Probatur Aliter
A long-ear'd beast, and a field-house for cattle,Among the coals doth often rattle.
A long-ear'd beast, a bird that prates,The bridegrooms' first gift to their mates,Is by all pious Christians thought,In clergymen the greatest fault.
A long-ear'd beast, and woman of Endor,If your wife be a scold, that will mend her.
With a long-ear'd beast, and medicine's use,Cooks make their fowl look tight and spruce.
A long-ear'd beast, and holy fable,Strengthens the shoes of half the rabble.
A long-ear'd beast, and Rhenish wine,Lies in the lap of ladies fine.
A long-ear'd beast, and Flanders College,Is Dr. T----l, to my knowledge.
A long-ear'd beast, and building knight,Censorious people do in spite.
A long-ear'd beast, and bird of night,We sinners art too apt to slight.
A long-ear'd beast, and shameful vermin,A judge will eat, though clad in ermine.
A long-ear'd beast, and Irish cart,Can leave a mark, and give a smart.
A long-ear'd beast, in mud to lie,No bird in air so swift can fly.
A long-ear'd beast, and a sputt'ring old Whig,I wish he were in it, and dancing a jig.
A long-ear'd beast, and liquor to write,Is a damnable smell both morning and night.
A long-ear'd beast, and the child of a sheep,At Whist they will make a desperate sweep.
A beast long-ear'd, and till midnight you stay,Will cover a house much better than clay.
A long-ear'd beast, and the drink you love best,You call him a sloven in earnest for jest.
A long-ear'd beast, and the sixteenth letter,I'd not look at all unless I look'd better.
A long-ear'd beast give me, and eggs unsound,Or else I will not ride one inch of ground.
A long-ear'd beast, another name for jeer,To ladies' skins there nothing comes so near.
A long-ear'd beast, and kind noise of a cat,Is useful in journeys, take notice of that.
A long-ear'd beast, and what seasons your beef,On such an occasion the law gives relief.
A long-ear'd beast, a thing that force must drive in,Bears up his house, that's of his own contriving.
Words in this poem
- rhenish a.
- Of or pertaining to the river Rhine; as, Rhenish wine. [L. Rhenus the Rhine.]
- vermin n.
- An animal, in general. [OE. vermine, F. vermine, from L. vermis a worm; cf. LL. vermen a worm, L. verminosus full of worms. See Vermicular, Worm.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- damnable a.
- Liable to damnation; deserving, or for which one deserves, to be damned; of a damning nature. [L. damnabilis, fr. damnare: cf. F. damnable. See Damn.]
- whist v. t.
- To hush or silence. [From Whist, interj.]
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
- sloven n.
- A man or boy habitually negligent of neathess and order; -- the correlative term to slattern, or slut. [D. slaf careless, negligent, a sloven; akin to LG. sluf slovenly.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Probatur Aliter 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, Probatur Aliter, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/probatur-aliter.html, id L09279.
Form and metre
Probatur Aliter is 48 lines in 23 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 79% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AA cattleA · rattleA
- 2 AA-- pratesA · matesA · thought · fault
- 4 AA useA · spruceA
- 6 AA wineA · fineA
- 7 AA collegeA · knowledgeA
- 8 AA knightA · spiteA
- 9 AA nightA · slightA
- 11 AA cartA · smartA
- 12 AA lieA · flyA
- 13 AA whigA · jigA
- 14 AA writeA · nightA
- 15 AA sheepA · sweepA
- 16 AA stayA · clayA
- 17 AA bestA · jestA
- 18 AA letterA · betterA
- 19 AA unsoundA · groundA
- 20 AA jeerA · nearA
- 21 AA catA · thatA
- 22 AA beefA · reliefA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A long-ear'd beast, and a field-house for cattle, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Among the coals doth often rattle. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| A long-ear'd beast, a bird that prates, | 8 | ········ |
| The bridegrooms' first gift to their mates, | 9 | ········· |
| Is by all pious Christians thought, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In clergymen the greatest fault. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A long-ear'd beast, and woman of Endor, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| If your wife be a scold, that will mend her. | 10 | ·········· |
| With a long-ear'd beast, and medicine's use, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Cooks make their fowl look tight and spruce. | 8 | ········ |
| A long-ear'd beast, and holy fable, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Strengthens the shoes of half the rabble. | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| A long-ear'd beast, and Rhenish wine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Lies in the lap of ladies fine. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A long-ear'd beast, and Flanders College, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Is Dr. T----l, to my knowledge. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| A long-ear'd beast, and building knight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Censorious people do in spite. | 9 | ˘/˘˘/˘··· |
| A long-ear'd beast, and bird of night, | 8 | ········ |
| We sinners art too apt to slight. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A long-ear'd beast, and shameful vermin, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| A judge will eat, though clad in ermine. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| A long-ear'd beast, and Irish cart, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Can leave a mark, and give a smart. | 8 | ········ |
| A long-ear'd beast, in mud to lie, | 8 | ········ |
| No bird in air so swift can fly. | 8 | ········ |
| A long-ear'd beast, and a sputt'ring old Whig, | 10 | ·········· |
| I wish he were in it, and dancing a jig. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| A long-ear'd beast, and liquor to write, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Is a damnable smell both morning and night. | 11 | ··/˘˘··/˘·· |
| A long-ear'd beast, and the child of a sheep, | 10 | ·········· |
| At Whist they will make a desperate sweep. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| A beast long-ear'd, and till midnight you stay, | 10 | ······/··· |
| Will cover a house much better than clay. | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| A long-ear'd beast, and the drink you love best, | 10 | ·········· |
| You call him a sloven in earnest for jest. | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| A long-ear'd beast, and the sixteenth letter, | 10 | ······///˘ |
| I'd not look at all unless I look'd better. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| A long-ear'd beast give me, and eggs unsound, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Or else I will not ride one inch of ground. | 10 | ·········· |
| A long-ear'd beast, another name for jeer, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| To ladies' skins there nothing comes so near. | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| A long-ear'd beast, and kind noise of a cat, | 10 | ·········· |
| Is useful in journeys, take notice of that. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| A long-ear'd beast, and what seasons your beef, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| On such an occasion the law gives relief. | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| A long-ear'd beast, a thing that force must drive in, | 11 | ··········· |
| Bears up his house, that's of his own contriving. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
Notes from the edition 23
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Stanza 1, line 2 A shovel.
- Stanza 2, line 4 Aspiring.
- Stanza 3, line 2 A switch.
- Stanza 4, line 2 A skewer.
- Stanza 5, line 2 A sparable; a small nail in a shoe.
- Stanza 6, line 2 A shock.
- Stanza 7, line 2 A sloven.
- Stanza 8, line 2 Asperse. (Pearce was an architect, who built the Parliament-House, Dublin.)
- Stanza 9, line 2 A soul.
- Stanza 10, line 2 A slice.
- Stanza 11, line 2 A scar.
- Stanza 12, line 2 A swallow.
- Stanza 13, line 2 A sty.
- Stanza 14, line 2 A sink.
- Stanza 15, line 2 A slam.
- Stanza 16, line 2 A slate.
- Stanza 17, line 2 A swine.
- Stanza 18, line 2 Askew.
- Stanza 19, line 2 A saddle.
- Stanza 20, line 2 A smock.
- Stanza 21, line 2 A spur.
- Stanza 22, line 2 Assault.
- Stanza 23, line 2 A snail.
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.