Squire And Cur Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BBCCDD EEFFAAG GHHII AAJJKKLA IIMMANO OEEPPQQRRSSTT UUDDMMVVWW XXYYZZA2A2WWDDB2B2C2 C2D2D2E2E2 TTUHLLLAF2F2G2G2H2H2 I2 I2C2C2RRJ2J2I2K2 E2E2| To a Country Gentleman | A |
| - | |
| - | |
| Man with integrity of heart | B |
| Disdains to play a double part | B |
| He bears a moral coat of mail | C |
| When envy snarls and slanders rail | C |
| From virtue's shield the shafts resound | D |
| And his light shines in freedom round | D |
| - | |
| If in his country's cause he rise | E |
| Unbribed unawed he will advise | E |
| Will fear no ministerial frown | F |
| Neither will clamour put him down | F |
| But if you play the politician | A |
| With soul averse to the position | A |
| Your lips and teeth must be controlled | G |
| - | |
| What minister his place could hold | G |
| Were falsehood banished from the court | H |
| Or truth to princes gain resort | H |
| The minister would lose his place | I |
| If he could not his foes disgrace | I |
| - | |
| For none is born a politician | A |
| Who cannot lie by intuition | A |
| By which the safety of the throne | J |
| Is kept subservient to his own | J |
| For monarchs must be kept deluded | K |
| By falsehood from the lips exuded | K |
| And ministerial schemes pursuing | L |
| Care nothing for the public ruin | A |
| - | |
| Antiochus lost in a chase | I |
| Traversed the wood with mended pace | I |
| And reached a cottage sore distressed | M |
| A Parthian fed the regal guest | M |
| But knew not whom the countryman | A |
| Warmed by unwonted wine began | N |
| To talk of courts and talk of kings | O |
| - | |
| We country folk we see such things | O |
| They say the king is good and wise | E |
| Ah we could open both his eyes | E |
| They say God bless him he means good | P |
| Ah we could open them we could | P |
| And show him how his courtiers ride us | Q |
| They rob us and they then deride us | Q |
| If King Antiochus could see | R |
| Or if he knew as much as we | R |
| How servants wound a master's name | S |
| From kings to cobblers 'tis the same | S |
| If King Antiochus I say | T |
| Could see he'd kick those scamps away | T |
| - | |
| Both in good time their couches sought | U |
| The peasant slept the monarch thought | U |
| At earliest dawn the courtiers found | D |
| And owned the king by trumpet sound | D |
| Unto his rustic host the guest | M |
| With due reward his thanks expressed | M |
| And turning to his courtier train | V |
| Since you are bent on private gain | V |
| You may your private gain pursue | W |
| Henceforth I will be quit of you | W |
| - | |
| A country squire by whim directed | X |
| The nobler stocks canine neglected | X |
| Nor hound nor pointer by him bred | Y |
| Yap was his cur and Yap was fed | Y |
| And Yap brought all his blood relations | Z |
| To fill the posts and eat the rations | Z |
| And to that end it came about | A2 |
| That all the others were turned out | A2 |
| Now Yap as curs are wont to do | W |
| If great men's curs on tradesmen flew | W |
| Unless they bribed him with a bound | D |
| He worried all the tenants round | D |
| For why he lived in constant fear | B2 |
| Lest they in hate should interfere | B2 |
| So Master Yap would snarl and bite | C2 |
| Then clap his tail and fly with fright | C2 |
| As he with bay and bristling hair | D2 |
| Assailed each tradesman who came there | D2 |
| He deemed if truth should get admittance | E2 |
| 'Twould followed be by his demittance | E2 |
| - | |
| It chanced that Yap upon a day | T |
| Was by a kins cur lured to play | T |
| And as Miss Yaps there were they thought | U |
| Unto Miss Yaps to pay their court | H |
| And had a little hunting bouting | L |
| Like Antony who so went outing | L |
| With Cleopatra So pursuing | L |
| Yap and Mark Antony found ruin | A |
| A neighbour passing by then ventured | F2 |
| And seeing the coast clear he entered | F2 |
| The squire enjoyed a quiet chat | G2 |
| And said Now tell me neighbour Mat | G2 |
| Why do men shun my hall Of late | H2 |
| No neighbour enters in my gate | H2 |
| I do not choose thence to infer | I2 |
| - | |
| Squire 'tis nothing but the cur | I2 |
| Mat answered him with cursed spite | C2 |
| The brute does nought but bark and bite | C2 |
| There is some cause we all agree | R |
| He swears 'tis us we say 'tis he | R |
| Get rid of him the snarling brute | J2 |
| And these old halls shall not be mute | J2 |
| There nothing is we more desire | I2 |
| Than lose the cur and win the squire | K2 |
| - | |
| The truth prevailed and with disgrace | E2 |
| The cur was cudgelled out of place | E2 |
John Gay
(1)
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