The Dean's Answer
So, about twelve at night, the punkSteals from the cully when he's drunk:Nor is contented with a treat,Without her privilege to cheat:Nor can I the least difference find,But that you left no clap behind.But, jest apart, restore, you capon ye,My twelve thirteens and sixpence-ha'pennyTo eat my meat and drink my medlicot,And then to give me such a deadly cut--But 'tis observed, that men in gownsAre most inclined to plunder crowns.Could you but change a crown as easyAs you can steal one, how 'twould please ye!I thought the lady at St. Catherine'sKnew how to set you better patterns;For this I will not dine with Agmondisham,And for his victuals, let a ragman dish 'em.
Words in this poem
- punk n.
- Wood so decayed as to be dry, crumbly, and useful for tinder; touchwood. [Cf. Spunk.]
- cully n.
- A person easily deceived, tricked, or imposed on; a mean dupe; a gull. [Abbrev. fr. cullion.]
- 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]
- capon n.
- A castrated cock, esp. when fattened; a male chicken gelded to improve his flesh for the table. [OE. capon, chapoun, AS. cap (cf. F. chapon), L. capo, fr. Gr. skopiti to casrate. CF. Comma.]
- dine v. i.
- To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner. [F. dîner, OF. disner, LL. disnare, contr. fr. an assumed disjunare; dis- + an assumed junare (OF. juner) to fast, for L. jejunare, fr. jejunus fasting. See Jeju]
- ragman n.
- A document having many names or numerous seals, as a papal bull. Piers Plowman. [See Ragman's roll.]
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-3.html, id L09422.
Form and metre
The Dean's Answer is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 56% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.6 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 AABBCCD---EE-DEE-- punkA · drunkA · treatB · cheatB · findC · behindC · yeD · ha'penny · medlicot · cut · gownsE · crownsE · easy · yeD · catherine'sE · patternsE · agmondisham · em
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So, about twelve at night, the punk | 8 | ········ |
| Steals from the cully when he's drunk: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor is contented with a treat, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Without her privilege to cheat: | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Nor can I the least difference find, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But that you left no clap behind. | 8 | ········ |
| But, jest apart, restore, you capon ye, | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/·· |
| My twelve thirteens and sixpence-ha'penny | 10 | ··//·/˘··· |
| To eat my meat and drink my medlicot, | 10 | ·········· |
| And then to give me such a deadly cut-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But 'tis observed, that men in gowns | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Are most inclined to plunder crowns. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Could you but change a crown as easy | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| As you can steal one, how 'twould please ye! | 9 | ········· |
| I thought the lady at St. Catherine's | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Knew how to set you better patterns; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| For this I will not dine with Agmondisham, | 11 | ··········· |
| And for his victuals, let a ragman dish 'em. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
Notes from the edition 3
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Line 8 A shilling passes for thirteen pence in Ireland.--F.
- Line 15 Lady Mountcashel.--F.
- Line 17 Agmondisham Vesey, Esq., of Lucan, in the county of Dublin, comptroller and accomptant-general of Ireland, a very worthy gentleman, for whom the Dean had a great esteem.--Scott.
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