Postscript
Lean Tom, when I saw him last week on his horse awry,Threaten'd loudly to turn me to stone with his sorcery,But, I think, little Dan, that in spite of what our foe says,He will find I read Ovid and his Metamorphoses,For omitting the first (where I make a comparison,With a sort of allusion to Putland or Harrison)Yet, by my description, you'll find he in short isA pack and a garran, a top and a tortoise.So I hope from henceforward you ne'er will ask, can I maulThis teasing, conceited, rude, insolent animal?And, if this rebuke might turn to his benefit,(For I pity the man) I should be glad then of it.
Words in this poem
- allusion n.
- A figurative or symbolical reference. [L. allusio, fr. alludere to allude: cf. F. allusion.]
- henceforward adv.
- From this time forward; henceforth.
- conceited a.
- Endowed with fancy or imagination.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Postscript 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, Postscript, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/postscript-2.html, id L09416.
Form and metre
Postscript is 12 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines. 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.8 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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--A-BBCC awry · sorcery · saysA · metamorphosesA · comparison · harrison · isA · tortoise · maulB · animalB · benefitC · itC
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Lean Tom, when I saw him last week on his horse awry, | 13 | ···········˘/ |
| Threaten'd loudly to turn me to stone with his sorcery, | 13 | /˘/˘·······/˘ |
| But, I think, little Dan, that in spite of what our foe says, | 14 | ···/˘······/·· |
| He will find I read Ovid and his Metamorphoses, | 13 | ··········˘/˘ |
| For omitting the first (where I make a comparison, | 13 | ·˘/˘······˘/˘ |
| With a sort of allusion to Putland or Harrison) | 13 | ····˘/˘····/˘ |
| Yet, by my description, you'll find he in short is | 12 | ···˘/˘······ |
| A pack and a garran, a top and a tortoise. | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| So I hope from henceforward you ne'er will ask, can I maul | 15 | ··············· |
| This teasing, conceited, rude, insolent animal? | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| And, if this rebuke might turn to his benefit, | 11 | ···˘/····/˘ |
| (For I pity the man) I should be glad then of it. | 13 | ··/˘········· |
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.