Analysis of A Description of the Morning

Jonathan Swift 1667 (Dublin) – 1745 (Ireland)



Now hardly here and there a hackney-coach
Appearing, show'd the ruddy morn's approach.
Now Betty from her master's bed had flown,
And softly stole to discompose her own.
The slip-shod 'prentice from his master's door
Had par'd the dirt, and sprinkled round the floor.
Now Moll had whirl'd her mop with dext'rous airs,
Prepar'd to scrub the entry and the stairs.
The youth with broomy stumps began to trace
The kennel-edge, where wheels had worn the place.
The small-coal man was heard with cadence deep;
Till drown'd in shriller notes of "chimney-sweep."
Duns at his lordship's gate began to meet;
And brickdust Moll had scream'd through half a street.
The turnkey now his flock returning sees,
Duly let out a-nights to steal for fees.
The watchful bailiffs take their silent stands;
And schoolboys lag with satchels in their hands.


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII
Poetic Form
Metre 1101010101 0101010101 1101010111 01011101 0111011101 1101010101 111101111 0111010001 011110111 0101111101 0111111101 110111101 111110111 011111101 011110101 1011011111 0101011101 01111011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 823
Words 142
Sentences 10
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 18
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 36
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 656
Words per stanza (avg) 139
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
84

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. more…

All Jonathan Swift poems | Jonathan Swift Books

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