To Love
In all I wish, how happy should I be,Thou grand Deluder, were it not for thee!So weak thou art, that fools thy power despise;And yet so strong, thou triumph'st o'er the wise.Thy traps are laid with such peculiar art,They catch the cautious, let the rash depart.Most nets are fill'd by want of thought and careBut too much thinking brings us to thy snare;Where, held by thee, in slavery we stay,And throw the pleasing part of life away.But, what does most my indignation move,Discretion! thou wert ne'er a friend to Love:Thy chief delight is to defeat those arts,By which he kindles mutual flames in hearts;While the blind loitering God is at his play,Thou steal'st his golden pointed darts away:Those darts which never fail; and in their steadConvey'st malignant arrows tipt with lead:The heedless God, suspecting no deceits,Shoots on, and thinks he has done wondrous feats;But the poor nymph, who feels her vitals burn,And from her shepherd can find no return,Laments, and rages at the power divine,When, curst Discretion! all the fault was thine:Cupid and Hymen thou hast set at odds,And bred such feuds between those kindred gods,That Venus cannot reconcile her sons;When one appears, away the other runs.The former scales, wherein he used to poiseLove against love, and equal joys with joys,Are now fill'd up with avarice and pride,Where titles, power, and riches, still subside.Then, gentle Venus, to thy father run,And tell him, how thy children are undone:Prepare his bolts to give one fatal blow,And strike Discretion to the shades below.
Words in this poem
- deluder n.
- One who deludes; a deceiver; an impostor.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- discretion n.
- Disjunction; separation. Mede. [F. discrétion, L. discretio separation, difference, discernment, fr. discernere, discretum. See Discreet, Discern.]
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- vitals n.
- Organs that are necessary for life; more especially, the heart, lungs, and brain.
- curst a.
- Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- hymen n.
- A fold of muscous membrane often found at the orifice of the vagina; the vaginal membrane.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- odds n.
- Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
- avarice n.
- An excessive or inordinate desire of gain; greediness after wealth; covetousness; cupidity. [F. avaritia, fr. avarus avaricious, prob. fr. av to covert, fr. a root av to satiate one's self: cf. Gr. av to satiate one's self, rejoice, protect.]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Love 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 Love, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/to-love.html, id L09229.
Form and metre
To Love is 36 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRR beA · theeA · despiseB · wiseB · artC · departC · careD · snareD · stayE · awayE · moveF · loveF · artsG · heartsG · playH · awayH · steadI · leadI · deceitsJ · featsJ · burnK · returnK · divineL · thineL · oddsM · godsM · sonsN · runsN · poiseO · joysO · prideP · subsideP · runQ · undoneQ · blowR · belowR
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In all I wish, how happy should I be, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thou grand Deluder, were it not for thee! | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| So weak thou art, that fools thy power despise; | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| And yet so strong, thou triumph'st o'er the wise. | 9 | ········· |
| Thy traps are laid with such peculiar art, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| They catch the cautious, let the rash depart. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Most nets are fill'd by want of thought and care | 10 | ·········· |
| But too much thinking brings us to thy snare; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Where, held by thee, in slavery we stay, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| And throw the pleasing part of life away. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| But, what does most my indignation move, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Discretion! thou wert ne'er a friend to Love: | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Thy chief delight is to defeat those arts, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| By which he kindles mutual flames in hearts; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| While the blind loitering God is at his play, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thou steal'st his golden pointed darts away: | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Those darts which never fail; and in their stead | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Convey'st malignant arrows tipt with lead: | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| The heedless God, suspecting no deceits, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Shoots on, and thinks he has done wondrous feats; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But the poor nymph, who feels her vitals burn, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And from her shepherd can find no return, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Laments, and rages at the power divine, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘/ |
| When, curst Discretion! all the fault was thine: | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Cupid and Hymen thou hast set at odds, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And bred such feuds between those kindred gods, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That Venus cannot reconcile her sons; | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| When one appears, away the other runs. | 10 | ··˘/˘/·/˘· |
| The former scales, wherein he used to poise | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Love against love, and equal joys with joys, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Are now fill'd up with avarice and pride, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Where titles, power, and riches, still subside. | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Then, gentle Venus, to thy father run, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And tell him, how thy children are undone: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Prepare his bolts to give one fatal blow, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| And strike Discretion to the shades below. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
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.