A Rebus. By Vanessa
Cut the name of the man who his mistress denied,And let the first of it be only appliedTo join with the prophet who David did chide;Then say what a horse is that runs very fast;And that which deserves to be first put the last;Spell all then, and put them together, to findThe name and the virtues of him I design'd.Like the patriarch in Egypt, he's versed in the state;Like the prophet in Jewry, he's free with the great;Like a racer he flies, to succour with speed,When his friends want his aid, or desert is in need.
Words in this poem
- jewry n.
- Judea; also, a district inhabited by Jews; a Jews' quarter. [OE. Jewerie, OF. Juierie, F. Juiverie.]
- racer n.
- One who, or that which, races, or contends in a race; esp., a race horse.
- succour v. t.
- tiono run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want, or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; to relieve; as, to succor a besieged city. [OE. socouren, OF. sucurre, soucourre, secorre, F. secourir, L. succurrere, succursum, to run under, run to the aid of, help, succor; sub under + currere to run.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Rebus. By Vanessa 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 Rebus. By Vanessa, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/a-rebus-by-vanessa.html, id L09230.
Form and metre
A Rebus. By Vanessa is 11 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 91% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 77% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.4 syllables. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in anapaestic 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 AAABBCCDDEE deniedA · appliedA · chideA · fastB · lastB · findC · design'dC · stateD · greatD · speedE · needE
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Cut the name of the man who his mistress denied, | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| And let the first of it be only applied | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| To join with the prophet who David did chide; | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Then say what a horse is that runs very fast; | 11 | ········/˘· |
| And that which deserves to be first put the last; | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| Spell all then, and put them together, to find | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| The name and the virtues of him I design'd. | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| Like the patriarch in Egypt, he's versed in the state; | 13 | ··/˘··/˘····· |
| Like the prophet in Jewry, he's free with the great; | 12 | ··/˘·/˘····· |
| Like a racer he flies, to succour with speed, | 11 | ··/˘···/˘·· |
| When his friends want his aid, or desert is in need. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 3
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Line 1 Jo-seph.
- Line 3 Nathan.
- Line 4 Swift.
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.