Swift a Master of Style and of Satire.

Swift's style is very near perfection. Clear, pointed, precise, he seems to have no difficulty in finding won to express exactly the impression which he wishes to convey. The sentences are not always grammatically correct, but they come home to the reader, like the words of a great orator or advocate, with convincing force. He realises so clearly what he is describing that the reader is, of necessity, interested and impressed There are no tricks of style, no recurring phrases; no ornaments, no studied effects; the object is attained without apparent effort, with an outward gravity marking the underlying satire or cynicism, and an apparent calmness concealing bitter invective. There is never any doubt of his earnestness, whatever may be the mockery on the surface. For the metaphysical and the speculative, he had no sympathy.

Swift's Verse.

Swift's poetry has the merits of his prose, but not many other merits. He began by writing frigid "Pindaric" odes, after the fashion of Cowley, and, from his letters, we know that he set considerable value on them, and that they underwent much revision. But Dryden was right when, after perusing some of these verses, he said, "Cousin Swift, you will never be a poet." This comment caused much annoyance to Swift, as we may conclude from the hostile references to Dryden in several of his writings. It was, however, taken to heart; for he produced no more stilted odes, but, in future, confined himself to lighter verse, modelled on Butler, and generally of a satirical nature. One of the earliest and most attractive of his playful pieces, the graceful Baucis and Philemon, was published, with the pretty verses On Mrs. Biddy Floyd, in the last volume of Tonson's Miscellany (1709). In other pieces, A Description of a City Shower and A Description of the Morning, published in The Tatler, the subject is treated purely from a humorous and satirical point of view. Among his later works, The Grand Question debated (1729), with its studies of Lady Acheson and of her maid, Hannah, is altogether delightful.

In two pieces written in imitation of Horace (1713-14), Swift described, in felicitous words, his friendship with Harley, and gave some account of his own feelings before and after he was appointed to the deanery of St. Patrick's. Harley saw Swift "cheapening old authors on a stall"

A clergyman of special note

For shunning those of his own coat;

Which made his brethren of the gown

Take care betimes to run him down:

No libertine, nor over nice,

Addicted to no sort of vice;

Went where he pleased, said what he thought;

Not rich, but owed no man a groat.

Harley adopted him as a humble friend, and said that Swift must be a dean: he need but cross the Irish sea to have power and ease. Swift had often wished that he had "for life, six hundred pounds a year." with a garden, and a good house for a friend, Now he had all this and more, and would have been content, could he have lived nearer London.

The famous Cadenus and Vanessa (1713) gives, in a mock classical setting, Swift's account of his acquaintance with Hester Vanhomrigh, and of his surprise and distress at finding her in love with him. Vanessa scorned fops and fine ladies; at length, she met the dean,

Grown old in politics and wit,

Caress'd by ministers of state,

Of half mankind the dread and hate.

His fame led her to forget his age; but he did not understand what love was; his feelings were those of a father and a tutor. After a time, he found that her thoughts wandered, and, at length, she confessed that his lessons had found the weakest part,

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 788