Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

The Author Upon Himself

The Author Upon Himself

By an old ——pursued,
A crazy prelate, and a royal prude;
By dull divines, who look with envious eyes
On ev'ry gen…

335
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

The Dean’s Answer

The Dean’s Answer

The nymph who wrote this in an amorous fit,
I cannot but envy the pride of her wit,
Which thus she will venture profusely to th…

261
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

Stella's Birthday March 13, 1727

Stella's Birthday March 13, 1727

This day, whate'er the Fates decree,
Shall still be kept with joy by me:
This day then let us not be told,

258
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

Stella's Birthday March 13, 1719

Stella's Birthday March 13, 1719

Stella this day is thirty-four,
(We shan't dispute a year or more:)
However, Stella, be not troubled,
Al…

229
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

Stella At Wood Park, A House Of Charles Ford, Esq., Near Dublin

Stella At Wood Park, A House Of Charles Ford, Esq., Near Dublin

Don Carlos, in a merry spight,
Did Stella to his house invite:
He entertain'd her…

274
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

Stella’s Birth-Day.1719-20

Stella’s Birth-Day.1719-20

All travellers at first incline
Where'er they see the fairest sign
And if they find the chambers neat,
And lik…

246
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

Phillis, Or, the Progress of Love

Phillis, Or, the Progress of Love

Desponding Phillis was endu'd
With ev'ry Talent of a Prude,
She trembled when a Man drew near;
Salute h…

205
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

Robin And Harry

Robin And Harry

Robin to beggars with a curse,
Throws the last shilling in his purse;
And when the coachman comes for pay,
The rogue must…

275
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

Parody On The Recorder’s Speech To His Grace The Duke Of Ormond, 4th July,

Parody On The Recorder’s Speech To His Grace The Duke Of Ormond, 4th July,
1711

THE RECORDER'S SPEECH EXPLAINED BY THE TORIES


An …

198
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On Time

On Time

Ever eating, never cloying,
All-devouring, all-destroying,
Never finding full repast,
Till I eat the world at last.

218
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On The Moon

On The Moon

I with borrow'd silver shine
What you see is none of mine.
First I show you but a quarter,
Like the bow that guards the Tarta…

275
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On The Vowels

On The Vowels

We are little airy creatures,
All of different voice and features;
One of us in glass is set,
One of us you'll find in jet.…

266
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On The Five Senses

On The Five Senses

All of us in one you'll find, Brethren of a wondrous kind;
Yet among us all no brother
Knows one tittle of the other;

265
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On Stella's Birth-Day, 1719

On Stella's Birth-Day, 1719

Stella this Day is thirty four,
(We shan't dispute a Year or more)
However Stella, be not troubled,
Although …

330
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On Gold

On Gold

All-ruling tyrant of the earth,
To vilest slaves I owe my birth,
How is the greatest monarch blest,
When in my gaudy livery drest…

277
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On Ink

On Ink

I am jet black, as you may see,
The son of pitch and gloomy night:
Yet all that know me will agree,
I'm dead except I live in ligh…

296
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On A Shadow In A Glass

On A Shadow In A Glass

By something form'd, I nothing am,
Yet everything that you can name;
In no place have I ever been,
Yet everywhere …

277
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On An Ill-Managed House

On An Ill-Managed House

LET me thy properties explain:
A rotten cabin dropping rain:
Chimneys, with scorn rejecting smoke;
Stools, tables…

194
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On A Corkscrew

On A Corkscrew

Though I, alas! a prisoner be,
My trade is prisoners to set free.
No slave his lord's commands obeys
With such insinuating…

211
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On A Pair Of Dice

On A Pair Of Dice

We are little brethren twain,
Arbiters of loss and gain,
Many to our counters run,
Some are made, and some undone:

252
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

My Lady’s Lamantation And Complaint Against The Dean

My Lady’s Lamantation And Complaint Against The Dean

Sure never did man see
A wretch like poor Nancy,
So teazed day and night
By a Dean a…

224
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

On A Cannon

On A Cannon

Begotten, and born, and dying with noise,
The terror of women, and pleasure of boys,
Like the fiction of poets concerning the wind, <…

284
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

Market Women’s Cries

Market Women’s Cries

APPLES

COME buy my fine wares,
Plums, apples and pears.
A hundred a penny,
In conscience too many: <…

214
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift

Mrs Frances Haris's Petition

Mrs Frances Haris's Petition

To their Excellencies the Lords Justices of Ireland,
The humble petition of Frances Harris,
Who must starve and die …

263