The Upstart
"---- The rascal! that's too mild a name;Does he forget from whence he came?Has he forgot from whence he sprung?A mushroom in a bed of dung;A maggot in a cake of fat,The offspring of a beggar's brat;As eels delight to creep in mud,To eels we may compare his blood;His blood delights in mud to run,Witness his lazy, lousy son!Puff'd up with pride and insolence,Without a grain of common sense.See with what consequence he stalks!With what pomposity he talks!See how the gaping crowd admireThe stupid blockhead and the liar!How long shall vice triumphant reign?How long shall mortals bend to gain?How long shall virtue hide her face,And leave her votaries in disgrace?--Let indignation fire my strains,Another villain yet remains--Let purse-proud C----n next approach;With what an air he mounts his coach!A cart would best become the knave,A dirty parasite and slave!His heart in poison deeply dipt,His tongue with oily accents tipt,A smile still ready at command,The pliant bow, the forehead bland--"
Words in this poem
- maggot n.
- The footless larva of any fly. See Larval. [W. macai, pl. maceiod, magiod, a worn or grub; cf. magu to bread.]
- brat n.
- A coarse garnment or cloak; also, coarse clothing, in general. [OE. bratt coarse garnment, AS. bratt cloak, fr. the Celtic; cf. W. brat clout, rag, Gael. brat cloak, apron, raf, Ir. brat cloak; properly then, a child's bib o]
- insolence n.
- The quality of being unusual or novel. [F. insolence, L. insolentia. See Insolent.]
- pomposity n.
- The quality or state of being pompous; pompousness. Thackeray.
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- liar n.
- A person who knowingly utters falsehood; one who lies. [OE. liere. See Lie to falsify.]
- 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,]
- knave n.
- A boy; especially, a boy servant. Wyclif. [OE., boy, servant, knave, AS. cnafa boy, youth; cf. AS. cnapa boy, youth, D. kna, G. knabe boy, knappe esquire, Icel. knapi, Sw. knape esquire, knäfvel knave.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Upstart 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 Upstart, in Poems, Volume II (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/the-upstart.html, id L09373.
Form and metre
The Upstart is 30 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 93% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGG--HHIIJJKKLLMMNN nameA · cameA · sprungB · dungB · fatC · bratC · mudD · bloodD · runE · sonE · insolenceF · senseF · stalksG · talksG · admire · liar · reignH · gainH · faceI · disgraceI · strainsJ · remainsJ · approachK · coachK · knaveL · slaveL · diptM · tiptM · commandN · blandN
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 rascal! that's too mild a name; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Does he forget from whence he came? | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Has he forgot from whence he sprung? | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| A mushroom in a bed of dung; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A maggot in a cake of fat, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The offspring of a beggar's brat; | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| As eels delight to creep in mud, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To eels we may compare his blood; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| His blood delights in mud to run, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Witness his lazy, lousy son! | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| Puff'd up with pride and insolence, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Without a grain of common sense. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| See with what consequence he stalks! | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| With what pomposity he talks! | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| See how the gaping crowd admire | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The stupid blockhead and the liar! | 9 | ·/˘/···/˘ |
| How long shall vice triumphant reign? | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| How long shall mortals bend to gain? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| How long shall virtue hide her face, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And leave her votaries in disgrace? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| --Let indignation fire my strains, | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| Another villain yet remains-- | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Let purse-proud C----n next approach; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With what an air he mounts his coach! | 8 | ········ |
| A cart would best become the knave, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| A dirty parasite and slave! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| His heart in poison deeply dipt, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| His tongue with oily accents tipt, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A smile still ready at command, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The pliant bow, the forehead bland--" | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
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.