The Description Of A Salamander, 1705 Poem Rhyme Scheme

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From Pliny Hist Nat lib x lib xxix	A
	-
As mastiff dogs in modern phrase are	B
Call'd Pompey Scipio and Caesar	C
As pies and daws are often styl'd	D
With Christian nicknames like a child	D
As we say Monsieur to an ape	E
Without offence to human shape	E
So men have got from bird and brute	F
Names that would best their nature suit	F
The Lion Eagle Fox and Boar	G
Were heroes' titles heretofore	G
Bestow'd as hi'roglyphics fit	H
To show their valour strength or wit	H
For what is understood by fame	I
Besides the getting of a name	I
But e'er since men invented guns	A
A diff'rent way their fancy runs	A
To paint a hero we inquire	J
For something that will conquer fire	C
Would you describe Turenne or Trump	K
Think of a bucket or a pump	K
Are these too low then find out grander	C
Call my LORD CUTTS a Salamander	C
'Tis well but since we live among	L
Detractors with an evil tongue	L
Who may object against the term	M
Pliny shall prove what we affirm	M
Pliny shall prove and we'll apply	N
And I'll be judg'd by standers by	N
First then our author has defined	O
This reptile of the serpent kind	O
With gaudy coat and shining train	P
But loathsome spots his body stain	P
Out from some hole obscure he flies	A
When rains descend and tempests rise	A
Till the sun clears the air and then	Q
Crawls back neglected to his den	Q
So when the war has raised a storm	R
I've seen a snake in human form	R
All stain'd with infamy and vice	A
Leap from the dunghill in a trice	A
Burnish and make a gaudy show	S
Become a general peer and beau	S
Till peace has made the sky serene	T
Then shrink into its hole again	Q
All this we grant why then look yonder	C
Sure that must be a Salamander	C
Further we are by Pliny told	U
This serpent is extremely cold	U
So cold that put it in the fire	C
'Twill make the very flames expire	J
Besides it spues a filthy froth	V
Whether thro' rage or lust or both	W
Of matter purulent and white	X
Which happening on the skin to light	X
And there corrupting to a wound	Y
Spreads leprosy and baldness round	Y
So have I seen a batter'd beau	S
By age and claps grown cold as snow	S
Whose breath or touch where'er he came	I
Blew out love's torch or chill'd the flame	I
And should some nymph who ne'er was cruel	Z
Like Carleton cheap or famed Du Ruel	A2
Receive the filth which he ejects	A
She soon would find the same effects	A
Her tainted carcass to pursue	A
As from the Salamander's spue	K
A dismal shedding of her locks	A
And if no leprosy a pox	A
Then I'll appeal to each bystander	C
If this be not a Salamander	C

Jonathan Swift

The Description Of A Salamander, 1705 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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