The Fable Of Midas.[1] Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIHHBB JJKKLLMMNNLLOOPPQQRS AATTUUBBVVWWXXYYZZA2 A2SSB2B2C2C2D2D2E2F2 AALLG2G2G2G2H2H2G2G2Collated with Stella's copy Forster | A |
- | |
Midas we are in story told | B |
Turn'd every thing he touch'd to gold | B |
He chipp'd his bread the pieces round | C |
Glitter'd like spangles on the ground | C |
A codling ere it went his lip in | D |
Would straight become a golden pippin | D |
He call'd for drink you saw him sup | E |
Potable gold in golden cup | E |
His empty paunch that he might fill | F |
He suck'd his victuals thro' a quill | F |
Untouch'd it pass'd between his grinders | G |
Or't had been happy for gold finders | G |
He cock'd his hat you would have said | H |
Mambrino's helm adorn'd his head | H |
Whene'er he chanced his hands to lay | I |
On magazines of corn or hay | I |
Gold ready coin'd appear'd instead | H |
Of paltry provender and bread | H |
Hence we are by wise farmers told | B |
Old hay is equal to old gold | B |
And hence a critic deep maintains | J |
We learn'd to weigh our gold by grains | J |
This fool had got a lucky hit | K |
And people fancied he had wit | K |
Two gods their skill in music tried | L |
And both chose Midas to decide | L |
He against Ph oelig bus' harp decreed | M |
And gave it for Pan's oaten reed | M |
The god of wit to show his grudge | N |
Clapt asses' ears upon the judge | N |
A goodly pair erect and wide | L |
Which he could neither gild nor hide | L |
And now the virtue of his hands | O |
Was lost among Pactolus' sands | O |
Against whose torrent while he swims | P |
The golden scurf peels off his limbs | P |
Fame spreads the news and people travel | Q |
From far to gather golden gravel | Q |
Midas exposed to all their jeers | R |
Had lost his art and kept his ears | S |
This tale inclines the gentle reader | A |
To think upon a certain leader | A |
To whom from Midas down descends | T |
That virtue in the fingers' ends | T |
What else by perquisites are meant | U |
By pensions bribes and three per cent | U |
By places and commissions sold | B |
And turning dung itself to gold | B |
By starving in the midst of store | V |
As t'other Midas did before | V |
None e'er did modern Midas chuse | W |
Subject or patron of his muse | W |
But found him thus their merit scan | X |
That Phoebus must give place to Pan | X |
He values not the poet's praise | Y |
Nor will exchange his plums for bays | Y |
To Pan alone rich misers call | Z |
And there's the jest for Pan is ALL | Z |
Here English wits will be to seek | A2 |
Howe'er 'tis all one in the Greek | A2 |
Besides it plainly now appears | S |
Our Midas too has ass's ears | S |
Where every fool his mouth applies | B2 |
And whispers in a thousand lies | B2 |
Such gross delusions could not pass | C2 |
Thro' any ears but of an ass | C2 |
But gold defiles with frequent touch | D2 |
There's nothing fouls the hand so much | D2 |
And scholars give it for the cause | E2 |
Of British Midas' dirty paws | F2 |
Which while the senate strove to scour | A |
They wash'd away the chemic power | A |
While he his utmost strength applied | L |
To swim against this popular tide | L |
The golden spoils flew off apace | G2 |
Here fell a pension there a place | G2 |
The torrent merciless imbibes | G2 |
Commissions perquisites and bribes | G2 |
By their own weight sunk to the bottom | H2 |
Much good may't do 'em that have caught 'em | H2 |
And Midas now neglected stands | G2 |
With ass's ears and dirty hands | G2 |
Jonathan Swift
(1)
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