On the Irish Club. 1733
Ye paltry underlings of state,Ye senators who love to prate;Ye rascals of inferior note,Who, for a dinner, sell a vote;Ye pack of pensionary peers,Whose fingers itch for poets' ears;Ye bishops, far removed from saints,Why all this rage? Why these complaints?Why against printers all this noise?This summoning of blackguard boys?Why so sagacious in your guesses?Your effs, and tees, and arrs, and esses!Take my advice; to make you safe,I know a shorter way by half.The point is plain; remove the cause;Defend your liberties and laws.Be sometimes to your country true,Have once the public good in view:Bravely despise champagne at court,And choose to dine at home with port:Let prelates, by their good behaviour,Convince us they believe a Saviour;Nor sell what they so dearly bought,This country, now their own, for nought.Ne'er did a true satiric museVirtue or innocence abuse;And 'tis against poetic rulesTo rail at men by nature fools:But
Words in this poem
- pensionary a.
- Maintained by a pension; receiving a pension; as, pensionary spies. Donne.
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- champagne n.
- A light wine, of several kinds, originally made in the province of Champagne, in France. [F. See Champaign.]
- dine v. i.
- To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner. [F. dîner, OF. disner, LL. disnare, contr. fr. an assumed disjunare; dis- + an assumed junare (OF. juner) to fast, for L. jejunare, fr. jejunus fasting. See Jeju]
- convince v. t.
- To overpower; to overcome; to subdue or master. [L. convincere, -victum, to refute, prove; con- + vincere to conquer. See Victor, and cf. Convict.]
- saviour n.
- One who saves, preserves, or delivers from destruction or danger. [OE. saveour, OF. salveor, F. sauveur, fr. L. salvator to save. See Save, v.]
- satiric a.
- Of or pertaining to satire; of the nature of satire; as, a satiric style. [L. satiricus: cf. F. satirique.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Irish Club. 1733 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 Irish Club. 1733, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/on-the-irish-club-1733.html, id L09353.
Form and metre
On the Irish Club. 1733 is 29 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 90% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 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 AABBCCDDEEFF--GGHHIIJJKKLLMM- stateA · prateA · noteB · voteB · peersC · earsC · saintsD · complaintsD · noiseE · boysE · guessesF · essesF · safe · half · causeG · lawsG · trueH · viewH · courtI · portI · behaviourJ · saviourJ · boughtK · noughtK · museL · abuseL · rulesM · foolsM · but
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ye paltry underlings of state, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Ye senators who love to prate; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Ye rascals of inferior note, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Who, for a dinner, sell a vote; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ye pack of pensionary peers, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| Whose fingers itch for poets' ears; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ye bishops, far removed from saints, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Why all this rage? Why these complaints? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Why against printers all this noise? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| This summoning of blackguard boys? | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Why so sagacious in your guesses? | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Your effs, and tees, and arrs, and esses! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Take my advice; to make you safe, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| I know a shorter way by half. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The point is plain; remove the cause; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Defend your liberties and laws. | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Be sometimes to your country true, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Have once the public good in view: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Bravely despise champagne at court, | 8 | /˘˘/˘/·· |
| And choose to dine at home with port: | 8 | ········ |
| Let prelates, by their good behaviour, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Convince us they believe a Saviour; | 9 | ˘/··˘/·/˘ |
| Nor sell what they so dearly bought, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| This country, now their own, for nought. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Ne'er did a true satiric muse | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Virtue or innocence abuse; | 8 | /˘·/˘˘˘/ |
| And 'tis against poetic rules | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| To rail at men by nature fools: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But | 1 | · |
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