Peg Radcliffe the Hostess's Invitation
Though the name of this place may make you to frown,Your Deanship is welcome to Glassnevin town;A glass and no wine, to a man of your taste,Alas! is enough, sir, to break it in haste;Be that as it will, your presence can't failTo yield great delight in drinking our ale;Would you but vouchsafe a mug to partake,And as we can brew, believe we can bake.The life and the pleasure we now from you hope,The famed Violante can't show on the rope;Your genius and talents outdo even Pope.Then while, sir, you live at Glassnevin, and findThe benefit wish'd you, by friends who are kind;One night in the week, sir, your favour bestow,To drink with Delany and others your know:They constantly meet at Peg Radcliffe's together,Talk over the news of the town and the weather;Reflect on mishaps in church and in state,Digest many things as well as good meat;And club each alike that no one may treat.This if you will grant without coach or chair,You may, in a trice, cross the way and be there;For Peg is your neighbour, as well as Delany,A housewifely woman full pleasing to any.
Words in this poem
- deanship n.
- The office of a dean.
- vouchsafe v. t.
- To condescend to grant; to concede; to bestow. [Vouch + safe, that is, to vouch or answer for safety.]
- brew v. t.
- To boil or seethe; to cook. [OE. brewen, AS. breówan; akin to D. brouwen, OHG. priuwan, MHG. briuwen, br, G. brauen, Icel. brugga, Sw. brygga, Dan. brygge, and perh. to L. defrutum must boi]
- bake v. t.
- To prepare, as food, by cooking in a dry heat, either in an oven or under coals, or on heated stone or metal; as, to bake bread, meat, apples.
- outdo v. t.
- To go beyond in performance; to excel; to surpass.
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- trice v. t.
- To pull; to haul; to drag; to pull away. [OE. trisen; of Scand. or Low German origin; cf. Sw. trissa a sheave, pulley, triss a spritsail brace, Dan. tridse a pulley, tridse to haul by means of a pulley,]
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- housewifely a.
- Pertaining or appropriate to a housewife; domestic; economical; prudent.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Peg Radcliffe the Hostess's Invitation 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, Peg Radcliffe the Hostess's Invitation, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/peg-radcliffe-the-hostess-s-invitation.html, id L09434.
Form and metre
Peg Radcliffe the Hostess's Invitation is 24 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 58% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 83% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.5 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% 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 AABBCCDDEEEFFGGHH-IIJJ-- frownA · townA · tasteB · hasteB · failC · aleC · partakeD · bakeD · hopeE · ropeE · popeE · findF · kindF · bestowG · knowG · togetherH · weatherH · state · meatI · treatI · chairJ · thereJ · delany · any
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Though the name of this place may make you to frown, | 11 | ··········· |
| Your Deanship is welcome to Glassnevin town; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| A glass and no wine, to a man of your taste, | 11 | ··········· |
| Alas! is enough, sir, to break it in haste; | 11 | ˘/·˘/······ |
| Be that as it will, your presence can't fail | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| To yield great delight in drinking our ale; | 11 | ···˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Would you but vouchsafe a mug to partake, | 10 | ···˘/···˘/ |
| And as we can brew, believe we can bake. | 10 | ·····˘/··· |
| The life and the pleasure we now from you hope, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| The famed Violante can't show on the rope; | 11 | ··˘˘/˘····· |
| Your genius and talents outdo even Pope. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·//˘· |
| Then while, sir, you live at Glassnevin, and find | 11 | ··········· |
| The benefit wish'd you, by friends who are kind; | 11 | ·/˘˘······· |
| One night in the week, sir, your favour bestow, | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| To drink with Delany and others your know: | 11 | ···/˘˘·/˘·· |
| They constantly meet at Peg Radcliffe's together, | 12 | ·/˘˘···/˘˘/˘ |
| Talk over the news of the town and the weather; | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| Reflect on mishaps in church and in state, | 10 | ˘/·/······ |
| Digest many things as well as good meat; | 10 | /˘/˘······ |
| And club each alike that no one may treat. | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| This if you will grant without coach or chair, | 10 | ·········· |
| You may, in a trice, cross the way and be there; | 11 | ··········· |
| For Peg is your neighbour, as well as Delany, | 12 | ····/˘···/˘˘ |
| A housewifely woman full pleasing to any. | 11 | ·/˘/˘·/˘·/˘ |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Line 3 A pun on Glassnevin--Glass--ne, no, and vin, wine.--Scott.
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