Analysis of Mutton

Jonathan Swift 1667 (Dublin) – 1745 (Ireland)



Gently stir and blow the fire,
Lay the mutton down to roast,
Dress it quickly, I desire,
In the dripping put a toast,
That I hunger may remove --
Mutton is the meat I love.
On the dresser see it lie;
Oh, the charming white and red;
Finer meat ne'er met the eye,
On the sweetest grass it fed:
Let the jack go swiftly round,
Let me have it nice and brown'd.
On the table spread the cloth,
Let the knives be sharp and clean,
Pickles get and salad both,
Let them each be fresh and green.
With small beer, good ale and wine,
Oh ye gods! how I shall dine.


Scheme ABABCDEFEFGGHIJIKK
Poetic Form
Metre 10101010 1010111 11101010 0010101 1110101 1010111 1010111 1010101 1011101 1010111 1011101 1111101 1010101 1011101 1010101 1111101 1111101 1111111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 540
Words 113
Sentences 6
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 18
Lines Amount 18
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 414
Words per stanza (avg) 111
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

34 sec read
2,556

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. more…

All Jonathan Swift poems | Jonathan Swift Books

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1 Comment
  • nataliet.81733
    Why did he write such a thing? what is he trying to say?
    LikeReply4 months ago

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What year was "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" originally published?
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