Lines Written on a Window in the Episcopal Palace at Kilmore
Resolve me this, ye happy dead,Who've lain some hundred years in bed,From every persecution freeThat in this wretched life we see;Would ye resume a second birth,And choose once more to live on earth?
Thus spoke great Bedel from his tomb:"Mortal, I would not change my doom,To live in such a restless state,To be unfortunately great;To flatter fools, and spurn at knaves,To shine amidst a race of slaves;To learn from wise men to complainAnd only rise to fall again:No! let my dusty relics rest,Until I rise among the blest."
Words in this poem
- resume n.
- A summing up; a condensed statement; an abridgment or brief recapitulation. [F. See Resume.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- bedel
- ,n.Same as Beadle.
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lines Written on a Window in the Episcopal Palace at Kilmore 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, Lines Written on a Window in the Episcopal Palace at Kilmore, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/lines-written-on-a-window-in-the-episcopal-palace-at-kilmore.html, id L09372.
Form and metre
Lines Written on a Window in the Episcopal Palace at Kilmore is 16 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 12% 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 AABBCC deadA · bedA · freeB · seeB · birthC · earthC
- 2 AABBCCDDEE tombA · doomA · stateB · greatB · knavesC · slavesC · complainD · againD · restE · blestE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Resolve me this, ye happy dead, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Who've lain some hundred years in bed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| From every persecution free | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| That in this wretched life we see; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Would ye resume a second birth, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And choose once more to live on earth? | 8 | ········ |
| Thus spoke great Bedel from his tomb: | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| "Mortal, I would not change my doom, | 8 | /˘······ |
| To live in such a restless state, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To be unfortunately great; | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘· |
| To flatter fools, and spurn at knaves, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To shine amidst a race of slaves; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To learn from wise men to complain | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And only rise to fall again: | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| No! let my dusty relics rest, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Until I rise among the blest." | 8 | ········ |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Stanza 2, line 1 Bishop Bedel's tomb lies within view of the window.
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