On the Gallows
There is a gate, we know full well,That stands 'twixt Heaven, and Earth, and Hell,Where many for a passage venture,Yet very few are fond to enter:Although 'tis open night and day,They for that reason shun this way:Both dukes and lords abhor its wood,They can't come near it for their blood.What other way they take to go,Another time I'll let you know.Yet commoners with greatest easeCan find an entrance when they please.The poorest hither march in state(Or they can never pass the gate)Like Roman generals triumphant,And then they take a turn and jump on't,If gravest parsons here advance,They cannot pass before they dance;There's not a soul that does resort here,But strips himself to pay the porter.
Words in this poem
- abhor v. i.
- To shrink back with horror, disgust, or dislike; to be contrary or averse; -- with from.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Gallows 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 Gallows, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/on-the-gallows.html, id L09266.
Form and metre
On the Gallows is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 4 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 octosyllabic couplets, 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 AA--BBCCDDEEFFGGHH-- wellA · hellA · venture · enter · dayB · wayB · woodC · bloodC · goD · knowD · easeE · pleaseE · stateF · gateF · triumphantG · on'tG · advanceH · danceH · here · porter
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There is a gate, we know full well, | 8 | ········ |
| That stands 'twixt Heaven, and Earth, and Hell, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Where many for a passage venture, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Yet very few are fond to enter: | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Although 'tis open night and day, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They for that reason shun this way: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Both dukes and lords abhor its wood, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| They can't come near it for their blood. | 8 | ········ |
| What other way they take to go, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Another time I'll let you know. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Yet commoners with greatest ease | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Can find an entrance when they please. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The poorest hither march in state | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| (Or they can never pass the gate) | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like Roman generals triumphant, | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| And then they take a turn and jump on't, | 9 | ········· |
| If gravest parsons here advance, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| They cannot pass before they dance; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| There's not a soul that does resort here, | 9 | ······˘/· |
| But strips himself to pay the porter. | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
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.