Carthy Knocked Out Some Teeth from His News-Boy
I must confess that I was somewhat warm,I broke his teeth, but where's the mighty harm?My work he said could ne'er afford him meat,And teeth are useless where there's nought to eat!
On his sending about specimens to force people to subscribe to hisLonginus.
Thus vagrant beggars, to extortBy charity a mean support,Their sores and putrid ulcers show,And shock our sense till we bestow.
On his accusing Mr. Dunkin for not publishing his book of Poems.
How different from thine is Dunkin's lot!Thou'rt curst for publishing, and he for not.
So witches bent on bad pursuits,Assume the shapes of filthy brutes.
Words in this poem
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- subscribe v. t.
- To write underneath, as one's name; to sign (one's name) to a document. [L. subscribere, subscriptum; sub under + scribere to write: cf. F. souscrire. See Scribe.]
- curst a.
- Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Carthy Knocked Out Some Teeth from His News-Boy 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, Carthy Knocked Out Some Teeth from His News-Boy, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/carthy-knocked-out-some-teeth-from-his-news-boy.html, id L09367.
Form and metre
Carthy Knocked Out Some Teeth from His News-Boy is 15 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 53% of the lines. 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.6 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 warm · harm · meatA · eatA
- 3 AABB extortA · supportA · showB · bestowB
- 5 AA lotA · notA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I must confess that I was somewhat warm, | 10 | ··˘/···//· |
| I broke his teeth, but where's the mighty harm? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| My work he said could ne'er afford him meat, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And teeth are useless where there's nought to eat! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| On his sending about specimens to force people to subscribe to his | 17 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘·˘/·· |
| Longinus. | 3 | ··· |
| Thus vagrant beggars, to extort | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| By charity a mean support, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| Their sores and putrid ulcers show, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And shock our sense till we bestow. | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| On his accusing Mr. Dunkin for not publishing his book of Poems. | 18 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘··/˘···/˘ |
| How different from thine is Dunkin's lot! | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Thou'rt curst for publishing, and he for not. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| So witches bent on bad pursuits, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Assume the shapes of filthy brutes. | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
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.