Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE REVOLUTION AT MARKET HILL, by JONATHAN SWIFT Poet's Biography First Line: From distant regions, fortune sends Last Line: Dispatch the rogues by whom they rise. Subject(s): Market Hill, Ireland | ||||||||
From distant regions, Fortune sends An odd triumvirate of friends; Where Phoebus pays a scanty stipend, Where never yet a codling ripened: Hither the frantic goddess draws Three sufferers in a ruined cause. By faction banished here unite, A Dean, a Spaniard, and a knight. Unite; but on conditions cruel; The Dean and Spaniard find it too well; Condemned to live in service hard; On either side his Honour's guard: The Dean, to guard his honour's back, Must build a castle at Drumlack: The Spaniard, sore against his will, Must raise a fort at Market Hill. And thus, the pair of humble gentry, At North and South are posted sentry; While in his lordly castle fixed, The knight triumphant reigns betwixt: And, what the wretches most resent, To be his slaves must pay him rent; Attend him daily as their chief, Decant his wine, and carve his beef. O Fortune, 'tis a scandal for thee To smile on those who are least worthy. Weigh but the merits of the three, His slaves have ten times more than he. Proud baronet of Nova Scotia, The Dean and Spaniard must reproach ye; Of their two fames the world enough rings; Where are thy services and sufferings? What, if for nothing once you kissed, Against the grain, a monarch's fist? What, if among the courtly tribe, You lost a place, and saved a bribe? And, then in surly mode came here To fifteen hundred pounds a year, And fierce against the Whigs harangued? You never ventured to be hanged. How dare you treat your betters thus? Are you to be compared to us? Come Spaniard, let us from our farms Call forth our cottagers to arms; Our forces let us both unite, Attack the foe at left and right; From Market Hill's exalted head, Full northward, let your troops be led: While I from Drapier's Mount descend, And to the south my squadrons bend: New River Walk with friendly shade, Shall keep my host in ambuscade; While you, from where the basin stands, Shall scale the ramparts with your bands. Nor need we doubt the fort to win; I hold intelligence within. True, Lady Anne no danger fears, Brave as the Upton fan she wears: Then, lest upon our first attack Her valiant arm should force us back, And we of all our hopes deprived; I have a stratagem contrived; By these embroidered high heel shoes, She shall be caught as in a noose: So well contrived her toes to pinch, She'll not have power to stir an inch; These gaudy shoes must Hannah place Direct before her lady's face. The shoes put on; our faithful portress Admits us in, to storm the fortress; While tortured madam bound remains, Like Montezume in golden chains: Or, like a cat with walnuts shod, Stumbling at every step she trod. Sly hunters thus, in Borneo's isle, To catch a monkey by a wile; The mimic animal amuse; They place before him gloves and shoes; Which when the brute puts awkward on, All his agility is gone; In vain to frisk or climb he tries; The huntsmen seize the grinning prize. But, let us on our first assault Secure the larder, and the vault. The valiant Dennis you must fix on, And, I'll engage with Peggy Dixon: Then if we once can seize the key, And chest, that keeps my Lady's tea, They must surrender at discretion: And soon as we have got possession, We'll act as other conquerors do; Divide the realm between us two. Then, (let me see) we'll make the knight Our clerk, for he can read and write; But, must not think, I tell him that, Like Lorimer, to wear his hat. Yet, when we dine without a friend, We'll place him at the lower end. Madam, whose skill does all in dress lie, May serve to wait on Mrs Leslie: But, lest it might not be so proper, That her own maid should overtop her; To mortify the creature more, We'll take her heels five inches lower. For Hannah; when we have no need of her, 'Twill be our interest to get rid of her: And when we execute our plot, 'Tis best to hang her on the spot; As all your politicians wise Dispatch the rogues by whom they rise. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON CUTTING DOWN THE OLD THORN AT MARKET HILL by JONATHAN SWIFT A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG NYMPH GOING TO BED by JONATHAN SWIFT A DESCRIPTION OF A CITY SHOWER by JONATHAN SWIFT A DESCRIPTION OF THE MORNING by JONATHAN SWIFT A GENTLE ECHO ON WOMAN (IN THE DORIC MANNER) by JONATHAN SWIFT A SATIRICAL ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF A LATE FAMOUS GENERAL by JONATHAN SWIFT AN EPIGRAM ON SCOLDING by JONATHAN SWIFT CLEVER TOM CLINCH GOING TO BE HANGED by JONATHAN SWIFT DICK, A MAGGOT by JONATHAN SWIFT DRAPIER'S HILL by JONATHAN SWIFT HELTER SKELTER; OR, THE HUE AND CRY AFTER THE ATTORNEYS by JONATHAN SWIFT |
|