A Receipt to Restore Stella's Youth. 1724-5
The Scottish hinds, too poor to houseIn frosty nights their starving cows,While not a blade of grass or hayAppears from Michaelmas to May,Must let their cattle range in vainFor food along the barren plain:Meagre and lank with fasting grown,And nothing left but skin and bone;Exposed to want, and wind, and weather,They just keep life and soul together,Till summer showers and evening's dewAgain the verdant glebe renew;And, as the vegetables rise,The famish'd cow her want supplies;Without an ounce of last year's flesh;Whate'er she gains is young and fresh;Grows plump and round, and full of mettle,As rising from Medea's kettle.With youth and beauty to enchantEuropa's counterfeit gallant.Why, Stella, should you knit your brow,If I compare you to a cow?'Tis just the case; for you have fastedSo long, till all your flesh is wasted;And must against the warmer daysBe sent to Quilca down to graze;Where mirth, and exercise, and air,Will soon your appetite repair:The nutriment will from within,Round all your body, plump your skin;Will agitate the lazy flood,And fill your veins with sprightly blood.Nor flesh nor blood will be the sameNor aught of Stella but the name:For what was ever understood,By human kind, but flesh and blood?And if your flesh and blood be new,You'll be no more the former you;But for a blooming nymph will pass,Just fifteen, coming summer's grass,Your jetty locks with garlands crown'd:While all the squires for nine miles round,Attended by a brace of curs,With jockey boots and silver spurs,No less than justices o' quorum,Their cow-boys bearing cloaks before 'em,Shall leave deciding broken pates,To kiss your steps at Quilca gates.But, lest you should my skill disgrace,Come back before you're out of case;For if to Michaelmas you stay,The new-born flesh will melt away;The 'squires in scorn will fly the houseFor better game, and look for grouse;But here, before the frost can mar it,We'll make it firm with beef and claret.
Colchis, who assisted Jason in obtaining possession of the Golden
Words in this poem
- michaelmas n.
- The feat of the archangel Michael, a church festival, celebrated on the 29th of September. Hence, colloquially, autumn. [Michael + mass religious service; OE. Mighelmesse.]
- meagre a.
- Destitue of, or having little, flesh; lean. [OE. merge, F. maigre, L. macer; akin to D. & G. mager, Icel. magr, and prob. to Gr. Emaciate, Maigre.]
- kettle n.
- A metallic vessel, with a wide mouth, often without a cover, used for heating and boiling water or other liguids. Kettle pins, ninepins; skittles. Shelton. [OE. ketel; cf. AS. cetel, cetil, cytel; akin to D. kjedel, G. kessel, OHG. chezzil, Icel. ketill, SW. kittel, Dan. kjedel, Goth. katils; all perh. fr. L. catill]
- enchant v. t.
- To charm by sorcery; to act on by enchantment; to get control of by magical words and rites. [F. enchanter, L. incantare to chant or utter a magic formula over or against one, to bewitch; in in, against + cantare to sing. See Chant, and cf. Incantation.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- jetty v. i.
- To jut out; to project. Florio.
- quorum n.
- Such a number of the officers or members of any body as is competent by law or constitution to transact business; as, a quorum of the House of Representatives; a constitutional quorum was not present. [L., of whom, gen. pl. of qui who, akin to E. who. See the Note below.]
- 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,]
- claret n.
- The name firat given in England to the red wines of M [OE. claret, clare, clarry, OF. claret, clar, fr. cler, F. clair, clear, fr. L. clarus clear. See Clear.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Receipt to Restore Stella's Youth. 1724-5 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 Receipt to Restore Stella's Youth. 1724-5, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/a-receipt-to-restore-stella-s-youth-1724-5.html, id L09244.
Form and metre
A Receipt to Restore Stella's Youth. 1724-5 is 57 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 --AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ--KKLLMMNNOONNPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXX-W house · cows · hayA · mayA · vainB · plainB · grownC · boneC · weatherD · togetherD · dewE · renewE · riseF · suppliesF · fleshG · freshG · mettleH · kettleH · enchantI · gallantI · browJ · cowJ · fasted · wasted · daysK · grazeK · airL · repairL · withinM · skinM · floodN · bloodN · sameO · nameO · understoodN · bloodN · newP · youP · passQ · grassQ · crown'dR · roundR · cursS · spursS · quorumT · emT · patesU · gatesU · disgraceV · caseV · stayW · awayW · houseX · grouseX · it · claretW
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Scottish hinds, too poor to house | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In frosty nights their starving cows, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| While not a blade of grass or hay | 8 | ········ |
| Appears from Michaelmas to May, | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Must let their cattle range in vain | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For food along the barren plain: | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Meagre and lank with fasting grown, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| And nothing left but skin and bone; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Exposed to want, and wind, and weather, | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| They just keep life and soul together, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Till summer showers and evening's dew | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| Again the verdant glebe renew; | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| And, as the vegetables rise, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The famish'd cow her want supplies; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Without an ounce of last year's flesh; | 8 | ········ |
| Whate'er she gains is young and fresh; | 9 | ˘˘/······ |
| Grows plump and round, and full of mettle, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| As rising from Medea's kettle. | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| With youth and beauty to enchant | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Europa's counterfeit gallant. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Why, Stella, should you knit your brow, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| If I compare you to a cow? | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| 'Tis just the case; for you have fasted | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| So long, till all your flesh is wasted; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And must against the warmer days | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Be sent to Quilca down to graze; | 8 | ········ |
| Where mirth, and exercise, and air, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Will soon your appetite repair: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The nutriment will from within, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Round all your body, plump your skin; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Will agitate the lazy flood, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And fill your veins with sprightly blood. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor flesh nor blood will be the same | 8 | ········ |
| Nor aught of Stella but the name: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For what was ever understood, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| By human kind, but flesh and blood? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And if your flesh and blood be new, | 8 | ········ |
| You'll be no more the former you; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But for a blooming nymph will pass, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Just fifteen, coming summer's grass, | 8 | ·///˘/˘· |
| Your jetty locks with garlands crown'd: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| While all the squires for nine miles round, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Attended by a brace of curs, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| With jockey boots and silver spurs, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| No less than justices o' quorum, | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| Their cow-boys bearing cloaks before 'em, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Shall leave deciding broken pates, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| To kiss your steps at Quilca gates. | 8 | ········ |
| But, lest you should my skill disgrace, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Come back before you're out of case; | 8 | ········ |
| For if to Michaelmas you stay, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The new-born flesh will melt away; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The 'squires in scorn will fly the house | 8 | ·/······ |
| For better game, and look for grouse; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But here, before the frost can mar it, | 9 | ········· |
| We'll make it firm with beef and claret. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Colchis, who assisted Jason in obtaining possession of the Golden | 19 | ···˘/˘/˘·˘/˘˘/˘··/˘ |
Notes from the edition 2
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Stanza 1, line 18 The celebrated sorceress, daughter of Æetes, King of Colchis, who assisted Jason in obtaining possession of the Golden Fleece.--W. E. B.
- Stanza 1, line 20 Carried off by Jupiter under the form of a bull. Ovid, "Met." ii, 836.
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