To the Citizens
And shall the Patriot who maintain'd your cause,From future ages only meet applause?Shall he, who timely rose t'his country's aid,By her own sons, her guardians, be betray'd?Did heathen virtues in your hearts reside,These wretches had been damn'd for parricide.Should you behold, whilst dreadful armies threatThe sure destruction of an injured state,Some hero, with superior virtue bless'd,Avert their rage, and succour the distress'd;Inspired with love of glorious liberty,Do wonders to preserve his country free;He like the guardian shepherd stands, and theyLike lions spoil'd of their expected prey,Each urging in his rage the deadly dart,Resolved to pierce the generous hero's heart;Struck with the sight, your souls would swell with grief,And dare ten thousand deaths to his relief,But, if the people he preserved should cry,He went too far, and he deserved to--die,Would not your soul such treachery detest,And indignation boil within your breast,Would not you wish that wretched state preserved,To feel the tenfold ruin they deserved?If, then, oppression has not quite subduedAt once your prudence and your gratitude,If you yourselves conspire not your undoing,And don't deserve, and won't draw down your ruin,If yet to virtue you have some pretence,If yet ye are not lost to common sense,Assist your patriot in your own defence;That stupid cant, "he went too far," despise,And know that to be brave is to be wise:Think how he struggled for your liberty,And give him freedom, whilst yourselves are free.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- parricide n.
- Properly, one who murders one's own father; in a wider sense, one who murders one's father or mother or any ancestor. [F., fr. L. parricida; pater father + caedere to kill. See Father, Homicide, and cf. Patricide.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- succour v. t.
- tiono run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want, or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; to relieve; as, to succor a besieged city. [OE. socouren, OF. sucurre, soucourre, secorre, F. secourir, L. succurrere, succursum, to run under, run to the aid of, help, succor; sub under + currere to run.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- detest v. t.
- To witness against; to denounce; to condemn. [L. detestare, detestatum, and detestari, to curse while calling a deity to witness, to execrate, detest; de + testari to be a witness, testify, testis a witness]
- undoing n.
- The reversal of what has been done.
- pretence n.
- The act of laying claim; the claim laid; assumption; pretension. [LL. praetensus, for L. praetentus, p. p. of praetendere. See Pretend, and cf. Tension.]
- defence n.
- The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. [F. défense, OF. defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. Fence.]
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Citizens 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 the Citizens, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/to-the-citizens.html, id L09379.
Form and metre
To the Citizens is 35 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 63% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 9% 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 --AABB--CC--DDEEFFGGHHIIJJ--KKKLL-- cause · applause · aidA · betray'dA · resideB · parricideB · threat · state · bless'dC · distress'dC · liberty · free · theyD · preyD · dartE · heartE · griefF · reliefF · cryG · dieG · detestH · breastH · preservedI · deservedI · subduedJ · gratitudeJ · undoing · ruin · pretenceK · senseK · defenceK · despiseL · wiseL · liberty · free
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 |
|---|---|---|
| And shall the Patriot who maintain'd your cause, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| From future ages only meet applause? | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Shall he, who timely rose t'his country's aid, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| By her own sons, her guardians, be betray'd? | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Did heathen virtues in your hearts reside, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| These wretches had been damn'd for parricide. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Should you behold, whilst dreadful armies threat | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| The sure destruction of an injured state, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Some hero, with superior virtue bless'd, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| Avert their rage, and succour the distress'd; | 10 | ˘/···/˘·˘/ |
| Inspired with love of glorious liberty, | 11 | ˘/···/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Do wonders to preserve his country free; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| He like the guardian shepherd stands, and they | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Like lions spoil'd of their expected prey, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Each urging in his rage the deadly dart, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Resolved to pierce the generous hero's heart; | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| Struck with the sight, your souls would swell with grief, | 10 | ·········· |
| And dare ten thousand deaths to his relief, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| But, if the people he preserved should cry, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| He went too far, and he deserved to--die, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Would not your soul such treachery detest, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| And indignation boil within your breast, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Would not you wish that wretched state preserved, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| To feel the tenfold ruin they deserved? | 10 | ···/·/˘·˘/ |
| If, then, oppression has not quite subdued | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| At once your prudence and your gratitude, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| If you yourselves conspire not your undoing, | 11 | ··˘/˘/··˘/˘ |
| And don't deserve, and won't draw down your ruin, | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| If yet to virtue you have some pretence, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| If yet ye are not lost to common sense, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Assist your patriot in your own defence; | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| That stupid cant, "he went too far," despise, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And know that to be brave is to be wise: | 10 | ·········· |
| Think how he struggled for your liberty, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| And give him freedom, whilst yourselves are free. | 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.