Corinna, a Ballad 1711-12
This day (the year I dare not tell)Apollo play'd the midwife's part;Into the world Corinna fell,And he endued her with his art.
But Cupid with a Satyr comes;Both softly to the cradle creep;Both stroke her hands, and rub her gums,While the poor child lay fast asleep.
Then Cupid thus: "This little maidOf love shall always speak and write;""And I pronounce," the Satyr said,"The world shall feel her scratch and bite."
Her talent she display'd betimes;For in a few revolving moons,She seem'd to laugh and squall in rhymes,And all her gestures were lampoons.
At six years old, the subtle jadeStole to the pantry-door, and foundThe butler with my lady's maid:And you may swear the tale went round.
She made a song, how little missWas kiss'd and slobber'd by a lad:And how, when master went to p--,Miss came, and peep'd at all he had.
At twelve, a wit and a coquette;Marries for love, half whore, half wife;Cuckolds, elopes, and runs in debt;Turns authoress, and is Curll's for life.
Her common-place book all gallant is,Of scandal now a cornucopia;She pours it out in AtalantisOr memoirs of the New Utopia.
Words in this poem
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- satyr n.
- A sylvan deity or demigod, represented as part man and part goat, and characterized by riotous merriment and lasciviousness. [L. satyrus, Gr. satyre.]
- 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,]
- betimes adv.
- In good season or time; before it is late; seasonably; early. [Pref. be- (for by) + time; that is, by the proper time. The -s is an adverbial ending.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- coquette n.
- A vain, trifling woman, who endeavors to attract admiration from a desire to grafity vanity; a flirt; -- formerly sometimes applied also to men. [F., fr. coquet, coquette, coquettish, orig., cocklike, strutting like a cock, fr. coq a cock. Cf. Cock, Cocket, Cocky, Cockade.]
- whore n.
- A woman who practices unlawful sexual commerce with men, especially one who prostitutes her body for hire; a prostitute; a harlot. Wyclif. [OE. hore, AS. h; akin to D. hoer, hoere, G. hure, OHG. huora, huorra, Icel. h, Dan. hore, Sw. hora, Goth. h an adulterer, AS. h adultery, OHG. huor, and probabl]
- authoress n.
- A female author. Glover.
- scandal n.
- Offense caused or experienced; reproach or reprobation called forth by what is regarded as wrong, criminal, heinous, or flagrant: opprobrium or disgrace. [F. scandale, fr. L. scandalum, Gr. scandle, OF. escandle. See Slander.]
- cornucopia n.
- The horn of plenty, from which fruits and flowers are represented as issuing. It is an emblem of abundance. [L. cornu copiae horn of plenty. See Horn, and Copious.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Corinna, a Ballad 1711-12 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, Corinna, a Ballad 1711-12, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/corinna-a-ballad-1711-12.html, id L09304.
Form and metre
Corinna, a Ballad 1711-12 is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 ABAB tellA · partB · fellA · artB
- 2 ABAB comesA · creepB · gumsA · asleepB
- 3 ABAB maidA · writeB · saidA · biteB
- 4 ABAB betimesA · moonsB · rhymesA · lampoonsB
- 5 ABAB jadeA · foundB · maidA · roundB
- 6 -A-A miss · ladA · p · hadA
- 7 ABAB coquetteA · wifeB · debtA · lifeB
- 8 ABAB isA · cornucopiaB · atalantisA · utopiaB
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| This day (the year I dare not tell) | 8 | ········ |
| Apollo play'd the midwife's part; | 8 | ˘/˘··/·· |
| Into the world Corinna fell, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And he endued her with his art. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But Cupid with a Satyr comes; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Both softly to the cradle creep; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Both stroke her hands, and rub her gums, | 8 | ········ |
| While the poor child lay fast asleep. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Then Cupid thus: "This little maid | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of love shall always speak and write;" | 8 | ···/···· |
| "And I pronounce," the Satyr said, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| "The world shall feel her scratch and bite." | 8 | ········ |
| Her talent she display'd betimes; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| For in a few revolving moons, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| She seem'd to laugh and squall in rhymes, | 8 | ········ |
| And all her gestures were lampoons. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| At six years old, the subtle jade | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Stole to the pantry-door, and found | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The butler with my lady's maid: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And you may swear the tale went round. | 8 | ········ |
| She made a song, how little miss | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Was kiss'd and slobber'd by a lad: | 8 | ········ |
| And how, when master went to p--, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Miss came, and peep'd at all he had. | 8 | ········ |
| At twelve, a wit and a coquette; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Marries for love, half whore, half wife; | 8 | /˘······ |
| Cuckolds, elopes, and runs in debt; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Turns authoress, and is Curll's for life. | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Her common-place book all gallant is, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Of scandal now a cornucopia; | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| She pours it out in Atalantis | 9 | ········· |
| Or memoirs of the New Utopia. | 9 | ·/····˘/˘ |
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.