History & Politics

Dick, a Maggot

by Jonathan Swift 1667–1745

History & Politics

As when, from rooting in a bin,
All powder'd o'er from tail to chin,
A lively maggot sallies out,
You know him by his hazel snout:
So when the grandson of his grandsire
Forth issues wriggling, Dick Drawcansir,
With powder'd rump and back and side,
You cannot blanch his tawny hide;
For 'tis beyond the power of meal
The gipsy visage to conceal;
For as he shakes his wainscot chops,
Down every mealy atom drops,
And leaves the tartar phiz in show,
Like a fresh t--d just dropp'd on snow.

MLA

Swift, Jonathan. “Dick, a Maggot.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/swift/263/.

Chicago

Swift, Jonathan. “Dick, a Maggot.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/swift/263/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

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