5 | ····· |
| And spice up their Nottingham ale. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| It purges the spleen | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Of dislike to the queen, | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| And has one effect that is odder; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| When easement they use, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| They always will chuse | 5 | ·/··· |
| The Conformity Bill for bumfodder. | 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.