The Dean's Answer
In reading your letter alone in my hackney,Your damnable riddle my poor brains did rack nigh.And when with much labour the matter I crack'd,I found you mistaken in matter of fact.A woman's no sieve, (for with that you begin,)Because she lets out more than e'er she takes in.And that she's a riddle can never be right,For a riddle is dark, but a woman is light.But grant her a sieve, I can say something archer;Pray what is a man? he's a fine linen searcher.Now tell me a thing that wants interpretation,What name for a maid, was the first man's damnation?If your worship will please to explain me this rebus,I swear from henceforward you shall be my Phoebus.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- damnation n.
- The state of being damned; condemnation; openly expressed disapprobation. [F. damnation, L. damnatio, fr. damnare. See Damn.]
- henceforward adv.
- From this time forward; henceforth.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Dean's Answer 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, The Dean's Answer, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/the-dean-s-answer-2.html, id L18552.
Form and metre
The Dean's Answer is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.7 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in anapaestic 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 --AABBCC--DDEE hackney · nigh · crack'dA · factA · beginB · inB · rightC · lightC · archer · searcher · interpretationD · damnationD · rebusE · phoebusE
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In reading your letter alone in my hackney, | 12 | ·/˘·/˘˘/··/˘ |
| Your damnable riddle my poor brains did rack nigh. | 12 | ·/˘˘/˘······ |
| And when with much labour the matter I crack'd, | 11 | ····/··/˘·· |
| I found you mistaken in matter of fact. | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘·· |
| A woman's no sieve, (for with that you begin,) | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| Because she lets out more than e'er she takes in. | 11 | ··········· |
| And that she's a riddle can never be right, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| For a riddle is dark, but a woman is light. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| But grant her a sieve, I can say something archer; | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| Pray what is a man? he's a fine linen searcher. | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| Now tell me a thing that wants interpretation, | 12 | ·······˘·˘/˘ |
| What name for a maid, was the first man's damnation? | 12 | ·········˘/˘ |
| If your worship will please to explain me this rebus, | 13 | ··/˘···˘/··/˘ |
| I swear from henceforward you shall be my Phoebus. | 13 | ···········/˘ |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Line 12 A damsel, i.e., Adam's Hell.--H. Vir Gin.--Dublin Edition.
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.