Poetry Codex

Restoration & Augustan

Jonathan Swift

1667–1745

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, is remembered above all for his prose satires, but his verse — plain-spoken, often savage, sometimes tender — was equally his own invention.

Poems like A Description of a City Shower and The Lady’s Dressing-Room turned unflinching, unglamorous observation into satire, while Cadenus and Vanessa and the Stella poems show a gentler, more private side of a famously guarded man.

Poems (337)

  1. Mrs. Frances Harris's Petition
  2. Baucis and Philemon
  3. A Description of the Morning
  4. A Description of a City Shower
  5. Clever Tom Clinch Going to Be Hanged
  6. The Lady's Dressing-Room
  7. The Day of Judgment
  8. Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift
  9. Cadenus and Vanessa
  10. Ode to Doctor William Sancroft
  11. Ode to Sir William Temple
  12. Ode to King William
  13. Ode to the Athenian Society
  14. To Mr. Congreve
  15. Occasioned by Sir William Temple's Late Illness and Recovery
  16. Written in a Lady's Ivory Table-Book
  17. A Ballad on the Game of Traffic
  18. A Ballad to the Tune of the Cutpurse
  19. The Discovery
  20. The Problem
  21. The Description of a Salamander
  22. To Charles Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough
  23. On the Union
  24. On Mrs. Biddy Floyd
  25. The Reverse
  26. Apollo Outwitted
  27. Answer to Lines from May Fair
  28. Vanbrugh's House (original version)
  29. Vanbrugh's House
  30. Baucis and Philemon (original version)
  31. The History of Vanbrugh's House
  32. A Grub-Street Elegy
  33. The Epitaph
  34. On the Little House by the Churchyard of Castlenock
  35. A Town Eclogue
  36. A Conference between Sir Harry Pierce's Chariot and Mrs. D. Stopford's Chair
  37. To Lord Harley, on His Marriage
  38. Phyllis; or, The Progress of Love
  39. Horace, Book IV, Ode IX
  40. To Mr. Delany
  41. An Elegy on the Death of Demar, the Usurer
  42. Epitaph on Demar
  43. To Mrs. Houghton of Bourmont
  44. Verses Written on a Window at the Deanery House
  45. On Another Window
  46. Apollo to the Dean
  47. Apollo's Edict
  48. The Description of an Irish Feast
  49. The Progress of Beauty
  50. The Progress of Marriage
  51. The Progress of Poetry
  52. The South-Sea Project
  53. A Prologue
  54. Epilogue to Mr. Hoppy's Benefit-Night
  55. Epilogue to a Benefit Play for the Distressed Weavers
  56. The Country Life
  57. Dr. Delany's Villa
  58. On One of the Windows at Delville
  59. Copy of the Birthday Verses on Mr. Ford
  60. On Dreams
  61. The Answer (to Dr. Delany's Verses on Swift's Deafness)
  62. A Quiet Life and a Good Name
  63. Advice to the Grub-Street Verse-Writers
  64. A Pastoral Dialogue (Richmond Lodge and Marble Hill)
  65. Desire and Possession
  66. On Censure
  67. The Furniture of a Woman's Mind
  68. Dr. Swift to Mr. Pope, While He Was Writing the Dunciad
  69. A Love Poem from a Physician to His Mistress
  70. Bouts Rimez on Signora Domitilla
  71. Helter Skelter; or, The Hue and Cry after the Attorneys
  72. The Puppet-Show
  73. The Logicians Refuted
  74. The Elephant; or, The Parliament Man
  75. The Answer to Paulus
  76. On Burning a Dull Poem
  77. An Excellent New Ballad; or, The True English Dean to Be Hanged for a Rape
  78. On Stephen Duck, the Thresher and Favourite Poet
  79. The Power of Time
  80. Cassinus and Peter
  81. A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed
  82. Strephon and Chloe
  83. Apollo; or, A Problem Solved
  84. The Place of the Damned
  85. Judas
  86. An Epistle to Mr. Gay
  87. To a Lady Who Desired the Author to Write Some Verses upon Her in the Heroic Style
  88. Epigram on the Busts in Richmond Hermitage
  89. Another Epigram on the Busts in Richmond Hermitage
  90. Dr. Swift's Answer
  91. Verses Occasioned by the Foregoing Presents
  92. The Beasts' Confession to the Priest
  93. The Parson's Case
  94. The Hardship upon the Ladies
  95. A Love Song in the Modern Taste
  96. The Storm: Minerva's Petition
  97. Ode on Science
  98. A Young Lady's Complaint for the Stay of the Dean in England
  99. On Poetry: A Rhapsody
  100. On Psyche
  101. The Dean and Duke
  102. The Dean's Complaint, Translated and Answered
  103. The Dean's Manner of Living
  104. Verses Made for Fruit-Women: Apples
  105. Verses Made for Fruit-Women: Asparagus
  106. Verses Made for Fruit-Women: Onions
  107. Verses Made for Fruit-Women: Oysters
  108. Verses Made for Fruit-Women: Herrings
  109. Verses Made for Fruit-Women: Oranges
  110. On Rover, a Lady's Spaniel
  111. Epigrams on Windows: On a Window at an Inn
  112. Epigrams on Windows: At an Inn in England
  113. Epigrams on Windows: On a Window at the Four Crosses
  114. Epigrams on Windows: Another, at Chester (I)
  115. Epigrams on Windows: Another, at Chester (II)
  116. Epigrams on Windows: Another, at Chester (III)
  117. Epigrams on Windows: Written upon a Window Where There Was No Writing Before
  118. Epigrams on Windows: On Seeing Verses Written upon Windows at Inns
  119. Epigrams on Windows: Another (I)
  120. Epigrams on Windows: Another (II)
  121. Epigrams on Windows: Another, at Holyhead
  122. To Janus, on New Year's Day
  123. A Motto for Mr. Jason Hasard
  124. To a Friend Who Had Been Much Abused in Many Inveterate Libels
  125. Catullus de Lesbia
  126. On a Curate's Complaint of Hard Duty
  127. To Betty, the Grisette
  128. Epigram from the French
  129. Epigram (As Thomas Was Cudgell'd)
  130. Joan Cudgels Ned
  131. Verses on Two Celebrated Modern Poets
  132. Epitaph on General Gorges and Lady Meath
  133. Verses on I Know Not What
  134. Dr. Swift to Himself on St. Cecilia's Day
  135. An Answer to a Friend's Question
  136. An Apology to Lady Carteret
  137. The Birth of Manly Virtue
  138. On Paddy's Character of the Intelligencer
  139. An Epistle upon an Epistle
  140. A Libel on Dr. Delany and Lord Carteret
  141. To Dr. Delany, on the Libels Written against Him
  142. Directions for Making a Birthday Song
  143. Answer to Dr. Delany's Fable of the Pheasant and Lark
  144. Dean Smedley's Petition to the Duke of Grafton
  145. The Duke's Answer
  146. Parody on a Character of Dean Smedley, Written in Latin by Himself
  147. To Love
  148. The Dean's Answer (to Vanessa's Rebus)
  149. Stella's Birth-Day (1719)
  150. Stella's Birth-Day (1720)
  151. To Stella, Who Collected and Transcribed His Poems
  152. To Stella, Visiting Me in My Sickness
  153. To Stella on Her Birth-Day (1722)
  154. Stella's Birth-Day (1723)
  155. Stella at Wood Park
  156. A New Year's Gift for Bec
  157. Dingley and Brent
  158. To Stella (1724)
  159. A Receipt to Restore Stella's Youth
  160. Stella's Birth-Day (1725)
  161. Bec's Birth-Day
  162. On the Collar of Tiger
  163. Stella's Birth-Day (1727)
  164. Death and Daphne
  165. Daphne
  166. Pethox the Great
  167. On a Pen
  168. On Gold
  169. On the Posteriors
  170. On a Horn
  171. On a Corkscrew
  172. The Gulf of All Human Possessions
  173. Louisa to Strephon
  174. A Maypole
  175. On the Moon
  176. On a Circle
  177. On Ink
  178. On the Five Senses
  179. Fontinella to Florinda
  180. An Echo
  181. On a Shadow in a Glass
  182. On Time
  183. On the Gallows
  184. On the Vowels
  185. On Snow
  186. On a Cannon
  187. On a Pair of Dice
  188. On a Candle
  189. Answered by Dr. Swift (Riddle to Lady Carteret)
  190. To Lady Carteret (Riddle)
  191. A Letter to Dr. Helsham
  192. Probatur Aliter
  193. On Cutting Down the Thorn at Market-Hill
  194. Dean Swift at Sir Arthur Acheson's
  195. On a Very Old Glass at Market-Hill
  196. Answered Extempore by Dr. Swift
  197. Epitaph (Berkeley Church-Yard)
  198. My Lady's Lamentation and Complaint against the Dean
  199. A Pastoral Dialogue (Dermot and Sheelah)
  200. The Grand Question Debated
  201. Drapier's-Hill
  202. The Dean's Reasons for Not Building at Drapier's-Hill
  203. The Revolution at Market-Hill
  204. Robin and Harry
  205. A Panegyric on the Dean
  206. Twelve Articles
  207. Parody on the Recorder of Blessington's Address to Queen Anne
  208. Jack Frenchman's Lamentation
  209. The Garden Plot
  210. Sid Hamet's Rod
  211. The Virtues of Sid Hamet the Magician's Rod
  212. The Famous Speech-Maker of England
  213. The Recorder's Speech Explained by the Tories
  214. Ballad (A Wonderful Age)
  215. Atlas; or, The Minister of State
  216. Lines Written Extempore on Mr. Harley's Being Stabbed
  217. An Excellent New Song (The Intended Speech of a Famous Orator against Peace)
  218. The Windsor Prophecy
  219. Corinna, a Ballad
  220. The Fable of Midas
  221. Toland's Invitation to Dismal to Dine with the Calves' Head Club
  222. Peace and Dunkirk
  223. Imitation of Horace, Epistle I, vii
  224. The Author upon Himself
  225. The Fagot
  226. Imitation of Part of the Sixth Satire of the Second Book of Horace
  227. Horace, Book II, Ode I, Paraphrased
  228. Dennis's Invitation to Steele
  229. In Sickness
  230. The Fable of the Bitches
  231. Horace, Book III, Ode II
  232. On the Church's Danger
  233. A Poem on High Church
  234. A Poem Occasioned by the Hangings in the Castle of Dublin
  235. A Tale of a Nettle
  236. A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General
  237. Parody on the Speech of Dr. Benjamin Pratt
  238. An Excellent New Song on a Seditious Pamphlet
  239. The Run upon the Bankers
  240. Upon the Horrid Plot Discovered by Harlequin
  241. A Quibbling Elegy on Judge Boat
  242. The Epitaph (Judge Boat)
  243. Verses Occasioned by Whitshed's Motto on His Coach
  244. Prometheus
  245. Verses on the Revival of the Order of the Bath
  246. Epigram on Wood's Brass Money
  247. A Simile
  248. Wood an Insect
  249. On Wood the Ironmonger
  250. Will Wood's Petition to the People of Ireland
  251. A New Song on Wood's Halfpence
  252. A Serious Poem upon William Wood
  253. An Excellent New Song upon the Declarations of the Corporations of Dublin
  254. Verses on the Upright Judge Who Condemned the Drapier's Printer
  255. On the Same (The Judge's Grandsire)
  256. On the Same (The Judge Speaks)
  257. Horace, Book I, Ode XIV
  258. Verses on the Sudden Drying Up of St. Patrick's Well
  259. On Reading Dr. Young's Satire, Called The Universal Passion
  260. The Dog and Thief
  261. A Dialogue between Mad Mullinix and Timothy
  262. Tim and the Fables
  263. Tom and Dick
  264. Dick, a Maggot
  265. Clad All in Brown
  266. Dick's Variety
  267. Traulus, Part I
  268. Traulus, Part II
  269. A Fable of the Lion and Other Beasts
  270. On the Irish Bishops
  271. Horace, Book IV, Ode IX (Addressed to Humphry French)
  272. On Mr. Pulteney's Being Put Out of the Council
  273. On the Words Brother Protestants and Fellow Christians
  274. Bettesworth's Exultation
  275. An Epigram on the Scriptures
  276. An Epigram Inscribed to Sergeant Kite
  277. The Yahoo's Overthrow
  278. On the Archbishop of Cashel and Bettesworth
  279. On the Irish Club
  280. On Noisy Tom
  281. On Dr. Rundle, Bishop of Derry
  282. Epigram on Rundle
  283. The Legion Club
  284. On a Printer's Being Sent to Newgate
  285. A Vindication of the Libel
  286. Epigram on Delacourt's Complimenting Carthy
  287. Lines Written on a Window in the Episcopal Palace at Kilmore
  288. On the Arms of the Town of Waterford
  289. An Excellent New Song upon the Late Grand Jury
  290. An Excellent New Song upon His Grace Our Good Lord Archbishop of Dublin
  291. To the Citizens
  292. Punch's Petition to the Ladies
  293. Epigram (Great Folks)
  294. Epigram on Josiah Hort
  295. Epigram (Behold! A Proof of Irish Sense)
  296. A Left-Handed Letter to Dr. Sheridan
  297. To Thomas Sheridan (1718)
  298. To Dr. Sheridan (1718)
  299. The Dean's Answer (to Sheridan's Riddle)
  300. The Dean of St. Patrick's to Thomas Sheridan
  301. The Dean to Thomas Sheridan
  302. Dr. Swift's Reply
  303. To Mr. Thomas Sheridan upon His Verses Written in Circles
  304. On Dan Jackson's Picture (Swift's Epigram)
  305. Dan Jackson's Defence
  306. A Rejoinder by the Dean in Jackson's Name
  307. Another Rejoinder by the Dean in Jackson's Name
  308. Sheridan's Submission
  309. The Pardon
  310. Swift to Sheridan
  311. Mary the Cook-Maid's Letter to Dr. Sheridan
  312. A Portrait from the Life
  313. The Dean's Answer (to the Verses on Stealing a Crown)
  314. To Quilca
  315. The Blessings of a Country Life
  316. The Plagues of a Country Life
  317. On the Five Ladies at Sot's Hole
  318. The Beau's Reply to the Five Ladies' Answer
  319. Answer to Dr. Sheridan's Ballad on Ballyspellin
  320. An Epistle to Two Friends
  321. To Dr. Sheridan (1731)
  322. A True and Faithful Inventory of the Goods Belonging to Dr. Swift
  323. A New Simile for the Ladies
  324. An Answer to a Scandalous Poem
  325. Dic
  326. Moll
  327. To My Mistress
  328. A Love Song
  329. A Gentle Echo on Woman
  330. The Journal of a Modern Lady
  331. A Friendly Apology for a Certain Justice of Peace
  332. Ay and No: A Tale from Dublin
  333. A Ballad on the Reduction of the Gold Coin
  334. Poetical Epistle to Dr. Sheridan
  335. Translation (The Arms of Waterford)
  336. Verses on Blenheim
  337. To His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin

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