The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1Swift, Jonathan
General
The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1
Swift, Jonathan
Poetry
Dick left a pattern few will copy after:
Then, reader, pray shed some tears of salt water;
For so sad a tale is no subject of laughter.
Meath smiles for the jointure, though gotten so late;
The son laughs, that got the hard-gotten estate;
And Cuffe[3] grins, for getting the Alicant plate.
Here quiet they lie, in hopes to rise one day,
Both solemnly put in this hole on a Sunday,
And here rest----_sic transit gloria mundi_!
[Footnote 1: Of Kilbrue, in the county of Meath.--_F._]
[Footnote 2: Dorothy, dowager of Edward, Earl of Meath. She was married
to the general in 1716, and died 10th April, 1728. Her husband survived
her but two days.--_F_.
The Dolly of this epitaph is the same lady whom Swift satirized in
his "Conference between Sir Harry Pierce's Chariot and Mrs. Dorothy
Stopford's Chair." See _ante_, p.85.--_W. E. B._]
[Footnote 3: John Cuffe, of Desart, Esq., married the general's eldest
daughter.--_F._]
VERSES ON I KNOW NOT WHAT
My latest tribute here I send,
With this let your collection end.
Thus I consign you down to fame
A character to praise or blame:
And if the whole may pass for true,
Contented rest, you have your due.
Give future time the satisfaction,
To leave one handle for detraction.
DR. SWIFT TO HIMSELF ON ST. CECILIA'S DAY
Grave Dean of St. Patrick's, how comes it to pass,
That you, who know music no more than an ass,
That you who so lately were writing of drapiers,
Should lend your cathedral to players and scrapers?
To act such an opera once in a year,
So offensive to every true Protestant ear,
With trumpets, and fiddles, and organs, and singing,
Will sure the Pretender and Popery bring in,
No Protestant Prelate, his lordship or grace,
Durst there show his right, or most reverend face:
How would it pollute their crosiers and rochets,
To listen to minims, and quavers, and crochets!
[The rest is wanting.]
AN ANSWER TO A FRIEND'S QUESTION
The furniture that best doth please
St. Patrick's Dean, good Sir, are these:
The knife and fork with which I eat;
And next the pot that boils the meat;
The next to be preferr'd, I think,
Is the glass in which I drink;
The shelves on which my books I keep
And the bed on which I sleep;
An antique elbow-chair between,
Big enough to hold the Dean;
And the stove that gives delight
In the cold bleak wintry night:
To these we add a thing below,
More for use reserved than show:
These are what the Dean do please;
All superfluous are but these.
EPITAPH
INSCRIBED ON A MARBLE TABLET, IN BERKELEY CHURCH, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
H. S. E.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account