On Dan Jackson's Picture, Cut in Silk and Paper
To fair Lady Betty Dan sat for his picture,And defied her to draw him so oft as he piqued her,He knew she'd no pencil or colouring by her,And therefore he thought he might safely defy her.Come sit, says my lady; then whips up her scissar,And cuts out his coxcomb in silk in a trice, sir.Dan sat with attention, and saw with surpriseHow she lengthen'd his chin, how she hollow'd his eyes;But flatter'd himself with a secret conceit,That his thin lantern jaws all her art would defeat.Lady Betty observed it, then pulls out a pin,And varies the grain of the stuff to his grin:And, to make roasted silk to resemble his raw-bone,She raised up a thread to the jet of his jaw-bone;Till at length in exactest proportion he rose,From the crown of his head to the arch of his nose;And if Lady Betty had drawn him with wig and all,'Tis certain the copy had outdone the original.Well, that's but my outside, says Dan, with a vapour;Say you so? says my lady; I've lined it with paper.
Words in this poem
- betty n.
- Etym: [Supposed to be a cant word, from Betty, for Elizabeth, as such an instrument is also called Bess (i. e., Elizabeth) in the Canting Dictionary of 1725, and Jenny (i. e., Jane).]
- colouring n.
- The act of applying color to; also, that which produces color.
- defy v. t.
- To renounce or dissolve all bonds of affiance, faith, or obligation with; to reject, refuse, or renounce. [F. défier, OF. deffier, desfier, LL. disfidare to disown faith or fidelity, to dissolve the bond of allegiance, as between the vassal and his lord; hence, to ch]
- trice v. t.
- To pull; to haul; to drag; to pull away. [OE. trisen; of Scand. or Low German origin; cf. Sw. trissa a sheave, pulley, triss a spritsail brace, Dan. tridse a pulley, tridse to haul by means of a pulley,]
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
- grin n.
- A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
- vapour n.
- Any substance in the gaseous, or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a liquid or solid. [OE. vapour, OF. vapour, vapor, vapeur, F. vapeur, L. vapor; probably for cvapor, and akin to Gr. kvepti to breathe, smell, Russ. kopote fine soot. Cf. Vapid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Dan Jackson's Picture, Cut in Silk and Paper 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, On Dan Jackson's Picture, Cut in Silk and Paper, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/on-dan-jackson-s-picture-cut-in-silk-and-paper.html, id L09407.
Form and metre
On Dan Jackson's Picture, Cut in Silk and Paper is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 83% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% 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 -AAA-ABBCCDDEEFFGGHH picture · herA · herA · herA · scissar · sirA · surpriseB · eyesB · conceitC · defeatC · pinD · grinD · boneE · boneE · roseF · noseF · allG · originalG · vapourH · paperH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To fair Lady Betty Dan sat for his picture, | 12 | ··/˘/˘····/˘ |
| And defied her to draw him so oft as he piqued her, | 13 | ·˘/·········· |
| He knew she'd no pencil or colouring by her, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| And therefore he thought he might safely defy her. | 12 | ·······/˘˘/· |
| Come sit, says my lady; then whips up her scissar, | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| And cuts out his coxcomb in silk in a trice, sir. | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| Dan sat with attention, and saw with surprise | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| How she lengthen'd his chin, how she hollow'd his eyes; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| But flatter'd himself with a secret conceit, | 11 | ·/˘˘/··/˘˘/ |
| That his thin lantern jaws all her art would defeat. | 12 | ···/˘·····˘/ |
| Lady Betty observed it, then pulls out a pin, | 12 | /˘/˘˘/······ |
| And varies the grain of the stuff to his grin: | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| And, to make roasted silk to resemble his raw-bone, | 13 | ···/˘··˘/˘··· |
| She raised up a thread to the jet of his jaw-bone; | 12 | ············ |
| Till at length in exactest proportion he rose, | 12 | ····˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| From the crown of his head to the arch of his nose; | 12 | ············ |
| And if Lady Betty had drawn him with wig and all, | 13 | ··/˘/˘······· |
| 'Tis certain the copy had outdone the original. | 13 | ·/˘·/˘·//·˘/˘ |
| Well, that's but my outside, says Dan, with a vapour; | 12 | ····//····/˘ |
| Say you so? says my lady; I've lined it with paper. | 13 | ·····/˘····/˘ |
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.