The Epilogue
Now all is done, ye learn'd spectators, tellHave we not play'd our parts extremely well?We think we did, but if you do complain,We're all content to act the play again:'Tis but three hours or thereabouts, at most,And time well spent in school cannot be lost.But what makes you frown, you gentlemen above?We guess'd long since you all desired to move:But that's in vain, for we'll not let a man stir,Who does not take up Plautus first, and conster,Him we'll dismiss, that understands the play;He who does not, i'faith, he's like to stay.Though this new method may provoke your laughter,To act plays first, and understand them after;We do not care, for we will have our humour,And will try you, and you, and you, sir, and one or two more.Why don't you stir? there's not a man will budge;How much they've read, I leave you all to judge.
Words in this poem
- thereabouts adv.
- Near that place. [The latter spelling is less proper, but more commonly used.]
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
- budge a.
- Brisk; stirring; jocund. South. [See Budge, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Epilogue 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 Epilogue, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/the-epilogue.html, id L09423.
Form and metre
The Epilogue is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 2 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 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 AABB--CC--DDEE--FF tellA · wellA · complainB · againB · most · lost · aboveC · moveC · stir · conster · playD · stayD · laughterE · afterE · humour · more · budgeF · judgeF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now all is done, ye learn'd spectators, tell | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Have we not play'd our parts extremely well? | 10 | ····/·˘/˘· |
| We think we did, but if you do complain, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| We're all content to act the play again: | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| 'Tis but three hours or thereabouts, at most, | 10 | ···/··˘/·· |
| And time well spent in school cannot be lost. | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| But what makes you frown, you gentlemen above? | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| We guess'd long since you all desired to move: | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| But that's in vain, for we'll not let a man stir, | 11 | ··········· |
| Who does not take up Plautus first, and conster, | 11 | ··········· |
| Him we'll dismiss, that understands the play; | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| He who does not, i'faith, he's like to stay. | 10 | ·········· |
| Though this new method may provoke your laughter, | 11 | ···/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| To act plays first, and understand them after; | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| We do not care, for we will have our humour, | 11 | ········//˘ |
| And will try you, and you, and you, sir, and one or two more. | 14 | ·············· |
| Why don't you stir? there's not a man will budge; | 10 | ·········· |
| How much they've read, I leave you all to judge. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Line 10 The vulgar pronunciation of the word construe is here intended.--W. E. B.
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