To an Agreeable Young Lady, but Extremely Lean. 1730
Death went upon a solemn dayAt Pluto's hall his court to pay;The phantom having humbly kiss'dHis grisly monarch's sooty fist,Presented him the weekly billsOf doctors, fevers, plagues, and pills.Pluto, observing since the peaceThe burial article decrease,And vex'd to see affairs miscarry,Declared in council Death must marry;Vow'd he no longer could supportOld bachelors about his court;The interest of his realm had needThat Death should get a numerous breed;Young deathlings, who, by practice madeProficient in their father's trade,With colonies might stock aroundHis large dominions under ground.A consult of coquettes belowWas call'd, to rig him out a beau;From her own head Megaera takesA periwig of twisted snakes:Which in the nicest fashion curl'd,(Like toupees of this upper world)With flower of sulphur powder'd well,That graceful on his shoulders fell;An adder of the sable kindIn line direct hung down behind:The owl, the raven, and the bat,Clubb'd for a feather to his hat:His coat, a usurer's velvet pall,Bequeath'd to Pluto, corpse and all.But, loath his person to exposeBare, like a carcass pick'd by crows,A lawyer, o'er his hands and faceStuck artfully a parchment case.No new flux'd rake show'd fairer skin;Nor Phyllis after lying in.With snuff was fill'd his ebon box,Of shin-bones rotted by the pox.Nine spirits of blaspheming fops,With aconite anoint his chops;And give him words of dreadful sounds,G--d d--n his blood! and b--d and w--ds!'Thus furnish'd out, he sent his trainTo take a house in Warwick-lane:The faculty, his humble friends,A complimental message sends:Their president in scarlet gownHarangued, and welcomed him to town.But Death had business to dispatch;His mind was running on his match.And hearing much of Daphne's fame,His majesty of terrors came,Fine as a colonel of the guards,To visit where she sat at cards;She, as he came into the room,Thought him Adonis in his bloom.And now her heart with pleasure jumps,She scarce remembers what is trumps;For such a shape of skin and boneWas never seen except her own.Charm'd with his eyes, and chin, and snout,Her pocket-glass drew slily out;And grew enamour'd with her phiz,As just the counterpart of his.She darted many a private glance,And freely made the first advance;Was of her beauty grown so vain,She doubted not to win the swain;Nothing she thought could sooner gain him,Than with her wit to entertain him.She ask'd about her friends below;This meagre fop, that batter'd beau;Whether some late departed toastsHad got gallants among the ghosts?If Chloe were a sharper stillAs great as ever at quadrille?(The ladies there must needs be rooks,For cards, we know, are Pluto's books.)If Florimel had found her love,For whom she hang'd herself above?How oft a-week was kept a ballBy Proserpine at Pluto's hall?She fancied those Elysian shadesThe sweetest place for masquerades;How pleasant on the banks of Styx,To troll it in a coach and six!What pride a female heart inflames?How endless are ambition's aims:Cease, haughty nymph; the Fates decreeDeath must not be a spouse for thee;For, when by chance the meagre shadeUpon thy hand his finger laid,Thy hand as dry and cold as lead,His matrimonial spirit fled;He felt about his heart a damp,That quite extinguished Cupid's lamp:Away the frighted spectre scuds,And leaves my lady in the suds.
Words in this poem 25
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- humbly adv.
- With humility; lowly.
- burial n.
- A grave; a tomb; a place of sepulture. [OE. buriel, buriels, grave, tomb, AS. byrgels, fr. byrgan to bury, and akin to OS. burgisli sepulcher.]
- miscarry v. i.
- To carry, or go, wrong; to fail of reaching a destination, or fail of the intended effect; to be unsuccessful; to suffer defeat.
- consult n.
- The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation; also, the result of consulation; determination; decision.
- periwig n.
- A headdress of false hair, usually covering the whole head, and representing the natural hair; a wig. [OE. perrwige, perwicke, corrupt. fr. F. perruque; cf. OD. peruyk, from French. See Peruke, and cf. Wig.]
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- loath a.
- Hateful; odious; disliked. [OE. looth, loth, AS. la hostile, odious; akin to OS. l, G. leid, Icel. lei, Sw. led, G. leiden to suffer, OHG. lidan to suffer, go, cf. AS. li to go, Goth. leip]
- carcass n.
- A dead body, whether of man or beast; a corpse; now commonly the dead body of a beast. [F. carcasse, fr. It. carcassa, fr. L. caro flesh + capsa chest, box, case. Cf. Carnal, Case a sheath.]
- ebon a.
- Consisting of ebony.
- chops n.
- The jaws; also, the fleshy parts about the mouth. [See Chop a jaw.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- phiz n.
- The face or visage. [Contr. fr. physiognomy.]
- meagre a.
- Destitue of, or having little, flesh; lean. [OE. merge, F. maigre, L. macer; akin to D. & G. mager, Icel. magr, and prob. to Gr. Emaciate, Maigre.]
- quadrille n.
- A dance having five figures, in common time, four couples of dancers being in each set. [F. quadrille, n. fem., fr. Sp. cuadrilla meeting of four or more persons or It. quadriglia a band of soldiers, a sort of dance; dim. fr. L. quadra a square, fr.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- elysian a.
- Pertaining, or the abode of the blessed after death; hence, yielding the highest pleasures; exceedingly delightful; beatific. [L. Elysius, fr. Elysium.]
- styx n.
- The principal river of the lower world, which had to be crossed in passing to the regions of the dead.
- troll n.
- A supernatural being, often represented as of diminutive size, but sometimes as a giant, and fabled to inhabit caves, hills, and like places; a witch. Troll flower. (Bot.) Same as Globeflower (a). [Icel. troll. Cf. Droll, Trull.]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- spouse v. t.
- To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
- spectre n.
- Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
- suds n.
- Water impregnated with soap, esp. when worked up into bubbles and froth. In the suds, in turmoil or difficulty. Beau. & Fl. [Akin to sodden, seethe. See Seethe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To an Agreeable Young Lady, but Extremely Lean. 1730 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, To an Agreeable Young Lady, but Extremely Lean. 1730, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/to-an-agreeable-young-lady-but-extremely-lean-1730.html, id L09248.
Form and metre
To an Agreeable Young Lady, but Extremely Lean. 1730 is 100 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 2 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 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXXYYZZaabbccddeeffgghhiijjkkllmmnnooppqqrrssttuuvvwwxx dayA · payA · kiss'dB · fistB · billsC · pillsC · peaceD · decreaseD · miscarryE · marryE · supportF · courtF · needG · breedG · madeH · tradeH · aroundI · groundI · belowJ · beauJ · takesK · snakesK · curl'dL · worldL · wellM · fellM · kindN · behindN · batO · hatO · pallP · allP · exposeQ · crowsQ · faceR · caseR · skinS · inS · boxT · poxT · fopsU · chopsU · soundsV · — · trainW · laneW · friendsX · sendsX · gownY · townY · dispatchZ · matchZ · famea · camea · guardsb · cardsb · roomc · bloomc · jumpsd · trumpsd · bonee · owne · snoutf · outf · phizg · hisg · glanceh · advanceh · vaini · swaini · himj · himj · belowk · beauk · toastsl · ghostsl · stillm · quadrillem · rooksn · booksn · loveo · aboveo · ballp · hallp · shadesq · masqueradesq · styxr · sixr · inflamess · aimss · decreet · theet · shadeu · laidu · leadv · fledv · dampw · lampw · scudsx · sudsx
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Death went upon a solemn day | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| At Pluto's hall his court to pay; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The phantom having humbly kiss'd | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| His grisly monarch's sooty fist, | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| Presented him the weekly bills | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Of doctors, fevers, plagues, and pills. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Pluto, observing since the peace | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| The burial article decrease, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| And vex'd to see affairs miscarry, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Declared in council Death must marry; | 9 | ˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Vow'd he no longer could support | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Old bachelors about his court; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The interest of his realm had need | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That Death should get a numerous breed; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Young deathlings, who, by practice made | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Proficient in their father's trade, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| With colonies might stock around | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| His large dominions under ground. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| A consult of coquettes below | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Was call'd, to rig him out a beau; | 8 | ········ |
| From her own head Megaera takes | 8 | ········ |
| A periwig of twisted snakes: | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Which in the nicest fashion curl'd, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| (Like toupees of this upper world) | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| With flower of sulphur powder'd well, | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| That graceful on his shoulders fell; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An adder of the sable kind | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In line direct hung down behind: | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The owl, the raven, and the bat, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Clubb'd for a feather to his hat: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His coat, a usurer's velvet pall, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Bequeath'd to Pluto, corpse and all. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| But, loath his person to expose | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Bare, like a carcass pick'd by crows, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A lawyer, o'er his hands and face | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Stuck artfully a parchment case. | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| No new flux'd rake show'd fairer skin; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor Phyllis after lying in. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With snuff was fill'd his ebon box, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of shin-bones rotted by the pox. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nine spirits of blaspheming fops, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With aconite anoint his chops; | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| And give him words of dreadful sounds, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| G--d d--n his blood! and b--d and w--ds!' | 13 | ··········/˘· |
| Thus furnish'd out, he sent his train | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To take a house in Warwick-lane: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The faculty, his humble friends, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| A complimental message sends: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their president in scarlet gown | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Harangued, and welcomed him to town. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| But Death had business to dispatch; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| His mind was running on his match. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And hearing much of Daphne's fame, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His majesty of terrors came, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Fine as a colonel of the guards, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To visit where she sat at cards; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| She, as he came into the room, | 8 | ········ |
| Thought him Adonis in his bloom. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And now her heart with pleasure jumps, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She scarce remembers what is trumps; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| For such a shape of skin and bone | 8 | ········ |
| Was never seen except her own. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Charm'd with his eyes, and chin, and snout, | 8 | ········ |
| Her pocket-glass drew slily out; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And grew enamour'd with her phiz, | 8 | ········ |
| As just the counterpart of his. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She darted many a private glance, | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| And freely made the first advance; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Was of her beauty grown so vain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She doubted not to win the swain; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nothing she thought could sooner gain him, | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
| Than with her wit to entertain him. | 9 | ······˘/· |
| She ask'd about her friends below; | 8 | ········ |
| This meagre fop, that batter'd beau; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whether some late departed toasts | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Had got gallants among the ghosts? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| If Chloe were a sharper still | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| As great as ever at quadrille? | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| (The ladies there must needs be rooks, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For cards, we know, are Pluto's books.) | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| If Florimel had found her love, | 8 | ········ |
| For whom she hang'd herself above? | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| How oft a-week was kept a ball | 8 | ········ |
| By Proserpine at Pluto's hall? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She fancied those Elysian shades | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The sweetest place for masquerades; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| How pleasant on the banks of Styx, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To troll it in a coach and six! | 8 | ········ |
| What pride a female heart inflames? | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| How endless are ambition's aims: | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Cease, haughty nymph; the Fates decree | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Death must not be a spouse for thee; | 8 | ········ |
| For, when by chance the meagre shade | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Upon thy hand his finger laid, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy hand as dry and cold as lead, | 8 | ········ |
| His matrimonial spirit fled; | 8 | ··˘/˘˘/· |
| He felt about his heart a damp, | 8 | ········ |
| That quite extinguished Cupid's lamp: | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Away the frighted spectre scuds, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| And leaves my lady in the suds. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 3
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Line 21 Megaera, one of three Furies, beautifully described by Virgil, "Aeneid," xii, 846.--. W. E. B.
- Line 24 Periwigs with long tails.
- Line 46 Where the College of Physicians was situated at that time. See Cunningham's "Handbook of London."--W. E. B.
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