On the Same Picture
Clarissa draws her scissars from the caseTo draw the lines of poor Dan Jackson's face;One sloping cut made forehead, nose, and chin,A nick produced a mouth, and made him grin,Such as in tailor's measure you have seen.But still were wanting his grimalkin eyes,For which gray worsted stocking paint supplies.Th' unravell'd thread through needle's eye convey'd,Transferr'd itself into his pasteboard head.How came the scissars to be thus outdone?The needle had an eye, and they had none.O wondrous force of art! now look at Dan--You'll swear the pasteboard was the better man."The devil!" says he, "the head is not so full!"Indeed it is--behold the paper skull.
Words in this poem
- nick n.
- A notch cut into something; as: (a) A score for keeping an account; a reckoning. [Akin to Nock.]
- grin n.
- A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
- grimalkin n.
- An old cat, esp. a she-cat. J. Philips. [For graymalkin; gray + malkin.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Same Picture 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 Same Picture, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/on-the-same-picture.html, id L18556.
Form and metre
On the Same Picture is 15 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABB-CC--DDEE-- caseA · faceA · chinB · grinB · seen · eyesC · suppliesC · convey'd · head · outdoneD · noneD · danE · manE · full · skull
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Clarissa draws her scissars from the case | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| To draw the lines of poor Dan Jackson's face; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| One sloping cut made forehead, nose, and chin, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| A nick produced a mouth, and made him grin, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Such as in tailor's measure you have seen. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| But still were wanting his grimalkin eyes, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| For which gray worsted stocking paint supplies. | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Th' unravell'd thread through needle's eye convey'd, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Transferr'd itself into his pasteboard head. | 10 | ˘/˘/···/˘· |
| How came the scissars to be thus outdone? | 10 | ········// |
| The needle had an eye, and they had none. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| O wondrous force of art! now look at Dan-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| You'll swear the pasteboard was the better man. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| "The devil!" says he, "the head is not so full!" | 10 | ·/········ |
| Indeed it is--behold the paper skull. | 10 | ˘/··˘/·/˘· |
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.