On Dr. Sheridan's Circular Verses by Mr. George Rochfort
With music and poetry equally blest,A bard thus Apollo most humbly addrest:"Great author of harmony, verses, and light!Assisted by thee, I both fiddle and write.Yet unheeded I scrape, or I scribble all day,My verse is neglected, my tunes thrown away.Thy substitute here, Vice Apollo, disdainsTo vouch for my numbers, or list to my strains;Thy manual signet refuses to putTo the airs I produce from the pen or the gut.Be thou then propitious, great Phoebus! and grantRelief, or reward, to my merit, or want.Though the Dean and Delany transcendently shine,O brighten one solo or sonnet of mine!With them I'm content thou shouldst make thy abode;But visit thy servant in jig or in ode;Make one work immortal: 'tis all I request."Apollo look'd pleased; and, resolving to jest,Replied, "Honest friend, I've consider'd thy case;Nor dislike thy well-meaning and humorous face.Thy petition I grant: the boon is not great;Thy works shall continue; and here's the receipt.On rondeaus hereafter thy fiddle-strings spend:Write verses in circles: they never shall end."
Words in this poem
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- vouch v. t.
- To call; to summon. [OE. vouchen, OF. vochier to call, fr. L. vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice. See Voice, and cf. Avouch.]
- signet n.
- A seal; especially, in England, the seal used by the sovereign in sealing private letters and grants that pass by bill under the sign manual; -- called also privy signet. [OF. signet a signet, F., a bookmark, dim. of signe. See Sign, n., and cf. Sennet.]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- transcendently adv.
- In a transcendent manner.
- brighten v. t.
- To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase the luster of; to give a brighter hue to.
- sonnet n.
- A short poem, -- usually amatory. [F., fr. It. sonetto, fr. suono a sound, a song, fr. L. sonus a sound. See Sound noise.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- humorous a.
- Moist; humid; watery. [Cf. L. humorosus, umorosus, moist. See Humor.]
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- 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,]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Dr. Sheridan's Circular Verses by Mr. George Rochfort 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 Dr. Sheridan's Circular Verses by Mr. George Rochfort, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/on-dr-sheridan-s-circular-verses-by-mr-george-rochfort.html, id L09406.
Form and metre
On Dr. Sheridan's Circular Verses by Mr. George Rochfort is 24 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 79% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLL blestA · addrestA · lightB · writeB · dayC · awayC · disdainsD · strainsD · putE · gutE · grantF · wantF · shineG · mineG · abodeH · odeH · requestI · jestI · caseJ · faceJ · greatK · receiptK · spendL · endL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| With music and poetry equally blest, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘˘· |
| A bard thus Apollo most humbly addrest: | 12 | ···˘/˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| "Great author of harmony, verses, and light! | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| Assisted by thee, I both fiddle and write. | 11 | ˘/˘····/˘·· |
| Yet unheeded I scrape, or I scribble all day, | 12 | ·˘/˘····/˘·· |
| My verse is neglected, my tunes thrown away. | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| Thy substitute here, Vice Apollo, disdains | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘/ |
| To vouch for my numbers, or list to my strains; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Thy manual signet refuses to put | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| To the airs I produce from the pen or the gut. | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| Be thou then propitious, great Phoebus! and grant | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Relief, or reward, to my merit, or want. | 11 | ˘/·˘/··/˘·· |
| Though the Dean and Delany transcendently shine, | 11 | ····/˘˘/˘˘· |
| O brighten one solo or sonnet of mine! | 11 | ·/˘·/··/˘·· |
| With them I'm content thou shouldst make thy abode; | 11 | ···˘/····˘/ |
| But visit thy servant in jig or in ode; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| Make one work immortal: 'tis all I request." | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| Apollo look'd pleased; and, resolving to jest, | 11 | ˘/˘···˘/˘·· |
| Replied, "Honest friend, I've consider'd thy case; | 11 | ˘//˘··˘/˘·· |
| Nor dislike thy well-meaning and humorous face. | 11 | ·˘/··/˘·/˘· |
| Thy petition I grant: the boon is not great; | 11 | ·˘/˘······· |
| Thy works shall continue; and here's the receipt. | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| On rondeaus hereafter thy fiddle-strings spend: | 11 | ·˘/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Write verses in circles: they never shall end." | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
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.