Analysis of On A Horn
Jonathan Swift 1667 (Dublin) – 1745 (Ireland)
The joy of man, the pride of brutes,
Domestic subject for disputes,
Of plenty thou the emblem fair,
Adorn'd by nymphs with all their care!
I saw thee raised to high renown,
Supporting half the British crown;
And often have I seen thee grace
The chaste Diana's infant face;
And whensoe'er you please to shine,
Less useful is her light than thine:
Thy numerous fingers know their way,
And oft in Celia's tresses play.
To place thee in another view,
I'll show the world strange things and true;
What lords and dames of high degree
May justly claim their birth from thee!
The soul of man with spleen you vex;
Of spleen you cure the female sex.
Thee for a gift the courtier sends
With pleasure to his special friends:
He gives, and with a generous pride,
Contrives all means the gift to hide:
Nor oft can the receiver know,
Whether he has the gift or no.
On airy wings you take your flight,
And fly unseen both day and night;
Conceal your form with various tricks;
And few know how or where you fix:
Yet some, who ne'er bestow'd thee, boast
That they to others give thee most.
Meantime, the wise a question start,
If thou a real being art;
Or but a creature of the brain,
That gives imaginary pain?
But the sly giver better knows thee;
Who feels true joys when he bestows thee.
Scheme | AABBCCAADDEEFFGGAAAAHHIIJJAAKKLLMMGG |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01110111 01001101 11010101 01111111 11111101 01010101 01011111 01010101 011111 11010111 110010111 0101101 11100101 11011101 11011101 11011111 01111111 1111011 110101001 11011101 110101001 1110111 11100101 10110111 11011111 01011101 011111001 01111111 11110111 11110111 1010101 1101101 11010101 1101001 101101011 111111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,245 |
Words | 239 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 36 |
Lines Amount | 36 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 992 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 237 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 52 Views
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"On A Horn" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24286/on-a-horn>.
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