An Epigram Inscribed to the Honourable Sergeant Kite
In your indignation what mercy appears,While Jonathan's threaten'd with loss of his ears;For who would not think it a much better choice,By your knife to be mangled than rack'd with your voice.If truly you [would] be revenged on the parson,Command his attendance while you act your farce on;Instead of your maiming, your shooting, or banging,Bid Povey secure him while you are haranguing.Had this been your method to torture him, long since,He had cut his own ears to be deaf to your nonsense.
Words in this poem
- attendance n.
- Attention; regard; careful application. [OE. attendance, OF. atendance, fr. atendre, F. attendre. See Attend, v. t.]
- banging a.
- Huge; great in size. Forby.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Epigram Inscribed to the Honourable Sergeant Kite 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 Epigram Inscribed to the Honourable Sergeant Kite, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/an-epigram-inscribed-to-the-honourable-sergeant-kite.html, id L09351.
Form and metre
An Epigram Inscribed to the Honourable Sergeant Kite is 10 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 81% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.7 syllables. 22 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 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 AABBCCDDEE appearsA · earsA · choiceB · voiceB · parsonC · onC · bangingD · haranguingD · sinceE · nonsenseE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In your indignation what mercy appears, | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| While Jonathan's threaten'd with loss of his ears; | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘····· |
| For who would not think it a much better choice, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| By your knife to be mangled than rack'd with your voice. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| If truly you [would] be revenged on the parson, | 12 | ·/˘···˘/··/˘ |
| Command his attendance while you act your farce on; | 12 | ˘/·˘/˘······ |
| Instead of your maiming, your shooting, or banging, | 12 | ˘/··/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Bid Povey secure him while you are haranguing. | 12 | ···˘/····˘/˘ |
| Had this been your method to torture him, long since, | 12 | ····/˘·/˘··· |
| He had cut his own ears to be deaf to your nonsense. | 13 | ···········/˘ |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Line 8 Povey was sergeant-at-arms to the House of Commons.--Scott.
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