The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1
CONTENTS
The works of Jonathan Swift in prose and verse so mutually illustrate each other, that it was deemed indispensable, as a complement to the standard edition of the Prose Works, to issue a revised edition of the Poems, freed from the errors which had been allowed to creep into the text, and illustrated with fuller explanatory notes. My first care, therefore, in preparing the Poems for publication, was to collate them with the earliest and best editions available, and this I have done.
But, thanks to the diligence of the late John Forster, to whom every lover of Swift must confess the very greatest obligation, I have been able to do much more. I have been able to enrich this edition with some pieces not hitherto brought to light—notably, the original version of Baucis and Philemon, in addition to the version hitherto printed; the original version of the poem on Vanbrugh's House ; the verses entitled May Fair ; and numerous variations and corrections of the texts of nearly all the principal poems, due to Forster's collation of them with the transcripts made by Stella, which were found by him at Narford formerly the seat of Swift's friend, Sir Andrew Fountaine—see Forster's Life of Swift, of which, unfortunately, he lived to publish only the first volume. From Swift's own copy of the Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, 1727-32, with notes in his own handwriting, sold at auction last year, I was able to make several corrections of the poems contained in those four volumes, which serve to show how Swift laboured his works, and revised and improved them whenever he had an opportunity of doing so. It is a mistake to suppose that he was indifferent to literary fame: on the contrary, he kept some of his works in manuscript for years in order to perfect them for publication, of which The Tale of a Tub, Gulliver's Travels, and the Verses on his own Death are examples.
I am indebted to Miss Wilmot-Chetwode, of Wordbrooke, for the loan of a manuscript volume, from which I obtained some various readings. By the advice of Mr. Elrington Ball, I applied to the librarians of Trinity College and of the National Library, and from the latter I received a number of pieces; but I found that the harvest had already been reaped so fully, that there was nothing left to glean which could with certainty be ascribed to Swift. On the whole, I believe that this edition of the Poems will be found as complete as it is now possible to make it.
Jonathan Swift
THE POEMS OF JONATHAN SWIFT, D.D., VOLUME I
Edited By William Ernst Browning
London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.
1910
PREFACE
W. E. B.
INTRODUCTION
POEMS OF JONATHAN SWIFT
ODE TO DOCTOR WILLIAM SANCROFT[1]
LATE LORD BISHOP OF CANTERBURY
ODE TO THE HON. SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE
WRITTEN AT MOOR-PARK IN JUNE 1689
ODE TO KING WILLIAM
ON HIS SUCCESSES IN IRELAND
ODE TO THE ATHENIAN SOCIETY[1]
TO MR. CONGREVE
WRITTEN IN NOVEMBER, 1693
OCCASIONED BY SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE'S LATE ILLNESS AND RECOVERY
WRITTEN IN DECEMBER, 1693
WRITTEN IN A LADY'S IVORY TABLE-BOOK, 1698
MRS. FRANCES HARRIS'S PETITION, 1699
A BALLAD ON THE GAME OF TRAFFIC
WRITTEN AT THE CASTLE OF DUBLIN, 1699
A BALLAD TO THE TUNE OF THE CUT-PURSE[1]
WRITTEN IN AUGUST, 1702
THE DISCOVERY
THE PROBLEM,
THE DESCRIPTION OF A SALAMANDER, 1705
TO CHARLES MORDAUNT, EARL OF PETERBOROUGH[1]
ON THE UNION
ON MRS. BIDDY FLOYD;
OR, THE RECEIPT TO FORM A BEAUTY. 1707
THE REVERSE
APOLLO OUTWITTED
TO THE HONOURABLE MRS. FINCH,[1] UNDER HER NAME OF ARDELIA
ANSWER TO LINES FROM MAY FAIR[1]
NOW FIRST PUBLISHED
VANBRUGH'S HOUSE[1]
BUILT FROM THE RUINS OF WHITEHALL THAT WAS BURNT, 1703
VANBRUGH'S HOUSE,[1]
BUILT FROM THE RUINS OF WHITEHALL THAT WAS BURNT, 1703
BAUCIS AND PHILEMON[1]
BAUCIS AND PHILEMON[1]
A GRUB-STREET ELEGY
ON THE SUPPOSED DEATH OF PARTRIDGE THE ALMANACK MAKER.[1] 1708
THE EPITAPH
A DESCRIPTION OF THE MORNING
WRITTEN IN APRIL 1709, AND FIRST PRINTED IN "THE TATLER"[1]
A DESCRIPTION OF A CITY SHOWER[1]
WRITTEN IN OCT., 1710; AND FIRST PRINTED IN "THE TATLER," NO. 238
ON THE LITTLE HOUSE BY THE CHURCHYARD OF CASTLENOCK
1710
A TOWN ECLOGUE. 1710[1]
A CONFERENCE
BETWEEN SIR HARRY PIERCE'S CHARIOT, AND MRS. D. STOPFORD'S CHAIR [1]
TO LORD HARLEY, ON HIS MARRIAGE[1]
OCTOBER 31, 1713
PHYLLIS; OR, THE PROGRESS OF LOVE, 1716
HORACE, BOOK IV, ODE IX
ADDRESSED TO ARCHBISHOP KING,[1] 1718
TO MR. DELANY,[1]
OCT. 10, 1718 NINE IN THE MORNING
AN ELEGY[1]
EPITAPH ON THE SAME
TO MRS. HOUGHTON OF BOURMONT,
ON PRAISING HER HUSBAND TO DR. SWIFT
VERSES
WRITTEN ON A WINDOW, AT THE DEANERY HOUSE, ST. PATRICK'S
ON ANOTHER WINDOW[1]
APOLLO TO THE DEAN.[1] 1720
NEWS FROM PARNASSUS
APOLLO'S EDICT
OCCASIONED BY "NEWS FROM PARNASSUS"
THE DESCRIPTION OF AN IRISH FEAST
THE PROGRESS OF BEAUTY. 1719[1]
THE PROGRESS OF MARRIAGE[1]
THE PROGRESS OF POETRY
THE SOUTH-SEA PROJECT. 1721
FABULA CANIS ET UMBRAE
A PROLOGUE
BILLET TO A COMPANY OF PLAYERS SENT WITH THE PROLOGUE
EPILOGUE[1]
TO MR. HOPPY'S BENEFIT-NIGHT, AT SMOCK-ALLEY
PROLOGUE[1]
EPILOGUE
ANSWER
ON GAULSTOWN HOUSE
THE COUNTRY LIFE
PART OF A SUMMER SPENT AT GAULSTOWN HOUSE,
THE SEAT OF GEORGE ROCHFORT, ESQ.
DR. DELANY'S VILLA[1]
ON ONE OF THE WINDOWS AT DELVILLE
CARBERIAE RUPES
IN COMITATU CORGAGENSI. SCRIPSIT JUN. ANN. DOM. 1723
CARBERY ROCKS
TRANSLATED BY DR. DUNKIN
COPY OF THE BIRTH-DAY VERSES
ON MR. FORD[1]
ON DREAMS
AN IMITATION OF PETRONIUS
SENT BY DR. DELANY TO DR. SWIFT,
IN ORDER TO BE ADMITTED TO SPEAK TO HIM WHEN HE WAS DEAF. 1724
THE ANSWER
A QUIET LIFE AND A GOOD NAME
TO A FRIEND WHO MARRIED A SHREW. 1724
A PASTORAL DIALOGUE
DESIRE AND POSSESSION 1727
CLEVER TOM CLINCH GOING TO BE HANGED. 1727
DR. SWIFT TO MR. POPE, WHILE HE WAS WRITING THE "DUNCIAD"
WRITTEN AT LONDON
HELTER SKELTER; OR, THE HUE AND CRY AFTER THE ATTORNEYS
UPON THEIR RIDING THE CIRCUIT
THE PUPPET-SHOW
THE JOURNAL OF A MODERN LADY
IN A LETTER TO A PERSON OF QUALITY. 1728
THE LOGICIANS REFUTED
THE ELEPHANT; OR, THE PARLIAMENT MAN
PAULUS: AN EPIGRAM
THE ANSWER. BY DR. SWIFT
A DIALOGUE
DR. SWIFT
LAWYER
DR. SWIFT
LAWYER
ON BURNING A DULL POEM
AN EXCELLENT NEW BALLAD
OR, THE TRUE ENGLISH DEAN[1] TO BE HANGED FOR A RAPE. 1730
ON STEPHEN DUCK
THE THRESHER, AND FAVOURITE POET
THE LADY'S DRESSING-ROOM. 1730
THE POWER OF TIME. 1730
CASSINUS AND PETER
A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG NYMPH GOING TO BED.
WRITTEN FOR THE HONOUR OF THE FAIR SEX. 1731
STREPHON AND CHLOE
1731
APOLLO; OR, A PROBLEM SOLVED
1731
THE PLACE OF THE DAMNED
1731
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT[1]
JUDAS. 1731
AN EPISTLE TO MR. GAY[1]
1731
TO A LADY
EPIGRAM ON THE BUSTS[1] IN RICHMOND HERMITAGE. 1732
ANOTHER
A CONCLUSION
DRAWN FROM THE ABOVE EPIGRAMS, AND SENT TO THE DRAPIER
DR. SWIFT'S ANSWER
TO THE REVEREND DR. SWIFT
VERSES LEFT WITH A SILVER STANDISH ON THE DEAN OF ST. PATRICK'S DESK,
VERSES OCCASIONED BY THE FOREGOING PRESENTS
AN INVITATION, BY DR. DELANY, IN THE NAME OF DR. SWIFT
THE BEASTS' CONFESSION TO THE PRIEST,
ON OBSERVING HOW MOST MEN MISTAKE THEIR OWN TALENTS. 1732
PREFACE
THE PARSON'S CASE
THE HARDSHIP UPON THE LADIES
1733
A LOVE SONG IN THE MODERN TASTE. 1733
THE STORM
MINERVA'S PETITION
ODE ON SCIENCE
A YOUNG LADY'S COMPLAINT[1]
FOR THE STAY OF THE DEAN IN ENGLAND
ON THE DEATH OF DR. SWIFT
WRITTEN IN NOVEMBER, 1731 [1]
ON POETRY, A RHAPSODY. 1733
VERSES SENT TO THE DEAN
EPIGRAM BY MR. BOWYER
INTENDED TO BE PLACED UNDER THE HEAD OF GULLIVER. 1733
ON PSYCHE[1]
THE DEAN AND DUKE
1734
WRITTEN BY DR. SWIFT ON HIS OWN DEAFNESS, IN SEPTEMBER, 1734
THE DEAN'S COMPLAINT, TRANSLATED AND ANSWERED
THE DEAN'S MANNER OF LIVING
EPIGRAM BY MR. BOWYER
VERSES MADE FOR FRUIT-WOMEN
APPLES
ASPARAGUS
ONIONS
OYSTERS
HERRINGS
ORANGES
ON ROVER, A LADY'S SPANIEL
INSTRUCTIONS TO A PAINTER[1]
EPIGRAMS ON WINDOWS
SEVERAL OF THEM WRITTEN IN 1726
II. AT AN INN IN ENGLAND
IV. ANOTHER, AT CHESTER
VI. ANOTHER, AT CHESTER
VIII. ON SEEING VERSES WRITTEN UPON WINDOWS AT INNS
IX. ANOTHER
XI. ANOTHER, AT HOLYHEAD [1]
TO JANUS, ON NEW YEAR'S DAY, 1726
A MOTTO FOR MR. JASON HASARD
WOOLLEN-DRAPER IN DUBLIN, WHOSE SIGN WAS THE GOLDEN FLEECE
CATULLUS DE LESBIA[1]
ON A CURATE'S COMPLAINT OF HARD DUTY
TO BETTY, THE GRISETTE
EPIGRAM FROM THE FRENCH[1]
EPIGRAM[1]
EPIGRAM ADDED BY STELLA[1]
JOAN CUDGELS NED
VERSES ON TWO CELEBRATED MODERN POETS
EPITAPH ON GENERAL GORGES,[1] AND LADY MEATH[2]
VERSES ON I KNOW NOT WHAT
DR. SWIFT TO HIMSELF ON ST. CECILIA'S DAY
AN ANSWER TO A FRIEND'S QUESTION
EPITAPH
INSCRIBED ON A MARBLE TABLET, IN BERKELEY CHURCH, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
EPITAPH
ON FREDERICK, DUKE OF SCHOMBERG[1]
VERSES WRITTEN DURING LORD CARTERET'S ADMINISTRATION OF IRELAND
AN APOLOGY TO LADY CARTERET
THE BIRTH OF MANLY VIRTUE
ON PADDY'S CHARACTER OF THE "INTELLIGENCER."[1] 1729
AN EPISTLE TO HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN, LORD CARTERET
AN EPISTLE UPON AN EPISTLE
A LIBEL ON THE REVEREND DR. DELANY, AND HIS EXCELLENCY JOHN, LORD CARTERET
1729
TO DR. DELANY
ON THE LIBELS WRITTEN AGAINST HIM. 1729
DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING A BIRTH-DAY SONG. 1729
THE PHEASANT AND THE LARK, A FABLE BY DR. DELANY
1730
ANSWER TO DR. DELANY'S FABLE OF THE PHEASANT AND LARK.
1730
DEAN SMEDLEY'S PETITION TO THE DUKE OF GRAFTON[1]
THE DUKE'S ANSWER
PARODY ON A CHARACTER OF DEAN SMEDLEY,
WRITTEN IN LATIN BY HIMSELF[1]
END OF VOL. I