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Four poems

Jonathan Swift, Irish man of letters
Jonathan Swift, Irish man of letters
  • On a Pair of Dice
  • We are little brethren twain,
  • Arbiters of loss and gain,
  • Many to our counters run,
  • Some are made, and some undone:
  • But men find it to their cost,
  • Few are made, but numbers lost.
  • Though we play them tricks for ever,
  • Yet they always hope our favour. 
  • On a Circle
  • I’m up and down, and round about,
  • Yet all the world can’t find me out;
  • Though hundreds have employ’d their leisure,
  • They never yet could find my measure.
  • I’m found almost in every garden,
  • Nay, in the compass of a farthing.
  • There’s neither chariot, coach, nor mill,
  • Can move an inch except I will. 
  • On an Ill-Managed House
  • Let me thy properties explain: 
  • A rotten cabin dropping rain: 
  • Chimneys, with scorn rejecting smoke; 
  • Stools, tables, chairs, and bedsteads broke. 
  • Here elements have lost their uses, 
  • Air ripens not, nor earth produces: 
  • In vain we make poor Sheelah toil, 
  • Fire will not roast, nor water boil. 
  • Through all the valleys, hills, and plains, 
  • The Goddess Want, in triumph reigns: 
  • And her chief officers of state, 
  • Sloth, Dirt, and Theft, around her wait. 
  • On Time
  • Ever eating, never cloying,
  • All-devouring, all-destroying,
  • Never finding full repast,
  • Till I eat the world at last. 

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) was an Irish man of letters — who wrote satires, essays, political commentary and analysis, and poetry. Most famous for his satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels and his equally satirical “A Modest Proposal” (which proposes to solve Irish poverty once and for all for England through systematic cannibalism of Ireland’s population), this cleric, who became the dean of St. Patrick Cathedral, Dublin, is also well-regarded for his classic, tightly constructed satires, invoking the spirit and style of such Roman satirists as Horace, Juvenal, and Martial.

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Jonathan Swift, Irish man of letters
Jonathan Swift, Irish man of letters
  • On a Pair of Dice
  • We are little brethren twain,
  • Arbiters of loss and gain,
  • Many to our counters run,
  • Some are made, and some undone:
  • But men find it to their cost,
  • Few are made, but numbers lost.
  • Though we play them tricks for ever,
  • Yet they always hope our favour. 
  • On a Circle
  • I’m up and down, and round about,
  • Yet all the world can’t find me out;
  • Though hundreds have employ’d their leisure,
  • They never yet could find my measure.
  • I’m found almost in every garden,
  • Nay, in the compass of a farthing.
  • There’s neither chariot, coach, nor mill,
  • Can move an inch except I will. 
  • On an Ill-Managed House
  • Let me thy properties explain: 
  • A rotten cabin dropping rain: 
  • Chimneys, with scorn rejecting smoke; 
  • Stools, tables, chairs, and bedsteads broke. 
  • Here elements have lost their uses, 
  • Air ripens not, nor earth produces: 
  • In vain we make poor Sheelah toil, 
  • Fire will not roast, nor water boil. 
  • Through all the valleys, hills, and plains, 
  • The Goddess Want, in triumph reigns: 
  • And her chief officers of state, 
  • Sloth, Dirt, and Theft, around her wait. 
  • On Time
  • Ever eating, never cloying,
  • All-devouring, all-destroying,
  • Never finding full repast,
  • Till I eat the world at last. 

Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) was an Irish man of letters — who wrote satires, essays, political commentary and analysis, and poetry. Most famous for his satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels and his equally satirical “A Modest Proposal” (which proposes to solve Irish poverty once and for all for England through systematic cannibalism of Ireland’s population), this cleric, who became the dean of St. Patrick Cathedral, Dublin, is also well-regarded for his classic, tightly constructed satires, invoking the spirit and style of such Roman satirists as Horace, Juvenal, and Martial.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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