Bec?s Birth-day Nov. 8, 1726 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK GGLFLLMMLFNNOOPPQRSS FFKTKKLLLLUUTTVVWWLL| This day dear Bec is thy nativity | A |
| Had Fate a luckier one she'd give it ye | A |
| She chose a thread of greatest length | B |
| And doubly twisted it for strength | B |
| Nor will be able with her shears | C |
| To cut it off these forty years | D |
| Then who says care will kill a cat | E |
| Rebecca shows they're out in that | E |
| For she though overrun with care | F |
| Continues healthy fat and fair | F |
| As if the gout should seize the head | G |
| Doctors pronounce the patient dead | G |
| But if they can by all their arts | H |
| Eject it to the extremest parts | H |
| They give the sick man joy and praise | I |
| The gout that will prolong his days | I |
| Rebecca thus I gladly greet | J |
| Who drives her cares to hands and feet | J |
| For though philosophers maintain | K |
| The limbs are guided by the brain | K |
| Quite contrary Rebecca's led | G |
| Her hands and feet conduct her head | G |
| By arbitrary power convey her | L |
| She ne'er considers why or where | F |
| Her hands may meddle feet may wander | L |
| Her head is but a mere by stander | L |
| And all her bustling but supplies | M |
| The part of wholesome exercise | M |
| Thus nature has resolved to pay her | L |
| The cat's nine lives and eke the care | F |
| Long may she live and help her friends | N |
| Whene'er it suits her private ends | N |
| Domestic business never mind | O |
| Till coffee has her stomach lined | O |
| But when her breakfast gives her courage | P |
| Then think on Stella's chicken porridge | P |
| I mean when Tigerhas been served | Q |
| Or else poor Stella may be starved | R |
| May Bec have many an evening nap | S |
| With Tiger slabbering in her lap | S |
| But always take a special care | F |
| She does not overset the chair | F |
| Still be she curious never hearken | K |
| To any speech but Tiger's barking | T |
| And when she's in another scene | K |
| Stella long dead but first the Dean | K |
| May fortune and her coffee get her | L |
| Companions that will please her better | L |
| Whole afternoons will sit beside her | L |
| Nor for neglects or blunders chide her | L |
| A goodly set as can be found | U |
| Of hearty gossips prating round | U |
| Fresh from a wedding or a christening | T |
| To teach her ears the art of listening | T |
| And please her more to hear them tattle | V |
| Than the Dean storm or Stella rattle | V |
| Late be her death one gentle nod | W |
| When Hermes waiting with his rod | W |
| Shall to Elysian fields invite her | L |
| Where there will be no cares to fright her | L |
Jonathan Swift
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