Postscript
I had forgot to desire you to bring down what I say you have, and you'llbelieve me as sure as a gun, and own it;I mean, what no other mortal in the universe can boast of, your ownspirit of pun, and own wit.And now I hope you'll excuse this rhyming, which I must say is (thoughwritten somewhat at large) trim and clean;And so I conclude, with humble respects as usualYour most dutiful and obedient
Words in this poem
- conclude v. t.
- To shut up; to inclose. [L. concludere, conclusum; con- + claudere to shut. See Close, v. t.]
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.html, id L09403.
Form and metre
Postscript is 8 lines in a single stanza. 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.6 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 62% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -A-A---- you'll · itA · own · witA · though · clean · usual · obedient
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I had forgot to desire you to bring down what I say you have, and you'll | 18 | ··˘/·˘/··········· |
| believe me as sure as a gun, and own it; | 11 | ˘/········· |
| I mean, what no other mortal in the universe can boast of, your own | 18 | ····/˘/˘··/˘······ |
| spirit of pun, and own wit. | 7 | /˘····· |
| And now I hope you'll excuse this rhyming, which I must say is (though | 16 | ·····˘/·/˘······ |
| written somewhat at large) trim and clean; | 9 | /˘//····· |
| And so I conclude, with humble respects as usual | 13 | ···˘/·/˘˘/·/˘ |
| Your most dutiful and obedient | 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.