The Pardon
The suit which humbly you have madeIs fully and maturely weigh'd;And as 'tis your petition,I do forgive, for well I know,Since you're so bruised, another blowWould break the head of Priscian.
'Tis not my purpose or intentThat you should suffer banishment;I pardon, now you've courted;And yet I fear this clemencyWill come too late to profit thee,For you're with grief transported.
However, this I do command,That you your birch do take in hand,Read concord and syntax on;The bays, your own, are only mine,Do you then still your nouns decline,Since you've declined Dan Jackson.
Words in this poem
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- maturely adv.
- In a mature manner; with ripeness; completely.
- syntax n.
- Connected system or order; union of things; a number of things jointed together; organism. [L. syntaxis, Gr. syntaxe. See Syn-, and Tactics.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Pardon 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 Pardon, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/the-pardon.html, id L09414.
Form and metre
The Pardon is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% 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 AABCCB madeA · weigh'dA · petitionB · knowC · blowC · priscianB
- 2 AA---- intentA · banishmentA · courted · clemency · thee · transported
- 3 AABCCB commandA · handA · onB · mineC · declineC · jacksonB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The suit which humbly you have made | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Is fully and maturely weigh'd; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And as 'tis your petition, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| I do forgive, for well I know, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Since you're so bruised, another blow | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Would break the head of Priscian. | 7 | ······· |
| 'Tis not my purpose or intent | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That you should suffer banishment; | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| I pardon, now you've courted; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And yet I fear this clemency | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Will come too late to profit thee, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For you're with grief transported. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| However, this I do command, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| That you your birch do take in hand, | 8 | ········ |
| Read concord and syntax on; | 7 | ·/˘·/·· |
| The bays, your own, are only mine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Do you then still your nouns decline, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Since you've declined Dan Jackson. | 8 | ··˘/˘·/˘ |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Stanza 1, line 6 The Roman grammarian, who flourished about A.D. 450, and has left a work entitled "Commentariorum grammaticorum Libri xviii."--W. E. B.
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.