On the Five Ladies at Sot's Hole with the Doctor at Their Head
Fair ladies, number five,Who in your merry freaks,With little Tom contriveTo feast on ale and steaks;
While he sits by a-grinning,To see you safe in Sot's Hole,Set up with greasy linen,And neither mugs nor pots whole;
Alas! I never thoughtA priest would please your palate;Besides, I'll hold a groatHe'll put you in a ballad;
Where I shall see your faces,On paper daub'd so foul,They'll be no more like graces,Than Venus like an owl.
And we shall take you ratherTo be a midnight packOf witches met together,With Beelzebub in black.
It fills my heart with woe,To think such ladies fineShould be reduced so low,To treat a dull divine.
Be by a parson cheated!Had you been cunning stagers,You might yourselves be treatedBy captains and by majors.
See how corruption grows,While mothers, daughters, aunts,Instead of powder'd beaux,From pulpits choose gallants.
If we, who wear our wigsWith fantail and with snake,Are bubbled thus by prigs;Z----ds! who would be a rake?
Had I a heart to fight,I'd knock the Doctor down;Or could I read or write,Egad! I'd wear a gown.
Then leave him to his birch;And at the Rose on Sunday,The parson safe at church,I'll treat you with burgundy.
Words in this poem
- groat n.
- An old English silver coin, equal to four pence. [LG. grote, orig., great, that is, a great piece of coin, larger than other coins in former use. See Great.]
- 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,]
- beelzebub n.
- The title of a heathen deity to whom the Jews ascribed the sovereignty of the evil spirits; hence, the Devil or a devil. See Baal.
- egad interj.
- An exclamation expressing exultation or surprise, etc. [Euphemistic corruption of the oath, "by God."]
- burgundy n.
- An old province of France (in the eastern central part).
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Five Ladies at Sot's Hole with the Doctor at Their Head 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 the Five Ladies at Sot's Hole with the Doctor at Their Head, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/on-the-five-ladies-at-sot-s-hole-with-the-doctor-at-their-he.html, id L09428.
Form and metre
On the Five Ladies at Sot's Hole with the Doctor at Their Head is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 5 of the 11 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.5 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 A-A- fiveA · freaks · contriveA · steaks
- 2 -A-A grinning · holeA · linen · wholeA
- 3 AAA- thoughtA · palateA · groatA · ballad
- 4 ABAB facesA · foulB · gracesA · owlB
- 5 -A-A rather · packA · together · blackA
- 6 ABAB woeA · fineB · lowA · divineB
- 7 ABAB cheatedA · stagersB · treatedA · majorsB
- 9 ABAB wigsA · snakeB · prigsA · rakeB
- 10 ABAB fightA · downB · writeA · gownB
- 11 A-A- birchA · sunday · churchA · burgundy
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Fair ladies, number five, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Who in your merry freaks, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With little Tom contrive | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| To feast on ale and steaks; | 6 | ······ |
| While he sits by a-grinning, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| To see you safe in Sot's Hole, | 7 | ······· |
| Set up with greasy linen, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And neither mugs nor pots whole; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Alas! I never thought | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| A priest would please your palate; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Besides, I'll hold a groat | 6 | ˘/···· |
| He'll put you in a ballad; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Where I shall see your faces, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| On paper daub'd so foul, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| They'll be no more like graces, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Than Venus like an owl. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And we shall take you rather | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| To be a midnight pack | 6 | ···/·· |
| Of witches met together, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| With Beelzebub in black. | 7 | ·˘/˘˘·· |
| It fills my heart with woe, | 6 | ······ |
| To think such ladies fine | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Should be reduced so low, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| To treat a dull divine. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Be by a parson cheated! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Had you been cunning stagers, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| You might yourselves be treated | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| By captains and by majors. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| See how corruption grows, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| While mothers, daughters, aunts, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Instead of powder'd beaux, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| From pulpits choose gallants. | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| If we, who wear our wigs | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With fantail and with snake, | 6 | ·/···· |
| Are bubbled thus by prigs; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Z----ds! who would be a rake? | 7 | ······· |
| Had I a heart to fight, | 6 | ······ |
| I'd knock the Doctor down; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Or could I read or write, | 6 | ······ |
| Egad! I'd wear a gown. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Then leave him to his birch; | 6 | ······ |
| And at the Rose on Sunday, | 7 | ·····/· |
| The parson safe at church, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I'll treat you with burgundy. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Stanza 11, line 1 Dr. Sheridan was a schoolmaster.--F.
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