Prometheus[1]; On Wood The Patentee's Irish Halfpence[2] Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDEFGHHEEIIJJKK EELLEEMMEELLNNOOPPEE QQRRSSTTOOMMUUMM VVAAWWOOXXEEYYZZA2A2 EE| When first the squire and tinker Wood | A |
| Gravely consulting Ireland's good | A |
| Together mingled in a mass | B |
| Smith's dust and copper lead and brass | B |
| The mixture thus by chemic art | C |
| United close in ev'ry part | C |
| In fillets roll'd or cut in pieces | D |
| Appear'd like one continued species | E |
| And by the forming engine struck | F |
| On all the same impression took | G |
| So to confound this hated coin | H |
| All parties and religions join | H |
| Whigs Tories Trimmers Hanoverians | E |
| Quakers Conformists Presbyterians | E |
| Scotch Irish English French unite | I |
| With equal interest equal spite | I |
| Together mingled in a lump | J |
| Do all in one opinion jump | J |
| And ev'ry one begins to find | K |
| The same impression on his mind | K |
| A strange event whom gold incites | E |
| To blood and quarrels brass unites | E |
| So goldsmiths say the coarsest stuff | L |
| Will serve for solder well enough | L |
| So by the kettle's loud alarms | E |
| The bees are gather'd into swarms | E |
| So by the brazen trumpet's bluster | M |
| Troops of all tongues and nations muster | M |
| And so the harp of Ireland brings | E |
| Whole crowds about its brazen strings | E |
| There is a chain let down from Jove | L |
| But fasten'd to his throne above | L |
| So strong that from the lower end | N |
| They say all human things depend | N |
| This chain as ancient poets hold | O |
| When Jove was young was made of gold | O |
| Prometheus once this chain purloin'd | P |
| Dissolved and into money coin'd | P |
| Then whips me on a chain of brass | E |
| Venus was bribed to let it pass | E |
| Now while this brazen chain prevail'd | Q |
| Jove saw that all devotion fail'd | Q |
| No temple to his godship raised | R |
| No sacrifice on altars blazed | R |
| In short such dire confusion follow'd | S |
| Earth must have been in chaos swallow'd | S |
| Jove stood amazed but looking round | T |
| With much ado the cheat he found | T |
| 'Twas plain he could no longer hold | O |
| The world in any chain but gold | O |
| And to the god of wealth his brother | M |
| Sent Mercury to get another | M |
| Prometheus on a rock is laid | U |
| Tied with the chain himself had made | U |
| On icy Caucasus to shiver | M |
| While vultures eat his growing liver | M |
| - | |
| Ye powers of Grub Street make me able | V |
| Discreetly to apply this fable | V |
| Say who is to be understood | A |
| By that old thief Prometheus Wood | A |
| For Jove it is not hard to guess him | W |
| I mean his majesty God bless him | W |
| This thief and blacksmith was so bold | O |
| He strove to steal that chain of gold | O |
| Which links the subject to the king | X |
| And change it for a brazen string | X |
| But sure if nothing else must pass | E |
| Betwixt the king and us but brass | E |
| Although the chain will never crack | Y |
| Yet our devotion may grow slack | Y |
| But Jove will soon convert I hope | Z |
| This brazen chain into a rope | Z |
| With which Prometheus shall be tied | A2 |
| And high in air for ever ride | A2 |
| Where if we find his liver grows | E |
| For want of vultures we have crows | E |
Jonathan Swift
(1)
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About Prometheus[1]; On Wood The Patentee's Irish Halfpence[2]
Prometheus[1]; On Wood The Patentee's Irish Halfpence[2] is a poem by Jonathan Swift. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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