Robin and Harry. 1730
Robin to beggars with a curse,Throws the last shilling in his purse;And when the coachman comes for pay,The rogue must call another day.Grave Harry, when the poor are pressingGives them a penny and God's blessing;But always careful of the main,With twopence left, walks home in rain.Robin from noon to night will prate,Run out in tongue, as in estate;And, ere a twelvemonth and a day,Will not have one new thing to say.Much talking is not Harry's vice;He need not tell a story twice:And, if he always be so thrifty,His fund may last to five-and-fifty.It so fell out that cautious Harry,As soldiers use, for love must marry,And, with his dame, the ocean cross'd;(All for Love, or the World well Lost!)Repairs a cabin gone to ruin,Just big enough to shelter two in;And in his house, if anybody come,Will make them welcome to his modicumWhere Goody Julia milks the cows,And boils potatoes for her spouse;Or darns his hose, or mends his breeches,While Harry's fencing up his ditches.Robin, who ne'er his mind could fix,To live without a coach-and-six,To patch his broken fortunes, foundA mistress worth five thousand pound;Swears he could get her in an hour,If gaffer Harry would endow her;And sell, to pacify his wrath,A birth-right for a mess of broth.Young Harry, as all Europe knows,Was long the quintessence of beaux;But, when espoused, he ran the fateThat must attend the married state;From gold brocade and shining armour,Was metamorphosed to a farmer;His grazier's coat with dirt besmear'd;Nor twice a-week will shave his beard.Old Robin, all his youth a sloven,At fifty-two, when he grew loving,Clad in a coat of paduasoy,A flaxen wig, and waistcoat gay,Powder'd from shoulder down to flank,In courtly style addresses Frank;Twice ten years older than his wife,Is doom'd to be a beau for life;Supplying those defects by dress,Which I must leave the world to guess.
Words in this poem 17
- coachman n.
- A man whose business is to drive a coach or carriage.
- harry v. i.
- To make a predatory incursion; to plunder or lay waste.
- twopence n.
- A small coin, and money of account, in England, equivalent to two pennies, -- minted to a fixed annual amount, for almsgiving by the sovereign on Maundy Thursday.
- twelvemonth n.
- A year which consists of twelve calendar months.
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- modicum n.
- A little; a small quantity; a measured simply. [L., fr. modicus moderate, fr. modus. See Mode.]
- goody n.
- A bonbon, cake, or the like; -- usually in the pl.
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- gaffer n.
- An old fellow; an aged rustic. [Possibly contr. fr. godfather; but prob. fr. gramfer for grandfather. Cf. Gammer.]
- quintessence n.
- The fifth or last and highest essence or power in a natural body. [F., fr. L. quinta essentia fifth essence. See Quint, and Essence.]
- brocade n.
- Silk stuff, woven with gold and silver threads, or ornamented with raised flowers, foliage, etc.; -- also applied to other stuffs thus wrought and enriched. [Sp. brocado (cf. It. broccato, F. brocart), fr. LL. brocare *prick, to figure (textile fabrics), to emboss (linen), to stitch. See Broach.]
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- 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.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- paduasoy n.
- A rich and heavy silk stuff. [From Padua, in Italy + F. soie silk; or cf. F. pou-de-soie.]
- flaxen a.
- Made of flax; resembling flax or its fibers; of the color of flax; of a light soft straw color; fair and flowing, like flax or tow; as, flaxen thread; flaxen hair.
- courtly a.
- Relating or belonging to a court. [From Court.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Robin and Harry. 1730 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, Robin and Harry. 1730, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/robin-and-harry-1730.html, id L09288.
Form and metre
Robin and Harry. 1730 is 54 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 15 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ--KKL-LLMMNN------OOPPQQ----RRSSTT curseA · purseA · payB · dayB · pressingC · blessingC · mainD · rainD · prateE · estateE · dayF · sayF · viceG · twiceG · thriftyH · fiftyH · harryI · marryI · cross'dJ · lostJ · ruin · in · comeK · modicumK · cowsL · spouse · breechesL · ditchesL · fixM · sixM · foundN · poundN · hour · her · wrath · broth · knows · beaux · fateO · stateO · armourP · farmerP · besmear'dQ · beardQ · sloven · loving · paduasoy · gay · flankR · frankR · wifeS · lifeS · dressT · guessT
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Robin to beggars with a curse, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Throws the last shilling in his purse; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And when the coachman comes for pay, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The rogue must call another day. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Grave Harry, when the poor are pressing | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Gives them a penny and God's blessing; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| But always careful of the main, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| With twopence left, walks home in rain. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Robin from noon to night will prate, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Run out in tongue, as in estate; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And, ere a twelvemonth and a day, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Will not have one new thing to say. | 8 | ········ |
| Much talking is not Harry's vice; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He need not tell a story twice: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And, if he always be so thrifty, | 9 | ···/···/˘ |
| His fund may last to five-and-fifty. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| It so fell out that cautious Harry, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| As soldiers use, for love must marry, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And, with his dame, the ocean cross'd; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (All for Love, or the World well Lost!) | 8 | ········ |
| Repairs a cabin gone to ruin, | 9 | ˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Just big enough to shelter two in; | 9 | ··˘/·/˘·· |
| And in his house, if anybody come, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Will make them welcome to his modicum | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Where Goody Julia milks the cows, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And boils potatoes for her spouse; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Or darns his hose, or mends his breeches, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| While Harry's fencing up his ditches. | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Robin, who ne'er his mind could fix, | 8 | /˘······ |
| To live without a coach-and-six, | 8 | ········ |
| To patch his broken fortunes, found | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A mistress worth five thousand pound; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Swears he could get her in an hour, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| If gaffer Harry would endow her; | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/· |
| And sell, to pacify his wrath, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A birth-right for a mess of broth. | 8 | ········ |
| Young Harry, as all Europe knows, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Was long the quintessence of beaux; | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| But, when espoused, he ran the fate | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| That must attend the married state; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| From gold brocade and shining armour, | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Was metamorphosed to a farmer; | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| His grazier's coat with dirt besmear'd; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor twice a-week will shave his beard. | 8 | ········ |
| Old Robin, all his youth a sloven, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| At fifty-two, when he grew loving, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Clad in a coat of paduasoy, | 8 | ········ |
| A flaxen wig, and waistcoat gay, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Powder'd from shoulder down to flank, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| In courtly style addresses Frank; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Twice ten years older than his wife, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Is doom'd to be a beau for life; | 8 | ········ |
| Supplying those defects by dress, | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Which I must leave the world to guess. | 8 | ········ |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Line 20 The title of Dryden's Play, founded on the story of Antony and Cleopatra.--W. E. B.
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