Tim and the Fables
MY meaning will be best unravell'd,When I premise that Tim has travell'd.In Lucas's by chance there layThe Fables writ by Mr. Gay.Tim set the volume on a table,Read over here and there a fable:And found, as he the pages twirl'd,The monkey who had seen the world;(For Tonson had, to help the sale,Prefix'd a cut to every tale.)The monkey was completely drest,The beau in all his airs exprest.Tim, with surprise and pleasure staring,Ran to the glass, and then comparingHis own sweet figure with the print,Distinguish'd every feature in't,The twist, the squeeze, the rump, the fidge in all,Just as they look'd in the original."By --," says Tim, and let a f--t,"This graver understood his art.'Tis a true copy, I'll say that for't;I well remember when I sat for't.My very face, at first I knew it;Just in this dress the painter drew it."Tim, with his likeness deeply smitten,Would read what underneath was written,The merry tale, with moral grave;He now began to storm and rave:"The cursed villain! now I seeThis was a libel meant at me:These scribblers grow so bold of lateAgainst us ministers of state!Such Jacobites as he deserve--D--n me! I say they ought to starve."
Words in this poem
- graver n.
- One who graves; an engraver or a sculptor; one whose occupation is te cut letters or figures in stone or other hard material.
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tim and the Fables 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, Tim and the Fables, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/tim-and-the-fables.html, id L09339.
Form and metre
Tim and the Fables is 34 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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.
- 1 AABBCCDDCCEEFFGGHH------IIJJKKLL-- unravell'dA · travell'dA · layB · gayB · tableC · fableC · twirl'dD · worldD · saleC · taleC · drestE · exprestE · staringF · comparingF · printG · in'tG · allH · originalH · t · art · for't · for't · it · it · smittenI · writtenI · graveJ · raveJ · seeK · meK · lateL · stateL · deserve · starve
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MY meaning will be best unravell'd, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| When I premise that Tim has travell'd. | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| In Lucas's by chance there lay | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| The Fables writ by Mr. Gay. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Tim set the volume on a table, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Read over here and there a fable: | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And found, as he the pages twirl'd, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The monkey who had seen the world; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| (For Tonson had, to help the sale, | 8 | ········ |
| Prefix'd a cut to every tale.) | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The monkey was completely drest, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The beau in all his airs exprest. | 8 | ········ |
| Tim, with surprise and pleasure staring, | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Ran to the glass, and then comparing | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| His own sweet figure with the print, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Distinguish'd every feature in't, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| The twist, the squeeze, the rump, the fidge in all, | 10 | ·········· |
| Just as they look'd in the original. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| "By --," says Tim, and let a f--t, | 8 | ········ |
| "This graver understood his art. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| 'Tis a true copy, I'll say that for't; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| I well remember when I sat for't. | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| My very face, at first I knew it; | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Just in this dress the painter drew it." | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Tim, with his likeness deeply smitten, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Would read what underneath was written, | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| The merry tale, with moral grave; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He now began to storm and rave: | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| "The cursed villain! now I see | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| This was a libel meant at me: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| These scribblers grow so bold of late | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Against us ministers of state! | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Such Jacobites as he deserve-- | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| D--n me! I say they ought to starve." | 9 | ········· |
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.