The Puppet-show Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCE FGFG HIHJ KKKK KLKL MNMO PQPR KSKT UVUV WXWX MXMX KMKM KKKK XGXG YZTZ KYKY LBLB| The life of man to represent | A |
| And turn it all to ridicule | B |
| Wit did a puppet show invent | A |
| Where the chief actor is a fool | B |
| - | |
| The gods of old were logs of wood | C |
| And worship was to puppets paid | D |
| In antic dress the idol stood | C |
| And priest and people bow'd the head | E |
| - | |
| No wonder then if art began | F |
| The simple votaries to frame | G |
| To shape in timber foolish man | F |
| And consecrate the block to fame | G |
| - | |
| From hence poetic fancy learn'd | H |
| That trees might rise from human forms | I |
| The body to a trunk be turn'd | H |
| And branches issue from the arms | J |
| - | |
| Thus D dalus and Ovid too | K |
| That man's a blockhead have confest | K |
| Powel and Stretch the hint pursue | K |
| Life is a farce the world a jest | K |
| - | |
| The same great truth South Sea has proved | K |
| On that famed theatre the alley | L |
| Where thousands by directors moved | K |
| Are now sad monuments of folly | L |
| - | |
| What Momus was of old to Jove | M |
| The same a Harlequin is now | N |
| The former was buffoon above | M |
| The latter is a Punch below | O |
| - | |
| This fleeting scene is but a stage | P |
| Where various images appear | Q |
| In different parts of youth and age | P |
| Alike the prince and peasant share | R |
| - | |
| Some draw our eyes by being great | K |
| False pomp conceals mere wood within | S |
| And legislators ranged in state | K |
| Are oft but wisdom in machine | T |
| - | |
| A stock may chance to wear a crown | U |
| And timber as a lord take place | V |
| A statue may put on a frown | U |
| And cheat us with a thinking face | V |
| - | |
| Others are blindly led away | W |
| And made to act for ends unknown | X |
| By the mere spring of wires they play | W |
| And speak in language not their own | X |
| - | |
| Too oft alas a scolding wife | M |
| Usurps a jolly fellow's throne | X |
| And many drink the cup of life | M |
| Mix'd and embitter'd by a Joan | X |
| - | |
| In short whatever men pursue | K |
| Of pleasure folly war or love | M |
| This mimic race brings all to view | K |
| Alike they dress they talk they move | M |
| - | |
| Go on great Stretch with artful hand | K |
| Mortals to please and to deride | K |
| And when death breaks thy vital band | K |
| Thou shalt put on a puppet's pride | K |
| - | |
| Thou shalt in puny wood be shown | X |
| Thy image shall preserve thy fame | G |
| Ages to come thy worth shall own | X |
| Point at thy limbs and tell thy name | G |
| - | |
| Tell Tom he draws a farce in vain | Y |
| Before he looks in nature's glass | Z |
| Puns cannot form a witty scene | T |
| Nor pedantry for humour pass | Z |
| - | |
| To make men act as senseless wood | K |
| And chatter in a mystic strain | Y |
| Is a mere force on flesh and blood | K |
| And shows some error in the brain | Y |
| - | |
| He that would thus refine on thee | L |
| And turn thy stage into a school | B |
| The jest of Punch will ever be | L |
| And stand confest the greater fool | B |
Jonathan Swift
(1)
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About The Puppet-show
The Puppet-show is a poem by Jonathan Swift. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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