An Answer by Sheridan
Perlegi versus versos, Jonathan bone, tersos;Perlepidos quidèm; scribendo semper es idem.Laudibus extollo te, tu mihi magnus Apollo;Tu frater Phoebus, oculis collyria praebes,Ne minus insanae reparas quoque damna Dianae,Quae me percussit radiis (nec dixeris ussit)Frigore collecto; medicus moderamine tectoLodicem binum premit, atque negat mihi vinum.O terra et coelum! quàm redit pectus anhelum.Os mihi jam siccum, liceat mihi bibere dic cum?Ex vestro grato poculo, tam saepe prolato,Vina crepant: sales ostendet quis mihi tales?Lumina, vos sperno, dum cuppae gaudia cerno:Perdere etenim pellem nostram, quoque crura mavellem.Amphora, quàm dulces risus queis pectora mulces,Pangitur a Flacco, cum pectus turget Iaccho:Clarius evohe ingeminans geminatur et ohe;Nempe jocosa propago, haesit sic vocis imago.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- quid n.
- A portion suitable to be chewed; a cud; as, a quid of tobacco. [See Cud.]
- idem pron.
- The same; the same as above; -- often abbreviated id. [L.]
- frater n.
- A monk; also, a frater house. Shipley. Frater house, an apartament in a convent used as an eating room; a refectory; -- called also a fratery. [L., a brother.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- premit v. t.
- To premise. Donne.
- vinum n.
- Wine, --chiefly used in Pharmacy in the name of solutions of some medicinal substance in wine; as: vina medicata, medicated wines; vinum opii, wine of opium.
- pectus n.
- The breast of a bird. [L., the breast.]
- amphora n.
- Among the ancients, a two-handled vessel, tapering at the bottom, used for holding wine, oil, etc. [L., fr. Gr. Ampul.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Answer by 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, An Answer by Sheridan, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/an-answer-by-sheridan.html, id L09394.
Form and metre
An Answer by Sheridan is 18 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is trochaic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic heptameter.
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 -------AA--------- tersos · idem · apollo · praebes · dianae · ussit · tecto · vinumA · anhelumA · cum · prolato · tales · cerno · mavellem · mulces · iaccho · ohe · imago
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 trochaic heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Perlegi versus versos, Jonathan bone, tersos; | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| Perlepidos quidèm; scribendo semper es idem. | 14 | ············/˘ |
| Laudibus extollo te, tu mihi magnus Apollo; | 15 | ··········/˘˘/˘ |
| Tu frater Phoebus, oculis collyria praebes, | 12 | ·/˘/˘······· |
| Ne minus insanae reparas quoque damna Dianae, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| Quae me percussit radiis (nec dixeris ussit) | 13 | ············· |
| Frigore collecto; medicus moderamine tecto | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Lodicem binum premit, atque negat mihi vinum. | 14 | ·····˘/·····/˘ |
| O terra et coelum! quàm redit pectus anhelum. | 14 | ·/˘·/˘···/˘··· |
| Os mihi jam siccum, liceat mihi bibere dic cum? | 14 | ·············· |
| Ex vestro grato poculo, tam saepe prolato, | 13 | ············· |
| Vina crepant: sales ostendet quis mihi tales? | 12 | /˘·········· |
| Lumina, vos sperno, dum cuppae gaudia cerno: | 11 | /˘········· |
| Perdere etenim pellem nostram, quoque crura mavellem. | 15 | ··········/˘··· |
| Amphora, quàm dulces risus queis pectora mulces, | 13 | /˘·/˘········ |
| Pangitur a Flacco, cum pectus turget Iaccho: | 13 | ·······/˘···· |
| Clarius evohe ingeminans geminatur et ohe; | 14 | ·············· |
| Nempe jocosa propago, haesit sic vocis imago. | 15 | ·˘/˘········˘/˘ |
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.