Laurel · Jonathan Swift · Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems

Verses on the Sudden Drying Up of St. Patrick's Well Near Trinity College, Dublin. 1726

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) · 1710–1745

iambic pentameter · heroic couplets · 102 lines · from Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems

By holy zeal inspired, and led by fame,To thee, once favourite isle, with joy I came;What time the Goth, the Vandal, and the Hun,Had my own native Italy o'errun.Ierne, to the world's remotest parts,Renown'd for valour, policy, and arts.Hither from Colchos, with the fleecy ore,Jason arrived two thousand years before.Thee, happy island, Pallas call'd her own,When haughty Britain was a land unknown:From thee, with pride, the Caledonians traceThe glorious founder of their kingly race:Thy martial sons, whom now they dare despise,Did once their land subdue and civilize;Their dress, their language, and the Scottish name,Confess the soil from whence the victors came.Well may they boast that ancient blood which runsWithin their veins, who are thy younger sons.A conquest and a colony from thee,The mother-kingdom left her children free;From thee no mark of slavery they felt:Not so with thee thy base invaders dealt;Invited here to vengeful Morrough's aid,Those whom they could not conquer they betray'd.Britain, by thee we fell, ungrateful isle!Not by thy valour, but superior guile:Britain, with shame, confess this land of mineFirst taught thee human knowledge and divine;My prelates and my students, sent from hence,Made your sons converts both to God and sense:Not like the pastors of thy ravenous breed,Who come to fleece the flocks, and not to feed.Wretched Ierne! with what grief I seeThe fatal changes time has made in thee!The Christian rites I introduced in vain:Lo! infidelity return'd again!Freedom and virtue in thy sons I found,Who now in vice and slavery are drown'd.By faith and prayer, this crosier in my hand,I drove the venom'd serpent from thy land:The shepherd in his bower might sleep or sing,Nor dread the adder's tooth, nor scorpion's sting.With omens oft I strove to warn thy swains,Omens, the types of thy impending chains.I sent the magpie from the British soil,With restless beak thy blooming fruit to spoil;To din thine ears with unharmonious clack,And haunt thy holy walls in white and black.What else are those thou seest in bishop's gear,Who crop the nurseries of learning here;Aspiring, greedy, full of senseless prate,Devour the church, and chatter to the state?As you grew more degenerate and base,I sent you millions of the croaking race;Emblems of insects vile, who spread their spawnThrough all thy land, in armour, fur, and lawn;A nauseous brood, that fills your senate walls,And in the chambers of your viceroy crawls!See, where that new devouring vermin runs,Sent in my anger from the land of Huns!With harpy-claws it undermines the ground,And sudden spreads a numerous offspring round.Th' amphibious tyrant, with his ravenous band,Drains all thy lakes of fish, of fruits thy land.Where is the holy well that bore my name?Fled to the fountain back, from whence it came!Fair Freedom's emblem once, which smoothly flows,And blessings equally on all bestows.Here, from the neighbouring nursery of arts,The students, drinking, raised their wit and parts;Here, for an age and more, improved their vein,Their Phoebus I, my spring their Hippocrene.Discouraged youths! now all their hopes must fail,Condemn'd to country cottages and ale;To foreign prelates make a slavish court,And by their sweat procure a mean support;Or, for the classics, read "The Attorney's Guide;"Collect excise, or wait upon the tide.Oh! had I been apostle to the Swiss,Or hardy Scot, or any land but this;Combined in arms, they had their foes defied,And kept their liberty, or bravely died;Thou still with tyrants in succession curst,The last invaders trampling on the first;Nor fondly hope for some reverse of fate,Virtue herself would now return too late.Not half thy course of misery is run,Thy greatest evils yet are scarce begun.Soon shall thy sons (the time is just at hand)Be all made captives in their native land;When for the use of no Hibernian born,Shall rise one blade of grass, one ear of corn;When shells and leather shall for money pass,Nor thy oppressing lords afford thee brass,But all turn leasers to that mongrel breed,Who, from thee sprung, yet on thy vitals feed;Who to yon ravenous isle thy treasures bear,And waste in luxury thy harvest there;For pride and ignorance a proverb grown,The jest of wits, and to the court unknown.I scorn thy spurious and degenerate line,And from this hour my patronage resign.

Words in this poem 30

isle v. t.: To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
fleecy a.: Covered with, made of, or resembling, a fleece.
pallas n.: Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
haughty a.: High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
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.]
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]
civilize v. t.: To reclaim from a savage state; to instruct in the rules and customs of civilization; to educate; to refine. [Cf. F. civilizer, fr.L. civilis civil. See Civil.]
vengeful a.: Vindictive; retributive; revengeful.
ungrateful a.: Not grateful; not thankful for favors; making no returns, or making ill return for kindness, attention, etc.; ingrateful. South.
infidelity n.: Want of faith or belief in some religious system; especially, a want of faith in, or disbelief of, the inspiration of the Scriptures, of the divine origin of Christianity. [L. infidelitas: cf. F. infidélité.]
crosier n.: The pastoral staff of a bishop (also of an archbishop, being the symbol of his office as a shepherd of the flock of God. [OE. rocer, croser, croyser, fr. croce crosier, OF. croce, croche, F. crosse, fr. LL. crocea, crocia, from the same German or Celtic sourse as F. croc hook; akin]
drove n.: A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
unharmonious a.: Inharmonious; unsymmetrical; also, unmusical; discordant.
clack v. i.: To make a sudden, sharp noise, or a succesion of such noises, as by striking an object, or by collision of parts; to rattle; to click. [Prob. of imitative origin; cf. F.claquer to clap, crack, D. klakken, MHG. klac crack, Ir. clagaim I make a noise, ring. Cf. Clack, n., Clatter, Click.]
aspiring a.: That aspires; as, an Aspiring mind.
armour n.: Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
vermin n.: An animal, in general. [OE. vermine, F. vermine, from L. vermis a worm; cf. LL. vermen a worm, L. verminosus full of worms. See Vermicular, Worm.]
harpy n.: A fabulous winged monster, ravenous and filthy, having the face of a woman and the body of a vulture, with long claws, and the face pale with hunger. Some writers mention two, others three. [F. harpie, L. harpyia, Gr. Rapacious.]
neighbouring a.: Living or being near; adjacent; as, the neighboring nations or countries.
nursery n.: The act of nursing. [Cf. F. nourricerie.]
phoebus n.: Apollo; the sun god.
hippocrene n.: A fountain on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, fabled to have burst forth when the ground was struck by the hoof of Pegasus. Also, its waters, which were supposed to impart poetic inspiration. Keats.
bravely adv.: In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
curst a.: Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
fondly adv.: Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
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]
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,]
hibernian a.: Of or pertaining to Hibernia, now Ireland; Irish. [L. Hibernia, Ireland.]
vitals n.: Organs that are necessary for life; more especially, the heart, lungs, and brain.
jest n.: A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Verses on the Sudden Drying Up of St. Patrick's Well Near Trinity College, Dublin. 1726 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, Verses on the Sudden Drying Up of St. Patrick's Well Near Trinity College, Dublin. 1726, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/verses-on-the-sudden-drying-up-of-st-patrick-s-well-near-trinity-college-dublin-1726.html, id L25698.

Form and metre

Verses on the Sudden Drying Up of St. Patrick's Well Near Trinity College, Dublin. 1726 is 102 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 89%).

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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWWXXYYZZaabbccddeeffgghhiijjkkllmmnnooppqqrrssttuuvvwwxxyy fame^A · came^A · hun^B · o'errun^B · parts^C · arts^C · ore^D · before^D · own^E · unknown^E · trace^F · race^F · despise^G · civilize^G · name^H · came^H · runs^I · sons^I · thee^J · free^J · felt^K · dealt^K · aid^L · betray'd^L · isle^M · guile^M · mine^N · divine^N · hence^O · sense^O · breed^P · feed^P · see^Q · thee^Q · vain^R · again^R · found^S · drown'd^S · hand^T · land^T · sing^U · sting^U · swains^V · chains^V · soil^W · spoil^W · clack^X · black^X · gear^Y · here^Y · prate^Z · state^Z · base^a · race^a · spawn^b · lawn^b · walls^c · crawls^c · runs^d · huns^d · ground^e · round^e · band^f · land^f · name^g · came^g · flows^h · bestows^h · artsⁱ · partsⁱ · vein^j · hippocrene^j · fail^k · ale^k · court^l · support^l · guide^m · tide^m · swissⁿ · thisⁿ · defied^o · died^o · curst^p · first^p · fate^q · late^q · run^r · begun^r · hand^s · land^s · born^t · corn^t · pass^u · brass^u · breed^v · feed^v · bear^w · there^w · grown^x · unknown^x · line^y · resign^y

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
By holy zeal inspired, and led by fame,	10	·/˘·˘/····
To thee, once favourite isle, with joy I came;	11	···········
What time the Goth, the Vandal, and the Hun,	10	·····/˘···
Had my own native Italy o'errun.	10	···/˘/˘˘··
Ierne, to the world's remotest parts,	8	····˘/˘·
Renown'd for valour, policy, and arts.	10	˘/·/˘/˘˘··
Hither from Colchos, with the fleecy ore,	10	/˘·····/˘·
Jason arrived two thousand years before.	10	/˘˘/·/˘···
Thee, happy island, Pallas call'd her own,	10	·/˘/˘·····
When haughty Britain was a land unknown:	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
From thee, with pride, the Caledonians trace	10	······˘/˘·
The glorious founder of their kingly race:	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Thy martial sons, whom now they dare despise,	10	·/˘·····˘/
Did once their land subdue and civilize;	10	····˘/·/˘·
Their dress, their language, and the Scottish name,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Confess the soil from whence the victors came.	10	˘/·····/˘·
Well may they boast that ancient blood which runs	10	·····/˘···
Within their veins, who are thy younger sons.	10	·······/˘·
A conquest and a colony from thee,	10	·/˘··/˘˘··
The mother-kingdom left her children free;	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
From thee no mark of slavery they felt:	10	·····/˘˘··
Not so with thee thy base invaders dealt;	10	······˘/˘·
Invited here to vengeful Morrough's aid,	10	˘/˘··/˘···
Those whom they could not conquer they betray'd.	10	·····/˘·˘/
Britain, by thee we fell, ungrateful isle!	10	/˘····˘/˘·
Not by thy valour, but superior guile:	10	···/˘·˘/˘·
Britain, with shame, confess this land of mine	10	/˘··˘/····
First taught thee human knowledge and divine;	10	···/˘/˘·˘/
My prelates and my students, sent from hence,	10	·/˘··/˘···
Made your sons converts both to God and sense:	10	···/˘·····
Not like the pastors of thy ravenous breed,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Who come to fleece the flocks, and not to feed.	10	··········
Wretched Ierne! with what grief I see	8	/˘······
The fatal changes time has made in thee!	10	·/˘/˘·····
The Christian rites I introduced in vain:	10	·/˘···˘/··
Lo! infidelity return'd again!	10	··˘/˘˘˘/˘/
Freedom and virtue in thy sons I found,	10	/˘·/˘·····
Who now in vice and slavery are drown'd.	10	·····/˘˘··
By faith and prayer, this crosier in my hand,	10	·····/˘···
I drove the venom'd serpent from thy land:	10	·····/˘···
The shepherd in his bower might sleep or sing,	10	·/˘··/····
Nor dread the adder's tooth, nor scorpion's sting.	10	···/˘··/˘·
With omens oft I strove to warn thy swains,	10	·/˘·······
Omens, the types of thy impending chains.	10	/˘····˘/˘·
I sent the magpie from the British soil,	10	···/···/˘·
With restless beak thy blooming fruit to spoil;	10	·/˘··/˘···
To din thine ears with unharmonious clack,	10	··········
And haunt thy holy walls in white and black.	10	···/˘·····
What else are those thou seest in bishop's gear,	10	·······/˘·
Who crop the nurseries of learning here;	10	···/˘˘·/˘·
Aspiring, greedy, full of senseless prate,	10	˘/˘/˘··/˘·
Devour the church, and chatter to the state?	10	˘/···/˘···
As you grew more degenerate and base,	10	····˘/˘···
I sent you millions of the croaking race;	10	···/˘··/˘·
Emblems of insects vile, who spread their spawn	10	/˘·/······
Through all thy land, in armour, fur, and lawn;	10	·····/˘···
A nauseous brood, that fills your senate walls,	10	·/˘····/˘·
And in the chambers of your viceroy crawls!	10	···/˘··/˘·
See, where that new devouring vermin runs,	10	····˘/˘/˘·
Sent in my anger from the land of Huns!	10	···/˘·····
With harpy-claws it undermines the ground,	10	·/˘···˘/··
And sudden spreads a numerous offspring round.	10	·/˘··/˘/··
Th' amphibious tyrant, with his ravenous band,	10	˘/˘/˘··/˘·
Drains all thy lakes of fish, of fruits thy land.	10	··········
Where is the holy well that bore my name?	10	···/˘·····
Fled to the fountain back, from whence it came!	10	···/˘·····
Fair Freedom's emblem once, which smoothly flows,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
And blessings equally on all bestows.	10	·/˘/˘˘··˘/
Here, from the neighbouring nursery of arts,	10	···/˘/˘˘··
The students, drinking, raised their wit and parts;	10	·/˘/˘·····
Here, for an age and more, improved their vein,	10	······˘/··
Their Phoebus I, my spring their Hippocrene.	10	·/˘····/˘˘
Discouraged youths! now all their hopes must fail,	10	˘/˘·······
Condemn'd to country cottages and ale;	10	˘/·/˘/˘˘··
To foreign prelates make a slavish court,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
And by their sweat procure a mean support;	10	····˘/··˘/
Or, for the classics, read "The Attorney's Guide;"	11	···/˘··˘/˘·
Collect excise, or wait upon the tide.	10	˘/˘/······
Oh! had I been apostle to the Swiss,	10	····˘/˘···
Or hardy Scot, or any land but this;	10	·/˘··/˘···
Combined in arms, they had their foes defied,	10	˘/······˘/
And kept their liberty, or bravely died;	10	···/˘˘·/˘·
Thou still with tyrants in succession curst,	10	···/˘·˘/˘·
The last invaders trampling on the first;	10	··˘/˘/˘···
Nor fondly hope for some reverse of fate,	10	·/˘···˘/··
Virtue herself would now return too late.	10	/˘˘/··˘/··
Not half thy course of misery is run,	10	·····/˘˘··
Thy greatest evils yet are scarce begun.	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
Soon shall thy sons (the time is just at hand)	10	··········
Be all made captives in their native land;	10	···/˘··/˘·
When for the use of no Hibernian born,	11	······˘/˘˘·
Shall rise one blade of grass, one ear of corn;	10	··········
When shells and leather shall for money pass,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Nor thy oppressing lords afford thee brass,	10	··˘/˘·˘/··
But all turn leasers to that mongrel breed,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Who, from thee sprung, yet on thy vitals feed;	10	·······/˘·
Who to yon ravenous isle thy treasures bear,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And waste in luxury thy harvest there;	10	···/˘˘·/˘·
For pride and ignorance a proverb grown,	10	···/˘˘·/˘·
The jest of wits, and to the court unknown.	10	········˘/
I scorn thy spurious and degenerate line,	10	···/˘·˘/˘·
And from this hour my patronage resign.	10	···/·/˘˘˘/

Notes from the edition 9

The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).

Line 4 Italy was not properly the native place of St. Patrick, but the place of his education, and whence he received his mission; and because he had his new birth there, by poetical license, and by scripture figure, our author calls that country his native Italy.--Dublin Edition.
Line 7 Orpheus, or the ancient author of the Greek poem on the Argonautic expedition, whoever he be, says, that Jason, who manned the ship Argos at Thessaly, sailed to Ireland. And Adrianus Junius says the same thing, in these lines: "Ilia ego sum Graiis, olim glacialis Ierne Dicta, et Jasoniae puppis bene cognita nautis."--Dublin Edition.
Line 10 Tacitus, comparing Ireland to Britain, says of the former: "Melius aditus portusque per commercia et negotiatores cogniti."--Agricola, xxiv.--W. E. B.
Line 11 Fordun, in his Scoti-Chronicon, Hector Boethius, Buchanan, and all the Scottish historians, agree that Fergus, son of Ferquard, King of Ireland, was the first King of Scotland, which country he subdued.--Scott.
Line 23 In the reign of Henry II, 1172, Dermot Macmorrogh, King of Leinster, having been expelled from his kingdom by Roderick, King of Connaught, sought and obtained the assistance of the English for the recovery of his dominions. See Hume's "History of England," vol. i, p. 380.--W. E. B.
Line 41 There are no snakes, vipers, or toads in Ireland; and even frogs were not known here till about the year 1700. The magpies came a short time before; and the Norway rats since.--Dublin Edition. These plagues are all alluded to in this and the subsequent stanzas.--Scott.
Line 69 The University of Dublin, called Trinity College, was founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1591.--Dublin Edition.
Line 94 Wood's ruinous project against the people of Ireland was supported by Sir Robert Walpole in 1724.--Dublin Edition.
Line 95 The absentees, who spent the income of their Irish estates, places, and pensions, in England.--Dublin Edition.

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.

More by Jonathan Swift

On Poetry: A Rhapsody, and Other Poems Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems