Ad Amicum Eruditum Thomam Sheridan
Deliciæ, Sheridan, Musarum, dulcis amice,Sic tibi propitius Permessi ad flumen ApolloOccurrat, seu te mimum convivia rident,Aequivocosque sales spargis, seu ludere versuMalles; dic, Sheridan, quisnam fuit ille deorum,Quae melior natura orto tibi tradidit artemRimandi genium puerorum, atque ima cerebriScrutandi? Tibi nascenti ad cunabula PallasAstitit; et dixit, mentis praesaga futurae,Heu, puer infelix! nostro sub sidere natus;Nam tu pectus eris sine corpore, corporis umbra;Sed levitate umbram superabis, voce cicadam:Musca femur, palmas tibi mus dedit, ardea crura.Corpore sed tenui tibi quod natura negavit,Hoc animi dotes supplebunt; teque docente,Nec longum tempus, surget tibi docta juventus,Artibus egregiis animas instructa novellas.Grex hinc Paeonius venit, ecce, salutifer orbi;Ast, illi causas orant: his insula visa estDivinam capiti nodo constringere mitram.Natalis te horae non fallunt signa, sed usqueConscius, expedias puero seu laetus ApolloNascenti arrisit; sive ilium frigidus horrorSaturni premit, aut septem inflavere triones.Quin tu altè penitusque latentia semina cernisQuaeque diu obtundendo olim sub luminis aurasErumpent, promis; quo ritu saepè puellaSub cinere hesterno sopitos suscitat ignes.Te dominum agnoscit quocunque sub aëre natus:Quos indulgentis nimium custodia matrisPessundat: nam saepè vides in stipite matrem.Aureus at ramus, venerandae dona Sibyllae,Aeneae sedes tantùm patefecit Avernas;Saepè puer, tua quem tetigit semel aurea virga,Et coelum, terrasque videt, noctemque profundam.
Ad te, doctissime Delany,Pulsus à foribus Decani,Confugiens edo querelam,Pauper petens clientelam.Petebam Swift doctum patronum,Sed ille dedit nullum donum,Neque cibum neque bonum.Quaeris quàm malè sit stomacho num?Iratus valdè valdè latrat,Crumenicidam fermè patrat:Quin ergo releves aegrotum,Dato cibum, dato potum.Ita in utrumvis oculum,Dormiam bibens vestrum poculum.
Vivitur parvo malè, sed canebatFlaccus ut parvo benè: quod negamus:Pinguis et lautè saturatus illeRidet inanes.
Pace sic dicam liceat poetaeNobilis laeti salibus facetiUsque jocundi, lepidè jocantisNon sine curâ.
Quis potest versus (meditans merendam,Prandium, coenam) numerare? quis nonQuot panes pistor locat in fenestrâDicere mallet?
Ecce jejunus tibi venit unus;Latrat ingenti stomachus furore;Quaeso digneris renovare fauces,Docte Patrone.
Vestiant lanae tenues libellos,Vestiant panni dominum trementem,Aedibus vestris trepidante pennâMusa propinquat.
Nuda ne fiat, renovare vestesUrget, et nunquam tibi sic molestamEsse promittit, nisi sit coactaFrigore iniquo.
Si modo possem! Vetat heu pudor mePlura, sed praestat rogitare plura,An dabis binos digitos crumenae im-ponere vestrae?
Words in this poem 22
- rident a.
- Laughing. Thackeray. [L. ridens, p. pr. of ridere to laugh.]
- cunabula n.
- The earliest abode; original dwelling place; originals; as, the cunabula of the human race. [L., a cradle, earliest abode, fr. cunae cradle.]
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
- puer n.
- The dung of dogs, used as an alkaline steep in tanning. [Etymol. uncertain.]
- pectus n.
- The breast of a bird. [L., the breast.]
- levitate v. i.
- To rise, or tend to rise, as if lighter than the surrounding medium; to become buoyant; -- opposed to gravitate. Sir. J. Herschel. [L. levitas, -atis, lightness. See Levity.]
- musca n.
- A genus of dipterous insects, including the common house fly, and numerous allied species. [L., a fly.]
- quod v.
- Quoth; said. See Quoth.
- visa v. t.
- To indorse, after examination, with the word visé, as a passport; to visé.
- premit v. t.
- To premise. Donne.
- quin n.
- A European scallop (Pecten opercularis), used as food. [Prov.
- erumpent a.
- Breaking out; -- said of certain fungi which burst through the texture of leaves. [L. erumpens, -entis, p. pr. of erumpere.]
- ramus n.
- A branch; a projecting part or prominent process; a ramification.
- decani a.
- Used of the side of the choir on which the dean's stall is placed; decanal; -- correlative to cantoris; as, the decanal, or decani, side. [L., lit., of the dean.]
- pauper n.
- A poor person; especially, one development on private or public charity. Also used adjectively; as, pouper immigrants, pouper labor. [L. See Poor.]
- ferm n.
- Rent for a farm; a farm; also, an abode; a place of residence; as, he let his land to ferm. [See Farm.]
- ergo conj.
- Therefore; consequently; -- often used in a jocular way. [L.]
- lepid a.
- Pleasant; jocose. [L. lepidus.]
- versus prep.
- Against; as, John Doe versus Richard Roe; -- chiefly used in legal language, and abbreviated to v. or vs. [L., toward, turned in the direction of, from vertere, versum, to turn. See Verse.]
- furore n.
- Excitement; commotion; enthusiasm. [It.]
- penn v. t.
- To write; to compose and commit to paper; to indite; to compose; as, to pen a sonnet.
- nisi conj.
- Unless; if not. [L.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ad Amicum Eruditum Thomam Sheridan 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, Ad Amicum Eruditum Thomam Sheridan, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/ad-amicum-eruditum-thomam-sheridan.html, id L09387.
Form and metre
Ad Amicum Eruditum Thomam Sheridan is 77 lines in 9 stanzas. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 17 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -----------------------A---A------- amice · apollo · rident · versu · deorum · artem · cerebri · pallas · futurae · natus · umbra · cicadam · crura · negavit · docente · juventus · novellas · orbi · est · mitram · usque · apollo · horror · trionesA · cernis · auras · puella · ignesA · natus · matris · matrem · sibyllae · avernas · virga · profundam
- 2 --AABBBBCCDDEE delany · decani · querelamA · clientelamA · patronumB · donumB · bonumB · numB · latratC · patratC · aegrotumD · potumD · oculumE · poculumE
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Deliciæ, Sheridan, Musarum, dulcis amice, | 12 | ···/˘·····/˘ |
| Sic tibi propitius Permessi ad flumen Apollo | 15 | ·/··········˘/˘ |
| Occurrat, seu te mimum convivia rident, | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| Aequivocosque sales spargis, seu ludere versu | 12 | ············ |
| Malles; dic, Sheridan, quisnam fuit ille deorum, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Quae melior natura orto tibi tradidit artem | 15 | ········/······ |
| Rimandi genium puerorum, atque ima cerebri | 14 | ·············· |
| Scrutandi? Tibi nascenti ad cunabula Pallas | 15 | ···/·····˘/˘˘·· |
| Astitit; et dixit, mentis praesaga futurae, | 13 | ············· |
| Heu, puer infelix! nostro sub sidere natus; | 13 | ·/˘·········· |
| Nam tu pectus eris sine corpore, corporis umbra; | 14 | ··/˘········/˘ |
| Sed levitate umbram superabis, voce cicadam: | 14 | ·/˘··········· |
| Musca femur, palmas tibi mus dedit, ardea crura. | 15 | /˘/˘/˘/······/˘ |
| Corpore sed tenui tibi quod natura negavit, | 14 | ·····/········ |
| Hoc animi dotes supplebunt; teque docente, | 11 | ··········· |
| Nec longum tempus, surget tibi docta juventus, | 14 | ·······/······ |
| Artibus egregiis animas instructa novellas. | 15 | ············˘/˘ |
| Grex hinc Paeonius venit, ecce, salutifer orbi; | 13 | ············· |
| Ast, illi causas orant: his insula visa est | 15 | ···········/˘˘/ |
| Divinam capiti nodo constringere mitram. | 13 | ············· |
| Natalis te horae non fallunt signa, sed usque | 12 | ˘/˘·····/˘·· |
| Conscius, expedias puero seu laetus Apollo | 13 | ··˘/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Nascenti arrisit; sive ilium frigidus horror | 15 | ·······/˘˘···/˘ |
| Saturni premit, aut septem inflavere triones. | 12 | ···˘/······· |
| Quin tu altè penitusque latentia semina cernis | 14 | ·············· |
| Quaeque diu obtundendo olim sub luminis auras | 14 | ············/˘ |
| Erumpent, promis; quo ritu saepè puella | 11 | ˘/˘········ |
| Sub cinere hesterno sopitos suscitat ignes. | 13 | ············· |
| Te dominum agnoscit quocunque sub aëre natus: | 13 | ············· |
| Quos indulgentis nimium custodia matris | 12 | ············ |
| Pessundat: nam saepè vides in stipite matrem. | 11 | ··········· |
| Aureus at ramus, venerandae dona Sibyllae, | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| Aeneae sedes tantùm patefecit Avernas; | 11 | ··········· |
| Saepè puer, tua quem tetigit semel aurea virga, | 15 | ·/˘·····/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Et coelum, terrasque videt, noctemque profundam. | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| Ad te, doctissime Delany, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Pulsus à foribus Decani, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Confugiens edo querelam, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Pauper petens clientelam. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Petebam Swift doctum patronum, | 9 | ········· |
| Sed ille dedit nullum donum, | 8 | ········ |
| Neque cibum neque bonum. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Quaeris quàm malè sit stomacho num? | 9 | ········· |
| Iratus valdè valdè latrat, | 7 | ······· |
| Crumenicidam fermè patrat: | 8 | ········ |
| Quin ergo releves aegrotum, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Dato cibum, dato potum. | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| Ita in utrumvis oculum, | 9 | /˘······· |
| Dormiam bibens vestrum poculum. | 9 | ········· |
| Vivitur parvo malè, sed canebat | 10 | ·········· |
| Flaccus ut parvo benè: quod negamus: | 10 | ·········· |
| Pinguis et lautè saturatus ille | 9 | ········· |
| Ridet inanes. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Pace sic dicam liceat poetae | 7 | ······· |
| Nobilis laeti salibus faceti | 11 | ··········· |
| Usque jocundi, lepidè jocantis | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Non sine curâ. | 3 | ··· |
| Quis potest versus (meditans merendam, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Prandium, coenam) numerare? quis non | 9 | ········· |
| Quot panes pistor locat in fenestrâ | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Dicere mallet? | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Ecce jejunus tibi venit unus; | 10 | ····/····· |
| Latrat ingenti stomachus furore; | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Quaeso digneris renovare fauces, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Docte Patrone. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Vestiant lanae tenues libellos, | 7 | ······· |
| Vestiant panni dominum trementem, | 10 | ·········· |
| Aedibus vestris trepidante pennâ | 9 | ········· |
| Musa propinquat. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Nuda ne fiat, renovare vestes | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Urget, et nunquam tibi sic molestam | 11 | ·····/····· |
| Esse promittit, nisi sit coacta | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Frigore iniquo. | 5 | ····· |
| Si modo possem! Vetat heu pudor me | 11 | ··········· |
| Plura, sed praestat rogitare plura, | 10 | ·········· |
| An dabis binos digitos crumenae im- | 11 | ··········· |
| ponere vestrae? | 3 | ··· |
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