To Dr. Sheridan, 1718
Delany reports it, and he has a shrewd tongue,That we both act the part of the clown and cow-dung;We lie cramming ourselves, and are ready to burst,Yet still are no wiser than we were at first.
Pudet haec opprobria, I freely must tell ye,Et dici potuisse, et non potuisse refelli.Though Delany advised you to plague me no longer,You reply and rejoin like Hoadly of Bangor;I must now, at one sitting, pay off my old score;How many to answer? One, two, three, or four,But, because the three former are long ago past,I shall, for method-sake, begin with the last.You treat me like a boy that knocks down his foe,Who, ere t'other gets up, demands the rising blow.Yet I know a young rogue, that, thrown flat on the field,Would, as he lay under, cry out, Sirrah! yield.So the French, when our generals soundly did pay them,Went triumphant to church, and sang stoutly, Te Deum.So the famous Tom Leigh, when quite run a-ground,Comes off by out-laughing the company round:In every vile pamphlet you'll read the same fancies,Having thus overthrown all our farther advances.My offers of peace you ill understood;Friend Sheridan, when will you know your own good?'Twas to teach you in modester language your duty;For, were you a dog, I could not be rude t'ye;As a good quiet soul, who no mischief intendsTo a quarrelsome fellow, cries, Let us be friends.But we like Antæus and Hercules fight,The oftener you fall, the oftener you write:And I'll use you as he did that overgrown clown,I'll first take you up, and then take you down;And, 'tis your own case, for you never can woundThe worst dunce in your school, till he's heaved from the ground.
Words in this poem
- shrewd a.
- Inclining to shrew; disposing to curse or scold; hence, vicious; malicious; evil; wicked; mischievous; vexatious; rough; unfair; shrewish. [Originally the p. p. of shrew, v.t.]
- rejoin v. t.
- To join again; to unite after separation. [F. rejoindre; pref. re- re- + joindre to join. See Join, and cf. Rejoinder.]
- 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,]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- stoutly adv.
- In a stout manner; lustily; boldly; obstinately; as, he stoutly defended himself.
- pamphlet n.
- A writing; a book. Testament of love. [OE. pamflet, pamfilet, paunflet, possibly fr. OF. palme the palm of the hand, F. paume (see Palm) + OF. fueillet a leaf, dim. of fueil, m., F. feuille, f., fr. ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Dr. Sheridan, 1718 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 Dr. Sheridan, 1718, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/to-dr-sheridan-1718.html, id L09385.
Form and metre
To Dr. Sheridan, 1718 is 34 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.3 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 6% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic 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 AABB tongueA · dungA · burstB · firstB
- 2 ---AAABBCCDD--EE--FF--GGHHIIEE ye · refelli · longer · bangorA · scoreA · fourA · pastB · lastB · foeC · blowC · fieldD · yieldD · them · deum · groundE · roundE · fancies · advances · understoodF · goodF · duty · t'ye · intendsG · friendsG · fightH · writeH · clownI · downI · woundE · groundE
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Delany reports it, and he has a shrewd tongue, | 12 | /˘˘˘/······· |
| That we both act the part of the clown and cow-dung; | 12 | ············ |
| We lie cramming ourselves, and are ready to burst, | 12 | ··/˘˘/··/˘·· |
| Yet still are no wiser than we were at first. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Pudet haec opprobria, I freely must tell ye, | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| Et dici potuisse, et non potuisse refelli. | 12 | ············ |
| Though Delany advised you to plague me no longer, | 13 | ·/˘˘˘/·····/˘ |
| You reply and rejoin like Hoadly of Bangor; | 12 | ·˘/·˘/····/˘ |
| I must now, at one sitting, pay off my old score; | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| How many to answer? One, two, three, or four, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| But, because the three former are long ago past, | 12 | ·····/˘··˘/· |
| I shall, for method-sake, begin with the last. | 11 | ···/˘·˘/··· |
| You treat me like a boy that knocks down his foe, | 11 | ··········· |
| Who, ere t'other gets up, demands the rising blow. | 13 | ··˘/˘··˘/·/˘· |
| Yet I know a young rogue, that, thrown flat on the field, | 12 | ············ |
| Would, as he lay under, cry out, Sirrah! yield. | 11 | ········/˘· |
| So the French, when our generals soundly did pay them, | 12 | ····//˘/˘··· |
| Went triumphant to church, and sang stoutly, Te Deum. | 12 | ·˘/˘····/˘·· |
| So the famous Tom Leigh, when quite run a-ground, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Comes off by out-laughing the company round: | 11 | ····/˘·/˘˘· |
| In every vile pamphlet you'll read the same fancies, | 13 | ·/˘˘·/˘····/˘ |
| Having thus overthrown all our farther advances. | 13 | /˘··˘/·//˘˘/˘ |
| My offers of peace you ill understood; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Friend Sheridan, when will you know your own good? | 11 | ·/˘˘······· |
| 'Twas to teach you in modester language your duty; | 13 | ········/˘·/˘ |
| For, were you a dog, I could not be rude t'ye; | 11 | ··········· |
| As a good quiet soul, who no mischief intends | 12 | ···/˘···/˘˘/ |
| To a quarrelsome fellow, cries, Let us be friends. | 12 | ··/˘˘/˘····· |
| But we like Antæus and Hercules fight, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| The oftener you fall, the oftener you write: | 12 | ·/˘˘···/˘˘·· |
| And I'll use you as he did that overgrown clown, | 12 | ·········˘/· |
| I'll first take you up, and then take you down; | 10 | ·········· |
| And, 'tis your own case, for you never can wound | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| The worst dunce in your school, till he's heaved from the ground. | 12 | ············ |
Notes from the edition 2
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Stanza 2, line 4 Bishop of Bangor. For an account of him, see "Prose Works," v, 326.--W. E. B.
- Stanza 2, line 15 Frequently mentioned by Swift in the Journal to Stella, "Prose Works," ii, especially p. 404.--W. E. B.
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