Being the Intended Speech of a Famous Orator Against Peace. 1711
An orator dismal of Nottinghamshire,Who has forty years let out his conscience to hire,Out of zeal for his country, and want of a place,Is come up, vi et armis, to break the queen's peace.He has vamp'd an old speech, and the court, to their sorrow,Shall hear him harangue against Prior to-morrow.When once he begins, he never will flinch,But repeats the same note a whole day like a Finch.I have heard all the speech repeated by Hoppy,'And, "mistakes to prevent, I've obtained a copy."
Words in this poem
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Being the Intended Speech of a Famous Orator Against Peace. 1711 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, Being the Intended Speech of a Famous Orator Against Peace. 1711, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/being-the-intended-speech-of-a-famous-orator-against-peace-1.html, id L09302.
Form and metre
Being the Intended Speech of a Famous Orator Against Peace. 1711 is 10 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 60% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.5 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 AA--BBCC-- nottinghamshireA · hireA · place · peace · sorrowB · morrowB · flinchC · finchC · hoppy · copy
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 |
|---|---|---|
| An orator dismal of Nottinghamshire, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Who has forty years let out his conscience to hire, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·/ |
| Out of zeal for his country, and want of a place, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Is come up, vi et armis, to break the queen's peace. | 12 | ············ |
| He has vamp'd an old speech, and the court, to their sorrow, | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| Shall hear him harangue against Prior to-morrow. | 11 | ···˘/··/·/˘ |
| When once he begins, he never will flinch, | 9 | ···˘/·/·· |
| But repeats the same note a whole day like a Finch. | 12 | ·˘/········· |
| I have heard all the speech repeated by Hoppy,' | 12 | ······˘/˘·/˘ |
| And, "mistakes to prevent, I've obtained a copy." | 12 | ·˘/·˘/·˘/·/˘ |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Line 8 Lord Nottingham's family name.
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