Sheridan's Reply
Three merry lads you own we are;'Tis very true, and free from care:But envious we cannot bear,believe, sir:
For, were all forms of beauty thine,Were you like Nereus soft and fine,We should not in the least repine,or grieve, sir.
Then know from us, most beauteous Dan,That roughness best becomes a man;'Tis women should be pale, and wan,and taper;
And all your trifling beaux and fops,Who comb their brows, and sleek their chops,Are but the offspring of toy-shops,mere vapour.
We know your morning hours you passTo cull and gather out a face;Is this the way you take your glass?Forbear it:
Those loads of paint upon your toiletWill never mend your face, but spoil it,It looks as if you did parboil it:Drink claret.
Your cheeks, by sleeking, are so lean,That they're like Cynthia in the wane,Or breast of goose when 'tis pick'd clean,or pullet:
See what by drinking you have done:You've made your phiz a skeleton,From the long distance of your crown,t' your gullet.
Words in this poem
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
- repine v. i.
- To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- chops n.
- The jaws; also, the fleshy parts about the mouth. [See Chop a jaw.]
- vapour n.
- Any substance in the gaseous, or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a liquid or solid. [OE. vapour, OF. vapour, vapor, vapeur, F. vapeur, L. vapor; probably for cvapor, and akin to Gr. kvepti to breathe, smell, Russ. kopote fine soot. Cf. Vapid.]
- cull v. t.
- To separate, select, or pick out; to choose and gather or collect; as, to cuil flowers. [OE., OF. cuillir, coillir, F.cueillir, to gather, pluck, pick, fr. L. colligere. See Coil, v. t., and cf. Collect.]
- parboil v. t.
- To boil or cook thoroughly. B. Jonson. [OE. parboilen, OF. parbouillir to cook well; par through (see Par) + bouillir to boil, L. bullire. The sense has been influenced by E. part. See lst Boil.]
- claret n.
- The name firat given in England to the red wines of M [OE. claret, clare, clarry, OF. claret, clar, fr. cler, F. clair, clear, fr. L. clarus clear. See Clear.]
- pullet n.
- A young hen, or female of the domestic fowl. Pullet sperm, the treadle of an egg. [OE. polete, OF. polete, F. poulette, dim. of poule a hen, fr. L. pullus a young animal, a young fowl. See Foal, and cf. Poult, Poultry, Pool stake.]
- phiz n.
- The face or visage. [Contr. fr. physiognomy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sheridan's Reply 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, Sheridan's Reply, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/sheridan-s-reply.html, id L09410.
Form and metre
Sheridan's Reply is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABBA areA · careB · bearB · sirA
- 2 AA-- thineA · fineA · repine · sir
- 3 AA-- danA · manA · wan · taper
- 4 AAA- fopsA · chopsA · shopsA · vapour
- 5 A-A- passA · face · glassA · it
- 6 AAA- toiletA · itA · itA · claret
- 7 A-A- leanA · wane · cleanA · pullet
- 8 AAA- doneA · skeletonA · crownA · gullet
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Three merry lads you own we are; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Tis very true, and free from care: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But envious we cannot bear, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| believe, sir: | 3 | ˘/· |
| For, were all forms of beauty thine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Were you like Nereus soft and fine, | 8 | ········ |
| We should not in the least repine, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| or grieve, sir. | 3 | ··· |
| Then know from us, most beauteous Dan, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| That roughness best becomes a man; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| 'Tis women should be pale, and wan, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| and taper; | 3 | ·/˘ |
| And all your trifling beaux and fops, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who comb their brows, and sleek their chops, | 8 | ········ |
| Are but the offspring of toy-shops, | 8 | ···/···· |
| mere vapour. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| We know your morning hours you pass | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| To cull and gather out a face; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Is this the way you take your glass? | 8 | ········ |
| Forbear it: | 3 | ˘/· |
| Those loads of paint upon your toilet | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Will never mend your face, but spoil it, | 8 | ·/······ |
| It looks as if you did parboil it: | 9 | ······/·· |
| Drink claret. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Your cheeks, by sleeking, are so lean, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That they're like Cynthia in the wane, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or breast of goose when 'tis pick'd clean, | 8 | ········ |
| or pullet: | 3 | ·/˘ |
| See what by drinking you have done: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You've made your phiz a skeleton, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| From the long distance of your crown, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| t' your gullet. | 4 | ··/˘ |
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.