Analysis of Stella’s Birth-Day.1719-20
Jonathan Swift 1667 (Dublin) – 1745 (Ireland)
All travellers at first incline
Where'er they see the fairest sign
And if they find the chambers neat,
And like the liquor and the meat,
Will call again, and recommend
The Angel Inn to every friend.
And though the painting grows decay'd,
The house will never lose its trade:
Nay, though the treach'rous tapster, Thomas,
Hangs a new Angel two doors from us,
As fine as daubers' hands can make it,
In hopes that strangers may mistake it,
We think it both a shame and sin
To quit the true old Angel Inn.
Now this is Stella's case in fact,
An angel's face a little crack'd.
(Could poets or could painters fix
How angels look at thirty-six
This drew us in at first to find
In such a form an angel's mind;
And every virtue now supplies
The fainting rays of Stella's eyes.
See, at her levee crowding swains,
Whom Stella freely entertains
With breeding, humour, wit, and sense,
And puts them to so small expense;
Their minds so plentifully fills,
And makes such reasonable bills,
So little gets for what she gives,
We really wonder how she lives!
And had her stock been less, no doubt
She must have long ago run out.
Then, who can think we'll quit the place,
When Doll hangs out a newer face?
Nail'd to her window full in sight
All Christian people to invite.
Or stop and light at Chloe's head,
With scraps and leavings to be fed?
Then, Chloe, still go on to prate
Of thirty-six and thirty-eight;
Pursue your trade of scandal-picking,
Your hints that Stella is no chicken;
Your innuendoes, when you tell us,
That Stella loves to talk with fellows:
But let me warn you to believe
A truth, for which your soul should grieve;
That should you live to see the day,
When Stella's locks must all be gray,
When age must print a furrow'd trace
On every feature of her face;
Though you, and all your senseless tribe,
Could Art, or Time, or Nature bribe,
To make you look like Beauty's Queen,
And hold for ever at fifteen;
No bloom of youth can ever blind
The cracks and wrinkles of your mind:
All men of sense will pass your door,
And crowd to Stella's at four-score.
Scheme | AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKELMMNNOOPPQQRRSSBTUVEWXXYYQQZZ1 1 JJ2 2 |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11001101 10110101 01110101 01010001 1101001 010111001 01010101 01110111 1101110 101101111 11111111 011101011 11110101 11011101 11110101 1110101 11011101 11011101 11101111 0101111 010010101 01011101 11010101 1101001 1101101 01111101 11111 01110001 11011111 11010111 01011111 11110111 11111101 11110101 11010101 11010101 1101111 11010111 11011111 11010101 011111010 111101110 100101111 110111110 11111101 01111111 11111101 11011111 11110101 110010101 11011101 11111101 1111111 01110101 11111101 01010111 11111111 01110111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,000 |
Words | 381 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 58 |
Lines Amount | 58 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,590 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 379 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:58 min read
- 112 Views
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"Stella’s Birth-Day.1719-20" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24315/stella%E2%80%99s-birth-day.1719-20>.
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