Pat Rogers, ed., Jonathan Swift: The Complete Poems (1983, rep. 1989)

Pat Rogers, ed., Jonathan Swift: The Complete Poems (1983, rep. 1989)

Bibliographical details:Pat Rogers, ed., Jonathan Swift: The Complete Poems, ed. [Penguin English Poets; Penguin Classics pb.] (Harmonsworth Penguin 1983; 1989) - Appendix 2: Prefaces - Miscellanies (1711), pp.[575]-58 - available online; accessed 18.04.2024]. With Advertisement, from Works, 1735, Vol. 2 [as infra]. Pagination at top of page in Rogers appears in square-brackets here. See also Contents [infra] and Further Reading - infra. Words hyphenated at end-of-line have been united and those broken at end-of-page have been similarly pulled back to the earlier page.

‘From the Publisher to the Reader’, in Miscellanies in Prose and Verse (1711)

To publish the writings of persons without their consent, is a practice generally speaking, so unfair, and has been so many times proved an unsufferable injury to the credit and reputation of the authors, as well as a shameless imposition on the public, either by a scandalous insertion of spurious pieces, or an imperfect and faulty edition of such as are genuine, that though I have been master of such of the following pieces, as have never been printed, for several months, I could never, though much importuned, prevail on myself to publish them, fearing even a possibility of doing an injury in either of those two respects to the person who is generally known to be the author of some; and, with greater reason than I am at present at liberty to give, supposed to be the author of all the other pieces which make up this collection. But as my own unwillingness to do anything which might prove an injury to the supposed author’s reputation, to whom no man pays a juster esteem or bears a greater respect than myself, has hitherto kept me from giving the world so agreeable an entertainment as it will receive from the following papers, so the sense I had that he would really now suffer a much greater in both instances from other hands, was the occasion of my determining to do it at present: since some of the following pieces have lately appeared in print, from very imperfect and uncorrect copies. Nor was the abuse like to stop here, for these with all the defects and imperfections they came out under, met with so much applause, and so universal a good reception from all men of wit and taste, as to prompt the booksellers, who had heard that other of these tracts were in manuscript in some gentlemen’s hands, to seek by any means to procure them, which should they compass, they would without question publish in a manner as little to the author’s credit and reputation, as they have already done those few which unfortunately have fallen into their possession. This being a known fact I hope will be sufficient to make this publication, though without the author’s consent or knowledge, very consistent with that respect I sincerely bear him; who, if it should not appear to be perfectly without fault, can with little justice complain of the wrong he receives by it, since it has prevented his suffering a much greater, no more than a man who is pushed down out of the way of a bullet, can with reason take as an affront, either the blow he falls by, or the dirt he rises with.

But indeed I have very little uneasiness upon me for fear of any injury the author’s credit and reputation may receive from any imperfection [576] or uncorrectness in these following tracts, since the persons from whom I had them, when his affairs called him out of this kingdom, are of so much worth themselves, and have so great a regard for the author, that I am confident they would neither do, nor suffer anything that might turn to his disadvantage. I must confess I am upon another account under some concern, which is, lest some of the following papers are such as the author perhaps would rather should not have been published at all; in which case, I should look upon myself highly obliged to ask his pardon: but even upon this supposition, as there is no person named, the supposed author is at liberty to disown as much as he thinks fit of what is here published, and so can be chargeable with no more of it than he pleases to take upon himself.

From this apology I have been making, the reader may in part be satisfied how these papers came into my hands, and to give him a more particular information herein will prove little to his use, though perhaps it might somewhat gratify his curiosity, which I shall think not material any farther to do, than by assuring him, that I am not only myself sufficiently convinced that all the tracts in the following collection, excepting two, before both of which I have in the book expressed my doubtfulness, were wrote by the same hand, but several judicious persons who are well acquainted with the supposed author’s writings, and not altogether strangers to his conversation, have agreed with me herein, not only for the reasons I have before hinted at, but upon this account also, that there are in every one of these pieces some particular beauties that discover this author’s vein, who excels too much not to be distinguished, since in all his writings such a surprising mixture of wit and learning, true humour and good sense does everywhere appear, as sets him almost as far out of the reach of imitation, as it does beyond the power of censure.

The reception that these pieces will meet with from the public, and the satisfaction they will give to all men of wit and taste, will soon decide it, whither [sic] there be any reason for the reader to suspect an imposition, or the author to apprehend an injury; the former I am fully satisfied will never be, and the latter I am sure I never intended: in confidence of which, should the author when he sees these tracts appear, take some offence, and know where to place his resentment, I will be so free as to own, I could without much uneasiness sit down under some degree of it, since it would be no hard task to hear some displeasure from a single person, for that which one is sure to receive the thanks of everybody else. [577]

‘Advertisement from Works (1735), Vol. 2

The first collection of this author’s writings were published near thirty years ago, under the title of Miscellanies in Verse and Prose [sic]. Several years after, there appeared three volumes of Miscellanies, with a preface to the first, signed J. Swift and A. Pope. In these the verses, with great additions, were printed in a volume by themselves. But in each volume were mixed many poems and treatises, writ by the supposed author’s friends, which we have laid aside; our intention being only to publish the works of one writer. The following poetical volume is enlarged by above a third part, which was never collected before, although some of them were occasionally printed in London in single sheets. The rest were procured from the supposed author’s friends, who at their special request were permitted to take copies.

The following poems chiefly consist of humour or satire, and very often of both together. What merit they may have, we confess ourselves to be no judges of in the least; but out of due regard to a writer, from whose works we hope to receive some benefit, we cannot conceal what we have heard from several persons of great judgement; the author never was known either in verse or prose to borrow any thought, simile, [578] epithet, or particular manner of style; but whatever he writ, whether good, bad, or indifferent, is an original in itself.

Although we are very sensible, that in some of the following poems, the ladies may resent certain satirical touches against the mistaken conduct in some of the fair sex: and that, some warm persons on the prevailing side, may censure this author, whoever he be, for not thinking in public matters exactly like themselves: yet we have been assured by several judicious and learned gentlemen, that what the author hath here writ, on either side of those two subjects, had no other aim than to reform the errors of both sexes. If the public be right in its conjectures of the author, nothing is better known in London, than that while he had credit at the court of Queen Anne, he employed so much of it in favour of Whigs in both kingdoms, that the ministry used to rally him as the advocate of that party, for several of whom he got employments and preserved others from losing what they had: of which some instances remain even in this kingdom. Besides, he then writ and declared against the Pretender, with equal zeal, though not with equal fury, as any of our modern Whigs; of which party he always professed himself to be as to politics, as the reader will find in many parts of his works.

Our intentions were to print the poems according to the time they were writ in; but we could not do it so exactly as we desired, because we could never get the least satisfaction in that or many other circumstances from the supposed author.

Rogers remarks: ‘For Swift’s supervision of the Dublin edition published by Faulkner in 1734/5, see Introduction, p. 17. The volume of poetry, in its cancelled state, contains some ninety-six items written between 1698 and 1733. About forty of these were previously unpublished. (Both counts omit eight riddles.) It is almost certain that Swift was substantially responsible for this ‘;Advertisement’.

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Contents

Preliminary matter: Introduction [15]; Historical Survey [15]; This Edition [19 Acknowledgements [27]; Table of Dates [29]; Map Showing Places in Ireland Associated with Swift and His Friends [32]. Further Reading [33]; Editions [33]; Reference [34]; Biography and Criticism [34]; A Note on Rhythm and Rhyme [37].

The Poems [doubtful attributions are indicated by an asterisk]

Ode to the King [43]; Ode to the Athenian Society [47]; Ode to the Honourable Sir William Temple [55 Ode to Dr William Sancroft [60]; To Mr Congreve [67]; *A Description of Mother Ludwell’s Cave [74]; *On the Burning of Whitehall in [1698 [80 Verses Wrote in a Lady’s Ivory Table-Book [81 The Problem [82]; The Discovery [83]; Mrs Harris’s Petition [85]; A Ballad on the Game of Traffic [87]; A Ballad to the Tune of the Cutpurse [88]; The Description of a Salamander [89]; The History of Vanbrug’s House [91]; Verses Said to be Written on the Union [92]; Occasioued by Sir William Temple’s Late Illness and Recovery [76]; An Elegy on the Supposed Death of Mr Partridge, the Almanac Maker [93 :]; Vanbrug’s House [96]; On Mrs Biddy Floyd [99]; Apollo Outwitted [100]; Baucis and Philemon [102]; ‘In Pity to the Emptying Town’ [106]; A Description of the Morning [107]; On the Little House by the Churchyard of Castleknock [108]; The Virtues of Sid Hamet the Magician’s Rod [109]; A Dialogue between Captain Tom and Sir Henry Dutton Colt [112]; A Description of a City Shower [113]; To Mr Harley’s Surgeon [115]; *A Town Eclogue [115]; Lines from A Famous Prediction of Merlin [117]; An Excellent New Song [117]; The Windsor Prophecy [119]; Corinna [120]; Atlas [121]; *A Fable of the Widow and Her Cat [121]; The Fable of Midas [123]; Toland’s Invitauon to Dismal to Dine with the Calves’ Head Club [125]; Peace and Dunkirk [126]; *Lines from Dunkirk to be Let [128]; To Lord Harley, since Earl of Oxford, on His Marriage [128]; Cadenus and Vanessa [130]; Horace, Epistle VII, Book I: Imitated and Addressed to the Earl of Oxford [153]; The First Ode of the Second Book of Horace Paraphrased and Addressed to Richard Steele, Esq. [156]; Scriblerian Verses [159]; The Faggot [161]; The Author upon Himself [163]; In Sickness [165]; *The Fable of the Bitches [166]; Horace, Lib. [2, Sat.6 [167]; To the Earl of Oxford, Late Lord Treasurer [170]; Dean Swift’s Answer to the Reverend Dr Sheridan [171]; The Dean of St Patrick’s to Thomas Sheridan [171]; A Left-Handed Letter to Dr Sheridan [173]; The Dean to Thomas Sheridan [174]; To Thomas Sheridan [175]; Sheridan, a Goose [176]; Mary the Cook-Maid’s Letter to Dr Sheridan [177]; A Letter to the Reverend Dr Sheridan [178]; To Mr Delany [179]; On Dan Jackson’s Picture [182]; Dan Jackson’s Reply [183]; Another Reply by the Dean [185]; Sheridan’s Submission [186]; The Author’s Manner of Living [187]; Stella’s Birthday (1719) [187]; A Quiet Life and a Good Name [188]; Phyllis [189]; The Progress of Beauty [192]; The Progress of Poetry [195]; From Dr Swift to Dr Sheridan [197]; Dr Swifts Answer to Dr Sheridan [199]; The Dean’s Answer to ‘Upon Stealing a Crown’ [199]; Swift to Sheridan [200]; To Stella, Visiting Me in My Sickness [200]; To Stella, Who Collected and Transcribed His Poems [204]; Upon the South Sea Project [207]; An Elegy on the Much Lamented Death of Mr Demar, the Famous Rich Usurer [214]; Lines from Cadenus to Vanessa [216]; ‘Dorinda Dreams of Dress Abed? [216]; An Excellent New Song on a Seditious Pamphlet [217]; Part of the Ninth Ode of the Fourth Book of Horace [218]; The Run upon the Bankers [219]; Mr Jason Hassard, a Woollen Draper in Dublin [220]; The Description of an Irish Feast [221]; Stella’s Birthday (1721) [223]; The Answer to Vanessa’s Rebus [225]; Apollo to the Dean [225]; An Epilogue to a Play for the Benefit of the Weavers in Ireland [228]; *Apollo’s Edict [229]; George Nim-Dan-Dean, Esq. to Mr Sheridan [231]; George Nim-Dan-Dean’s Invitation to Mr Thomas Sheridan [233]; To Mr Sheridan, upon His Verses Written in Circles [234]; The Part of a Summer [235]; A Quibbling Elegy on the Worshipful Judge Boat [238]; *The Bank Thrown Down [239]; To Stella on Her Birthday [241]; A Satirical Elegy on the Death of a Late Famous General [242]; The Progress of Marriage [242]; Upon the Horrid Plot Discovered by Harlequin the Bishop of Rochester’s French Dog [247]; The Storm [249]; Billet to the Company of Players [251]; To Charles Ford, Esq. on His Birthday [253]; Stella’s Birthday (1723): A Great Bottle of Wine, Long Buried, being That Day Dug Up [256]; The First of April [258]; Stella at Woodpark [260]; Pethox the Great [262]; Three Epigrams [265]; A Portrait from the Life [266]; A New Year’s Gift for Bec [266]; Dingley and Brent [267]; To Stella. Written on the Day of Her Birth [267]; His Grace’s Answer to Jonathan [268]; On Dreams [270]; The Answer to Dr Delany [271]; A Serious Poem upon William Wood [273]; An Epigram on Wood’s Brass Money [276]; *A Poetical Epistle to Dr Sheridan [276]; To His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin [278]; *An Excellent New Song upon His Grace Our Good Lord Archbishop of Dublin [278]; Prometheus [280]; Whitshed’s Motto on His Coach [282]; Verses on the Upright Judge [283]; Verses Left in a Window of Dublin Castle [283]; A Letter from Dean Swift to Dean Smedley [284]; Stella’s Birthday (1725) [286]; *Verses on the Revival of the Order of the Bath [287]; Wood, an Insect [287]; On Wood the Ironmonger [289]; A Simile [290]; *On Wisdom’s Defeat in a Learned Debate [291]; Horace, Book I, Ode XIV [291]; *A Copy of Verses upon Two Celebrated Modern Poets [293]; An Apology to the Lady Carteret [294]; A Receipt to Restore Stella’s Youth [298]; To Quilca [300]; Verses from Quilca [300]; Lines to Pope [301]; Riddles [301 ;]; The Answer to Delany’s Riddle [310]; Upon Four Dismal Stories in the Doctor’s Letter [311 On the Collar of Mrs Dingley’s Lap-Dog [312]; Bec’s Birthday [312]; Stella’s Birthday (1727) [313]; Clever Tom Clinch Going to be Hanged [316]; On Seeing Verses Written upon Windows inInns [316 On Reading Dr Young’s Satires [317]; Advice to the Grub Street Verse-Writers [318]; To the Earl of Peterborough [319]; Dr Swift to Mr Pope [320]; A Pastoral Dialogue between Richmond Lodge and Marble Hill [321 Desire and Possession [324]; On Censure [326]; The Dog and the Thief [327]; The Furniture of a Woman’s Mind [327]; The Power of Time [329]; Holyhead. September [25, [1727 [329]; Ireland [330]; ‘When Mrs Welch’s Chimney Smokes’ [332]; On Lord Carteret’s Arms [332]; On the Five Ladies at Sot’s Hole, with the Doctor at Their Head [333 The Beau’s Reply to the Five Ladies’ Answer [334 An Elegy on Dicky and Dolly [335]; Mad Mullinix and Timothy [336]; Tim and the Fables [343]; Tom Mullinex and Dick [344]; Dick, a Maggot [345]; Clad Allin Brown [345]; Dick’s Variety [346]; My Lady’s Lamentation and Complaint against the Dean [347 On Cutting Down the Old Thorn at Market Hill [353 An Answer to the Ballyspellin Ballad [356]; The Answer to ‘Paulus’ [358]; Lady Acheson Weary of the Dean [362]; Ona Very Old Glass [364]; To Janus [364]; The Journal of a Modern Lady [365]; *On Paddy’s Character of ‘The Intelligencer’ [372]; Dean Smedley Gone to Seek His Fortune [373]; Verses Occasioned by the Sudden Drying Up of St Patrick’s Well near Trinity College, Dublin [375]; To Dean Swift [377]; Drapier’s Hill [378]; Robin and Harry [379]; The Grand Question Debated [380]; A Pastoral Dialogue [386]; Directions for a Birthday Song [388]; On Burning a Dull Poem [395]; The Revolution at Market Hill [396]; A Dialogue between an Eminent Lawyer and Dr Swift, Dean of St Patrick’s [399]; An Epistle upon an Epistle [400]; A Libel on the Reverend Dr Delany and His Excellency John, Lord Carteret [404]; On the Irish Club [409]; *A Panegyric on the Reverend Dean Swift [410]; To Dr Delany, on the Libels Writ against Him [415]; To a Friend Who had been Much Abused in Many Inveterate Libels [419]; An Answer to Dr Delany’s Fable of the Pheasant and the Lark [420]; Traulus [422]; On Psyche [427]; The Dean’s Reasons for Not Building at Drapier’s Hill [427]; Death and Daphne [430]; Daphne [433]; Twelve Articles [434]; The Dean to Himself on St Cecilia’s Day [435]; A Panegyric on the Dean [436]; An Excellent New Ballad [445]; On Stephen Duck, the Thresher, and Favourite Poet [447]; To Betty the Grisette [447]; The Lady’s Dressing Room [448]; Apollo: or, A Problem Solved [452]; A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed [453]; Strephon and Chloe [455]; Cassinus and Peter [463]; To Mr Gay [466]; On Mr Pulteney being Put Out of the Council [471 The Character of Sir Robert Walpole [472]; To Dr Helsham [472]; To Dr Sheridan [473]; ‘Can You Match with Me’ [473]; A Riddling Letter [474]; Probatur Aliter [475]; The Place of the Damned [476]; “Helter Skelter [477]; *The Life and Genuine Character of Dr Swift [478 Verses on the Death of Dr Swift, D.S.P.D. [485 Judas [498]; On the Irish Bishops [499]; Advice to a Parson [5O01.]; Epigram [501]; Verses on I Know Not What [501]; An Answer to a Scandalous Poem [502]; Epigram on the Hermitage at Richmond [506]; ‘A Paper Book is Sent by Boyle’ [506]; On the Day of Judgement [507]; The Beasts’ Confession to the Priest [507]; Toa Lady [514]; On Poetry: a Rhapsody [522]; The Hardship Put upon Ladies [536]; A Love Song in the Modern Taste [536]; Verses Made in Swift’s Sleep [537 |]; On the Words ‘Brother Protestants and Fellow Christians’ [537 The Yahoo’s Overthrow [539]; *An Epigram, Inscribed to the Honourable Serjeant Kite [541 On the Archbishop of Cashel and Bettesworth [542 Epigram on Fasting [542]; On His Own Deafness [543]; Anglo-Latin Verses [543]; *Verses Spoken Extempore by Dean Swift on His Curate’s Complaint of Hard Duty [544]; *The Parson’s Case [545]; The Dean and Duke [546]; On Dr Rundle [546]; *An Epigram [548]; On a Printer’s being Sent to Newgate [549]; On Noisy Tom [549]; A Character, Panegyric, and Description of the Legion Club [550 *Bounce to Fop [556]; Addenda Quaedam [559]; Lesbia [560]; A Satire on an Inconstant Lover [560]; *Aye and No: A Tale from Dublin [560]; *‘Behold! A Proof of Irish Sense!’ [561]; *To Mrs Houghton of Bormount [561]; *An Epigram on Scolding [561]; Verses Made for the Women Who Cry Apples, etc. [561 A Cantata [563]; *The Elephant [564]; *Aye and No: A Fable [565].

Appendices

Appendix I - Latin Poems [567]: Ad Amicum Eruditum Thomam Sheridan [569]; Carberiae Rupes [570]; Fabula Canis et Umbrae [571]. Appendix 2 - Prefaces [573]: ‘The Publisher to the Reader’ from Miscellanies in Prose and Verse (1711) [575]; ‘Advertisement’ from the Works (1735), Vol. 2 [577]; Appendix 3 - Manuscript Versions [579]: Vanbrug’s House [581]; The Story of Baucis & Philemon [583]; An Answer to a Late Scandalous Poem [588]; Appendix [4 Doubtful Attributions [593]; Notes [597]. Biographical Dictionary [907] Index of Titles [943]; Index of First Lines [950].

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