The Last Speech and Dying Words of Daniel Jackson
To give you a short translation of these two lines from Horace's Art ofPoetry, which I have chosen for my neck-verse, before I proceed to myspeech, you will find they fall naturally into this sense:
For poets who can't tell [high] rocks from stones,The rope, the hangman, and the gallows groans.
You'll have a gosling, call it Dan,And do not make your goose a swan.'Tis true, because the God of WitTo get him in that shape thought fit,He'll have some glowworm sparks of it.Venture you may to turn him loose,But let it be to another goose.The time will come, the fatal time,When he shall dare a swan to rhyme;The tow'ring swan comes sousing down,And breaks his pinions, cracks his crown.From that sad time, and sad disaster,He'll be a lame, crack'd poetaster.At length for stealing rhymes and triplets,He'll be content to hang in giblets.
Then lo, I mount as slowly as I sung,And then I'll make a line for every rung;There's nine, I see,--the Muses, too, are nine.Who would refuse to die a death like mine!1. Thou first rung, Clio, celebrate my name;2. Euterp, in tragic numbers do the same.3. This rung, I see, Terpsichore's thy flute;4. Erato, sing me to the Gods; ah, do't:5. Thalia, don't make me a comedy;6. Urania, raise me tow'rds the starry sky:7. Calliope, to ballad-strains descend,8. And Polyhymnia, tune them for your friend;9. So shall Melpomene mourn my fatal end.
"mediocribus esse poetisNon homines, non di, non concessere columnae."
Words in this poem
- gosling n.
- A young or unfledged goose. [AS. g goose + -ling.]
- glowworm n.
- A coleopterous insect of the genus Lampyris; esp., the wingless females and larvæ of the two European species (L. noctiluca, and L.
- 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,]
- disaster n.
- An unpropitious or baleful aspect of a planet or star; malevolent influence of a heavenly body; hence, an ill portent. [F. désastre; pref. dés- (L. dis-) + astre star, fr. L. astrum; a word of astrological origin. See Aster, Astral, Star.]
- poetaster n.
- An inferior rhymer, or writer of verses; a dabbler in poetic art.
- giblets n.
- The inmeats, or edible viscera (heart, gizzard, liver, etc.), of poultry. [OE. gibelet, OF. gibelet game: cf. F. gibelotte stewed rabbit. Cf. Gibbier.]
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- clio n.
- The Muse who presided over history.
- erato n.
- The Muse who presided over lyric and amatory poetry.
- urania n.
- One of the nine Muses, daughter of Zeus by Mnemosyne, and patron of astronomy.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- calliope n.
- The Muse that presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; mother of Orpheus, and chief of the nine Muses.
- polyhymnia n.
- The Muse of lyric poetry.
- melpomene n.
- The Muse of tragedy.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Last Speech and Dying Words of Daniel Jackson 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 Last Speech and Dying Words of Daniel Jackson, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/the-last-speech-and-dying-words-of-daniel-jackson.html, id L09415.
Form and metre
The Last Speech and Dying Words of Daniel Jackson is 35 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% 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.
- 2 AA stonesA · groansA
- 3 --AAABBCCDDEE-- dan · swan · witA · fitA · itA · looseB · gooseB · timeC · rhymeC · downD · crownD · disasterE · poetasterE · triplets · giblets
- 4 AABBCC----DDD sungA · rungA · nineB · mineB · nameC · sameC · flute · do't · comedy · sky · descendD · friendD · endD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To give you a short translation of these two lines from Horace's Art of | 17 | ·····˘/˘·····/˘·· |
| Poetry, which I have chosen for my neck-verse, before I proceed to my | 18 | /˘···/˘·······˘/·· |
| speech, you will find they fall naturally into this sense: | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| For poets who can't tell [high] rocks from stones, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The rope, the hangman, and the gallows groans. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| You'll have a gosling, call it Dan, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And do not make your goose a swan. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Tis true, because the God of Wit | 8 | ········ |
| To get him in that shape thought fit, | 8 | ········ |
| He'll have some glowworm sparks of it. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Venture you may to turn him loose, | 8 | /˘······ |
| But let it be to another goose. | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| The time will come, the fatal time, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When he shall dare a swan to rhyme; | 8 | ········ |
| The tow'ring swan comes sousing down, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And breaks his pinions, cracks his crown. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| From that sad time, and sad disaster, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| He'll be a lame, crack'd poetaster. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| At length for stealing rhymes and triplets, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| He'll be content to hang in giblets. | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| Then lo, I mount as slowly as I sung, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And then I'll make a line for every rung; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| There's nine, I see,--the Muses, too, are nine. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who would refuse to die a death like mine! | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| 1. Thou first rung, Clio, celebrate my name; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| 2. Euterp, in tragic numbers do the same. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| 3. This rung, I see, Terpsichore's thy flute; | 9 | ········· |
| 4. Erato, sing me to the Gods; ah, do't: | 10 | /˘˘······· |
| 5. Thalia, don't make me a comedy; | 9 | /˘····/˘˘ |
| 6. Urania, raise me tow'rds the starry sky: | 11 | ˘/˘˘····/˘· |
| 7. Calliope, to ballad-strains descend, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| 8. And Polyhymnia, tune them for your friend; | 10 | ·········· |
| 9. So shall Melpomene mourn my fatal end. | 11 | ··˘/˘˘··/˘· |
| "mediocribus esse poetis | 7 | ······· |
| Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae." | 11 | ··········· |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Stanza 4, line 2 The Yorkshire term for the rounds or steps of a ladder; still used in every part of Ireland.--Scott.
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