The Windsor Prophecy
When a holy black Swede, the son of Bob,With a saint at his chin and a seal at his fob,Shall not see one New-Years-day in that year,Then let old England make good cheer:Windsor and Bristol then shall beJoined together in the Low-countree.Then shall the tall black Daventry BirdSpeak against peace right many a word;And some shall admire his coneying wit,For many good groats his tongue shall slit.But spight of the Harpy that crawls on all four,There shall be peace, pardie, and war no moreBut England must cry alack and well-a-day,If the stick be taken from the dead sea.And, dear Englond, if ought I understond,Beware of Carrots from Northumberlond.Carrots sown Thynne a deep root may get,If so be they are in Somer set:Their Conyngs mark thou; for I have been told,They assassine when younge, and poison when old.Root out these Carrots, O thou, whose nameis backwards and forwards always the same;And keep thee close to thee always that nameWhich backwards and forwards is almost the same.And, England, wouldst thou be happy still,Burn those Carrots under a Hill.
Ireland till it was brought in by Lord Chesterfield in 1752, was thenObserved in most parts of Europe. The bishop set out from England theLatter end of December, O. S.; and on his arrival at Utrecht, by the
Words in this poem
- swede n.
- A native or inhabitant of Sweden. [Cf. G. Schwede.]
- 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,]
- windsor n.
- A town in Berkshire, England. Windsor bean. (Bot.) See under Bean.
- bristol n.
- A seaport city in the west of England. Bristol board, a kind of fine pasteboard, made with a smooth but usually unglazed surface.
- 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.]
- groats n.
- Dried grain, as oats or wheat, hulled and broken or crushed; in high milling, cracked fragments of wheat larger than grits. Embden groats, crushed oats. [OE. grot, AS. gratan; akin to Icel. grautr porridge, and to E. gritt, grout. See Grout.]
- spight n.
- A woodpecker. See Speight.
- harpy n.
- A fabulous winged monster, ravenous and filthy, having the face of a woman and the body of a vulture, with long claws, and the face pale with hunger. Some writers mention two, others three. [F. harpie, L. harpyia, Gr. Rapacious.]
- pardie adv.
- Certainly; surely; truly; verily; -- originally an oath. [F. pardi, for par Dieu by God.]
- alack interj.
- An exclamation expressive of sorrow. [Prob. from ah! lack! OE. lak loss, failure, misfortune. See Lack.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Windsor Prophecy 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 Windsor Prophecy, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/the-windsor-prophecy.html, id L25682.
Form and metre
The Windsor Prophecy is 29 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 83% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 --AABBCCDDEE-BFFDDGGHHHHII bob · fob · yearA · cheerA · beB · countreeB · birdC · wordC · witD · slitD · fourE · moreE · day · seaB · understondF · northumberlondF · getD · setD · toldG · oldG · nameH · sameH · nameH · sameH · stillI · hillI
- 2 -AA then · theA · theA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When a holy black Swede, the son of Bob, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| With a saint at his chin and a seal at his fob, | 12 | ············ |
| Shall not see one New-Years-day in that year, | 10 | ·········· |
| Then let old England make good cheer: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Windsor and Bristol then shall be | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Joined together in the Low-countree. | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| Then shall the tall black Daventry Bird | 9 | ········· |
| Speak against peace right many a word; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And some shall admire his coneying wit, | 9 | ···˘/·/˘· |
| For many good groats his tongue shall slit. | 8 | ·/······ |
| But spight of the Harpy that crawls on all four, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| There shall be peace, pardie, and war no more | 10 | ·········· |
| But England must cry alack and well-a-day, | 11 | ·/˘··˘/···· |
| If the stick be taken from the dead sea. | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| And, dear Englond, if ought I understond, | 10 | ·········· |
| Beware of Carrots from Northumberlond. | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Carrots sown Thynne a deep root may get, | 9 | /˘······· |
| If so be they are in Somer set: | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Their Conyngs mark thou; for I have been told, | 10 | ·········· |
| They assassine when younge, and poison when old. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Root out these Carrots, O thou, whose name | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| is backwards and forwards always the same; | 10 | ·/˘·/˘/˘·· |
| And keep thee close to thee always that name | 10 | ······/··· |
| Which backwards and forwards is almost the same. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/··· |
| And, England, wouldst thou be happy still, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Burn those Carrots under a Hill. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Ireland till it was brought in by Lord Chesterfield in 1752, was then | 15 | /˘·······/˘···· |
| Observed in most parts of Europe. The bishop set out from England the | 17 | ˘/····/˘·/˘···/˘· |
| Latter end of December, O. S.; and on his arrival at Utrecht, by the | 20 | /˘··˘/˘·····˘/˘····· |
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.