Classic and Contemporary Poetry
AN EPISTLE TO ROBERT NUGENT WITH PICTURE OF DR. SWIFT, SELECTION, by WILLIAM DUNKIN First Line: Hibernia's helicon is dry, / invention, wit and humour die Last Line: Is but a shell without the gem. Subject(s): Old Age; Portraits; Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745) | ||||||||
HIBERNIA'S Helicon is dry, Invention, wit and humour die, And what remains against the storm Of malice, but an empty form? The nodding ruins of a pile That stood the bulwark of this isle; In which the sisterhood was fixed Of candid honour, truth unmixed, Imperial reason, thought profound, And charity, diffusing round In cheerful rivulets the flow Of fortune to the sons of woe. Such once, my N[u]g[en]t, was thy Swift, Endued with each exalted gift. But, lo! the pure ethereal flame Is darkened by a misty steam: The balm exhausted breathes no smell, The rose is withered ere it fell. That godlike supplement of law, That held the wicked world in awe, And could the tide of faction stem, Is but a shell without the gem. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HYPOCRITE SWIFT by LOUISE BOGAN THE HAPPY LIFE OF A COUNTRY PARSON by ALEXANDER POPE THE LAMENTATION OF GLUMDALCLITCH FOR THE LOSS OF GRILDRIG by ALEXANDER POPE ON THE DEATH OF DR. SWIFT by JONATHAN SWIFT SWIFT'S EPITAPH by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS ON SENDING MY SON AS A PRESENT TO DR. SWIFT by MARY BARBER QUILCA HOUSE TO THE DEAN by HENRY BROOKE THE MAN-MOUNTAIN'S ANSWER TO THE LILLIPUTIAN VERSES by JOHN GAY |
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