Apollo To The Dean.[1] 1720 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIJCC KKFFLLFFMMFFAANNOOPP QQAARRSSTUDDVVWWXXCC YYZZA2A2AAB2B2AAC2C2 D2D2E2E2FFF2F2FFWWAA G2G2H2H2FFI2I2VVLLI2 I2E2E2FFI2I2

Right Trusty and so forth we let you knowA
We are very ill used by you mortals belowA
For first I have often by chemists been toldB
Though I know nothing on't it is I that make goldB
Which when you have got you so carefully hide itC
That since I was born I hardly have spied itC
Then it must be allow'd that whenever I shineD
I forward the grass and I ripen the vineD
To me the good fellows apply for reliefE
Without whom they could get neither claret nor beefE
Yet their wine and their victuals those curmudgeon lubbardsF
Lock up from my sight in cellars and cupboardsF
That I have an ill eye they wickedly thinkG
And taint all their meat and sour all their drinkG
But thirdly and lastly it must be allow'dH
I alone can inspire the poetical crowdH
This is gratefully own'd by each boy in the CollegeI
Whom if I inspire it is not to my knowledgeJ
This every pretender in rhyme will admitC
Without troubling his head about judgment or witC
These gentlemen use me with kindness and freedomK
And as for their works when I please I may read 'emK
They lie open on purpose on counters and stallsF
And the titles I view when I shine on the wallsF
But a comrade of yours that traitor DelanyL
Whom I for your sake have used better than anyL
And of my mere motion and special good graceF
Intended in time to succeed in your placeF
On Tuesday the tenth seditiously cameM
With a certain false trait'ress one Stella by nameM
To the Deanery house and on the North glassF
Where for fear of the cold I never can passF
Then and there vi et armis with a certain utensilA
Of value five shillings in English a pencilA
Did maliciously falsely and trait'rously writeN
While Stella aforesaid stood by with a lightN
My sister hath lately deposed upon oathO
That she stopt in her course to look at them bothO
That Stella was helping abetting and aidingP
And still as he writ stood smiling and readingP
That her eyes were as bright as myself at noon dayQ
But her graceful black locks were all mingled with greyQ
And by the description I certainly knowA
'Tis the nymph that I courted some ten years agoA
Whom when I with the best of my talents enduedR
On her promise of yielding she acted the prudeR
That some verses were writ with felonious intentS
Direct to the North where I never once wentS
That the letters appear'd reversed through the paneT
But in Stella's bright eyes were placed right againU
Wherein she distinctly could read ev'ry lineD
And presently guessed the fancy was mineD
She can swear to the Parson whom oft she has seenV
At night between Cavan Street and College GreenV
Now you see why his verses so seldom are shownW
The reason is plain they are none of his ownW
And observe while you live that no man is shyX
To discover the goods he came honestly byX
If I light on a thought he will certainly steal itC
And when he has got it find ways to conceal itC
Of all the fine things he keeps in the darkY
There's scarce one in ten but what has my markY
And let them be seen by the world if he dareZ
I'll make it appear they are all stolen wareZ
But as for the poem he writ on your sashA2
I think I have now got him under my lashA2
My sister transcribed it last night to his sorrowA
And the public shall see't if I live till to morrowA
Thro' the zodiac around it shall quickly be spreadB2
In all parts of the globe where your language is readB2
He knows very well I ne'er gave a refusalA
When he ask'd for my aid in the forms that are usualA
But the secret is this I did lately intendC2
To write a few verses on you as my friendC2
I studied a fortnight before I could findD2
As I rode in my chariot a thought to my mindD2
And resolved the next winter for that is my timeE2
When the days are at shortest to get it in rhymeE2
Till then it was lock'd in my box at ParnassusF
When that subtle companion in hopes to surpass usF
Conveys out my paper of hints by a trickF2
For I think in my conscience he deals with old NickF2
And from my own stock provided with topicsF
He gets to a window beyond both the tropicsF
There out of my sight just against the north zoneW
Writes down my conceits and then calls them his ownW
And you like a cully the bubble can swallowA
Now who but Delany that writes like ApolloA
High treason by statute yet here you objectG2
He only stole hints but the verse is correctG2
Though the thought be Apollo's 'tis finely express'dH2
So a thief steals my horse and has him well dress'dH2
Now whereas the said criminal seems past repentanceF
We Phoebus think fit to proceed to his sentenceF
Since Delany hath dared like Prometheus his sireI2
To climb to our region and thence to steal fireI2
We order a vulture in shape of the SpleenV
To prey on his liver but not to be seenV
And we order our subjects of every degreeL
To believe all his verses were written by meL
And under the pain of our highest displeasureI2
To call nothing his but the rhyme and the measureI2
And lastly for Stella just out of her primeE2
I'm too much revenged already by TimeE2
In return of her scorn I sent her diseasesF
But will now be her friend whenever she pleasesF
And the gifts I bestow'd her will find her a loverI2
Though she lives till she's grey as a badger all overI2

Jonathan Swift



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