Dr. Sheridan's Reply to the Dean

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) · 1710–1745

anapaestic tetrameter · rhyming couplets · 30 lines · from Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems

Don't think these few lines which I send, a reproach,From my Muse in a car, to your Muse in a coach.The great god of poems delights in a car,Which makes him so bright that we see him from far;For, were he mew'd up in a coach, 'tis allow'dWe'd see him no more than we see through a cloud.You know to apply this--I do not disparageYour lines, but I say they're the worse for the carriage.Now first you deny that a woman's a sieve;I say that she is: What reason d'ye give?Because she lets out more than she takes in.Is't that you advance for't? you are still to begin.Your major and minor I both can refute,I'll teach you hereafter with whom to dispute.A sieve keeps in half, deny't if you can.D. "Adzucks, I mistook it, who thought of the bran?"I tell you in short, sir, you should have a pair o' stocksFor thinking to palm on your friend such a paradox.Indeed, I confess, at the close you grew better,But you light from your coach when you finish'd your letter.Your thing which you say wants interpretation,What's name for a maiden--the first man's damnation?A damsel--Adam's hell--ay, there I have hit it,Just as you conceived it, just so have I writ it.Since this I've discover'd, I'll make you to know it,That now I'm your Phoebus, and you are my poet.But if you interpret the two lines that follow,I'll again be your poet, and you my Apollo.Why a noble lord's dog, and my school-house this weather,Make up the best catch when they're coupled together?

Words in this poem

disparage n.
Inequality in marriage; marriage with an inferior.
hereafter adv.
In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
damnation n.
The state of being damned; condemnation; openly expressed disapprobation. [F. damnation, L. damnatio, fr. damnare. See Damn.]
phoebus n.
Apollo; the sun god.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Dr. Sheridan's Reply to the Dean 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, Dr. Sheridan's Reply to the Dean, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/dr-sheridan-s-reply-to-the-dean.html, id L18553.

Form and metre

Dr. Sheridan's Reply to the Dean is 30 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%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.6 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% 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. 1 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOO reproachA · coachA · carB · farB · allow'dC · cloudC · disparageD · carriageD · sieveE · giveE · inF · beginF · refuteG · disputeG · canH · branH · stocksI · paradoxI · betterJ · letterJ · interpretationK · damnationK · itL · itL · itM · poetM · followN · apolloN · weatherO · togetherO
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.

LineSyl.Stress
Don't think these few lines which I send, a reproach,11·········˘/
From my Muse in a car, to your Muse in a coach.12············
The great god of poems delights in a car,11····/˘˘/···
Which makes him so bright that we see him from far;11···········
For, were he mew'd up in a coach, 'tis allow'd11·········˘/
We'd see him no more than we see through a cloud.11···········
You know to apply this--I do not disparage12···˘/····˘/˘
Your lines, but I say they're the worse for the carriage.12··········/˘
Now first you deny that a woman's a sieve;11···˘/··/˘··
I say that she is: What reason d'ye give?10······/˘··
Because she lets out more than she takes in.10··········
Is't that you advance for't? you are still to begin.12···˘/·····˘/
Your major and minor I both can refute,11·/˘·/˘···˘/
I'll teach you hereafter with whom to dispute.11···˘/˘···˘/
A sieve keeps in half, deny't if you can.10··········
D. "Adzucks, I mistook it, who thought of the bran?"12····˘/······
I tell you in short, sir, you should have a pair o' stocks13·············
For thinking to palm on your friend such a paradox.13·/˘·······/˘·
Indeed, I confess, at the close you grew better,12˘/·˘/·····/˘
But you light from your coach when you finish'd your letter.13········/˘·/˘
Your thing which you say wants interpretation,11······˘·˘/˘
What's name for a maiden--the first man's damnation?12····/˘···˘/˘
A damsel--Adam's hell--ay, there I have hit it,12·/˘/˘·······
Just as you conceived it, just so have I writ it.12···˘/·······
Since this I've discover'd, I'll make you to know it,12···˘/˘······
That now I'm your Phoebus, and you are my poet.12····/˘····/˘
But if you interpret the two lines that follow,12···˘/˘····/˘
I'll again be your poet, and you my Apollo.13·˘/··/˘···˘/˘
Why a noble lord's dog, and my school-house this weather,13··/˘·······/˘
Make up the best catch when they're coupled together?12·······/˘˘/˘
Notes from the edition 1

The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).

  1. Line 17 Begging pardon for the expression to a dignitary of thechurch.--S.

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.

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