Wood an Insect. 1725
By long observation I have understood,That two little vermin are kin to Will Wood.The first is an insect they call a wood-louse,That folds up itself in itself for a house,As round as a ball, without head, without tail,Enclosed cap à pie, in a strong coat of mail.And thus William Wood to my fancy appearsIn fillets of brass roll'd up to his ears;And over these fillets he wisely has thrown,To keep out of danger, a doublet of stone.The louse of the wood for a medicine is usedOr swallow'd alive, or skilfully bruised.And, let but our mother Hibernia contriveTo swallow Will Wood, either bruised or alive,She need be no more with the jaundice possest,Or sick of obstructions, and pains in her chest.The next is an insect we call a wood-worm,That lies in old wood like a hare in her form;With teeth or with claws it will bite or will scratch,And chambermaids christen this worm a death-watch;Because like a watch it always cries click;Then woe be to those in the house who are sick:For, as sure as a gun, they will give up the ghost,If the maggot cries click when it scratches the post;But a kettle of scalding hot-water injectedInfallibly cures the timber affected;The omen is broken, the danger is over;The maggot will die, and the sick will recover.Such a worm was Will Wood, when he scratch'd at the doorOf a governing statesman or favourite whore;The death of our nation he seem'd to foretell,And the sound of his brass we took for our knell.But now, since the Drapier has heartily maul'd him,I think the best thing we can do is to scald him;For which operation there's nothing more properThan the liquor he deals in, his own melted copper;Unless, like the Dutch, you rather would boilThis coiner of raps in a caldron of oil.Then choose which you please, and let each bring a fagot,For our fear's at an end with the death of the maggot.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- christen v. t.
- To baptize and give a Christian name to. [AS. cristnian to make a Christian, fr. cristen a Christian.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- maggot n.
- The footless larva of any fly. See Larval. [W. macai, pl. maceiod, magiod, a worn or grub; cf. magu to bread.]
- kettle n.
- A metallic vessel, with a wide mouth, often without a cover, used for heating and boiling water or other liguids. Kettle pins, ninepins; skittles. Shelton. [OE. ketel; cf. AS. cetel, cetil, cytel; akin to D. kjedel, G. kessel, OHG. chezzil, Icel. ketill, SW. kittel, Dan. kjedel, Goth. katils; all perh. fr. L. catill]
- infallibly adv.
- In an infallible manner; certainly; unfailingly; unerringly.
- whore n.
- A woman who practices unlawful sexual commerce with men, especially one who prostitutes her body for hire; a prostitute; a harlot. Wyclif. [OE. hore, AS. h; akin to D. hoer, hoere, G. hure, OHG. huora, huorra, Icel. h, Dan. hore, Sw. hora, Goth. h an adulterer, AS. h adultery, OHG. huor, and probabl]
- scald v. t.
- To burn with hot liquid or steam; to pain or injure by contact with, or imersion in, any hot fluid; as, to scald the hand. [OF. eschalder, eschauder, escauder, F. échauder, fr. L. excaldare; ex + caldus, calidus, warm, hot. See Ex, and Calderon.]
- coiner n.
- One who makes or stamps coin; a maker of money; -- usually, a maker of counterfeit money.
- caldron n.
- A large kettle or boiler of copper, brass, or iron. [OE. caldron, caudron, caudroun, OF. caudron, chauderon, F. chaudron, an aug. of F. chaudière, LL. caldaria, fr. L. caldarius suitable for warming, fr. caldus, c]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Wood an Insect. 1725 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, Wood an Insect. 1725, in Cadenus and Vanessa, and Other Poems (1710–1745), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13621, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/swift-poems/wood-an-insect-1725.html, id L09328.
Form and metre
Wood an Insect. 1725 is 40 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.2 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTT understoodA · woodA · louseB · houseB · tailC · mailC · appearsD · earsD · thrownE · stoneE · usedF · bruisedF · contriveG · aliveG · possestH · chestH · wormI · formI · scratchJ · watchJ · clickK · sickK · ghostL · postL · injectedM · affectedM · overN · recoverN · doorO · whoreO · foretellP · knellP · himQ · himQ · properR · copperR · boilS · oilS · fagotT · maggotT
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 |
|---|---|---|
| By long observation I have understood, | 11 | ···˘/˘···˘/ |
| That two little vermin are kin to Will Wood. | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| The first is an insect they call a wood-louse, | 11 | ····/······ |
| That folds up itself in itself for a house, | 11 | ···˘/·˘/··· |
| As round as a ball, without head, without tail, | 11 | ··········· |
| Enclosed cap à pie, in a strong coat of mail. | 11 | ˘/˘········ |
| And thus William Wood to my fancy appears | 11 | ··/˘···/˘˘/ |
| In fillets of brass roll'd up to his ears; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And over these fillets he wisely has thrown, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| To keep out of danger, a doublet of stone. | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| The louse of the wood for a medicine is used | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Or swallow'd alive, or skilfully bruised. | 11 | ·/˘˘/·····˘ |
| And, let but our mother Hibernia contrive | 11 | ···//˘·/˘˘/ |
| To swallow Will Wood, either bruised or alive, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··˘/ |
| She need be no more with the jaundice possest, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Or sick of obstructions, and pains in her chest. | 11 | ···˘/˘····· |
| The next is an insect we call a wood-worm, | 11 | ····/······ |
| That lies in old wood like a hare in her form; | 11 | ··········· |
| With teeth or with claws it will bite or will scratch, | 11 | ··········· |
| And chambermaids christen this worm a death-watch; | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| Because like a watch it always cries click; | 10 | ······/··· |
| Then woe be to those in the house who are sick: | 11 | ··········· |
| For, as sure as a gun, they will give up the ghost, | 12 | ············ |
| If the maggot cries click when it scratches the post; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| But a kettle of scalding hot-water injected | 13 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| Infallibly cures the timber affected; | 11 | ˘/˘˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| The omen is broken, the danger is over; | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| The maggot will die, and the sick will recover. | 12 | ·/˘······˘/˘ |
| Such a worm was Will Wood, when he scratch'd at the door | 12 | ············ |
| Of a governing statesman or favourite whore; | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| The death of our nation he seem'd to foretell, | 11 | ···//˘···˘/ |
| And the sound of his brass we took for our knell. | 11 | ·········/· |
| But now, since the Drapier has heartily maul'd him, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| I think the best thing we can do is to scald him; | 12 | ············ |
| For which operation there's nothing more proper | 12 | ···˘/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Than the liquor he deals in, his own melted copper; | 13 | ··/˘·····/˘/˘ |
| Unless, like the Dutch, you rather would boil | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| This coiner of raps in a caldron of oil. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Then choose which you please, and let each bring a fagot, | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| For our fear's at an end with the death of the maggot. | 13 | ·/·········/˘ |
Notes from the edition 2
The notes to the Poems of Jonathan Swift, Volume II (Project Gutenberg #13621).
- Line 10 He was in jail for debt.
- Line 38 Counterfeit halfpence.
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