Analysis of The Fagot
Jonathan Swift 1667 (Dublin) – 1745 (Ireland)
Observe the dying father speak:
Try, lads, can you this bundle break?
Then bids the youngest of the six
Take up a well-bound heap of sticks.
They thought it was an old man's maggot;
And strove, by turns, to break the fagot:
In vain: the complicated wands
Were much too strong for all their hands.
See, said the sire, how soon 'tis done:
Then took and broke them one by one.
So strong you'll be, in friendship ty'd;
So quickly broke, if you divide.
Keep close then, boys, and never quarrel:
Here ends the fable, and the moral.
This tale may be applied in few words,
To treasurers, comptrollers, stewards;
And others, who, in solemn sort,
Appear with slender wands at court;
Not firmly join'd to keep their ground,
But lashing one another round:
While wise men think they ought to fight
With quarterstaffs instead of white;
Or constable, with staff of peace,
Should come and make the clatt'ring cease;
Which now disturbs the queen and court,
And gives the Whigs and rabble sport.
In history we never found
The consul's fasces were unbound:
Those Romans were too wise to think on't,
Except to lash some grand delinquent,
How would they blush to hear it said,
The praetor broke the consul's head!
Or consul in his purple gown,
Came up and knock'd the praetor down!
Come, courtiers: every man his stick!
Lord treasurer, for once be quick:
And that they may the closer cling,
Take your blue ribbon for a string.
Come, trimming Harcourt, bring your mace;
And squeeze it in, or quit your place:
Dispatch, or else that rascal Northey
Will undertake to do it for thee:
And be assured, the court will find him
Prepared to leap o'er sticks, or bind them.
To make the bundle strong and safe,
Great Ormond, lend thy general's staff:
And, if the crosier could be cramm'd in
A fig for Lechmere, King, and Hambden!
You'll then defy the strongest Whig
With both his hands to bend a twig;
Though with united strength they all pull,
From Somers, down to Craggs and Walpole.
Scheme | ABCCDDEFGGDHIIJJKKLLMMNNKKLLOPQQRRSSTTUUOOVWXYZG1 1 2 3 |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010101 11111101 11010101 11011111 111111110 01111101 0101001 01111111 110101111 11011111 11110101 11011101 111101010 110100010 111101011 1100110 01010101 01110111 11011111 11010101 11111111 110111 11001111 1101011 11010101 01010101 01001101 011001 1100111111 011111010 11111111 0101011 11001101 11010101 1100100111 11001111 01110101 11110101 1101111 01101111 011111010 11011111 010101111 0111101111 11010101 110111001 01011110 0111101 11010101 11111101 110101111 11011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,910 |
Words | 352 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 52 |
Lines Amount | 52 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,514 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 350 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:49 min read
- 83 Views
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"The Fagot" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/24326/the-fagot>.
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