Analysis of Mr. William Crowe’s Address To Her Majesty, Turned Into Metre

Jonathan Swift 1667 (Dublin) – 1745 (Ireland)



From a town that consists of a church and a steeple,
With three or four houses, and as many people,
There went an Address in great form and good order,
Composed, as 'tis said, by Will Crowe, their Recorder.
And thus it began to an excellent tune:
Forgive us, good madam, that we did not as soon
As the rest of the cities and towns of this nation
Wish your majesty joy on this glorious occasion.
Not that we're less hearty or loyal than others,
But having a great many sisters and brothers,
Our borough in riches and years far exceeding,
We let them speak first, to show our good breeding.
We have heard with much transport and great satisfaction
Of the victory obtain'd in the late famous action,
When the field was so warm'd, that it soon grew too hot
For the French and Bavarians, who had all gone to pot,
But that they thought best in great haste to retire,
And leap into the water for fear of the fire.
But says the good river, Ye fools, plague confound ye,
Do ye think to swim through me, and that I'll not drown ye?
Who have ravish'd, and murder'd, and play'd such damn'd pranks,
And trod down the grass on my much-injured banks?
Then, swelling with anger and rage to the brink,
He gave the poor Monsieur his last draught of drink.
So it plainly appears they were very well bang'd,
And that some may be drown'd, who deserved to be hang'd.
Great Marlbro' well push'd: 'twas well push'd indeed:
Oh, how we adore you, because you succeed!
And now I may say it, I hope without blushing,
That you have got twins, by your violent pushing;
Twin battles I mean, that will ne'er be forgotten,
But live and be talk'd of, when we're dead and rotten.
Let other nice lords sculk at home from the wars,
Prank'd up and adorn'd with garters and stars,
Which but twinkle like those in a cold frosty night;
While to yours you are adding such lustre and light,
That if you proceed, I'm sure very soon
'Twill be brighter and larger than the sun or the moon:
A blazing star, I foretell, 'twill prove to the Gaul,
That portends of his empire the ruin and fall.
Now God bless your majesty, and our Lord Murrough,
And send him in safety and health to his borough.


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFDDGGHBIIJJKKLLMMFFDDNOPPCCQQRR
Poetic Form
Metre 1011011010010 111110011010 11110110110 011111111010 01101111001 011110111111 1011010011110 11100111100010 111110110110 110011010010 101010011010 111111110110 111110101010 10100010011010 101111111111 10101111111 11111011101 0101010111010 110110111011 1111111011111 11101001111 01101111101 11011001101 11010111111 111001101011 011111101111 111111101 11101101101 011111110110 111111110010 110111111010 110111111010 11011111101 1100111001 111011001101 111111011001 1110111101 1110010101101 010110111101 1011110001001 111110001011 01101001111
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 2,112
Words 405
Sentences 13
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 42
Lines Amount 42
Letters per line (avg) 39
Words per line (avg) 10
Letters per stanza (avg) 1,654
Words per stanza (avg) 403
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

2:07 min read
32

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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