Analysis of Daphne
Jonathan Swift 1667 (Dublin) – 1745 (Ireland)
Daphne knows, with equal ease,
How to vex, and how to please;
But the folly of her sex
Makes her sole delight to vex.
Never woman more devised
Surer ways to be despised;
Paradoxes weakly wielding,
Always conquer'd, never yielding.
To dispute, her chief delight,
Without one opinion right:
Thick her arguments she lays on,
And with cavils combats reason;
Answers in decisive way,
Never hears what you can say;
Still her odd perverseness shows
Chiefly where she nothing knows;
And, where she is most familiar,
Always peevisher and sillier;
All her spirits in a flame
When she knows she's most to blame.
Send me hence ten thousand miles,
From a face that always smiles:
None could ever act that part,
But a fury in her heart.
Ye who hate such inconsistence,
To be easy, keep your distance:
Or in folly still befriend her,
But have no concern to mend her;
Lose not time to contradict her,
Nor endeavour to convict her.
Never take it in your thought,
That she'll own, or cure a fault.
Into contradiction warm her,
Then, perhaps, you may reform her:
Only take this rule along,
Always to advise her wrong;
And reprove her when she's right;
She may then grow wise for spight.
No—that scheme will ne'er succeed,
She has better learnt her creed;
She's too cunning and too skilful,
When to yield, and when be wilful.
Nature holds her forth two mirrors,
One for truth, and one for errors:
That looks hideous, fierce, and frightful;
This is flattering and delightful:
That she throws away as foul;
Sits by this to dress her soul.
Thus you have the case in view,
Daphne, 'twixt the Dean and you:
Heaven forbid he should despise thee,
But he'll never more advise thee.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFGHHIIJJKKLLMMANJJJJOPJJQQEERRSSTTSSSSUUVV |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011101 1110111 1010101 1010111 1010101 1011101 1001010 1101010 1010101 0110101 10100111 0110110 1000101 1011111 10111 1011101 01111010 110100 1010001 1111111 1111101 101111 1110111 1010001 11111 11101110 10101010 11101110 1111010 10101100 1011011 1111101 0101010 10111010 1011101 110101 010111 1111111 1111101 1110101 1110011 1110111 10101110 11101110 111001010 111000010 1110111 1111101 1110101 1010101 100111011 11101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,612 |
Words | 296 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 52 |
Lines Amount | 52 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,289 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 294 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 25, 2023
- 1:30 min read
- 87 Views
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