Jonathan Swift Poems

Poems » jonathan swift

Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was born at No. 7, Hoey's Court, Dublin, and was the second child and only son of Jonathan and Abigail Erick (or Herrick) Swift. His father was Irish born and his mother was born in England. Jonathan arrived seven months after his father's untimely death. Most of the facts of Swift's early life are obscure, confused and sometimes contradictory. It is widely believed that his mother returned to England when Jonathan was still very young, then leaving him to be raised by his father's family. His uncle Godwin took primary responsibility for the young Jonathan, sending him with one of his cousins to Kilkenny College (also attended by the philosopher George Berkeley).

a swimmer's dream
 
 
NOVEMBER 4, 1889

Somno mollior unda

Dawn is dim on the dark soft water,... [read poem]
the bagel
 
 
I stopped to pick up the bagel
rolling away in the wind,
annoyed with myself
for havi... [read poem]
the last oracle
 
 
(A.D. 361)

eipate toi basilei, xamai pese daidalos aula.
ouketi PHoibos exei kaluba... [read poem]
a ballad of death
 
 
Kneel down, fair Love, and fill thyself with tears,
Girdle thyself with sighing for a girth... [read poem]
a ballad of burdens
 
 
The burden of fair women. Vain delight,
And love self-slain in some sweet shameful way,... [read poem]
the triumph of time
 
 
Before our lives divide for ever,
While time is with us and hands are free,
(Time, swi... [read poem]
the complaint of lisa
 
 
(Double Sestina)

DECAMERON, x. 7

There is no woman living that d... [read poem]
in memory of walter savage landor
 
 
Back to the flower-town, side by side,
The bright months bring,
New-born, the brideg... [read poem]
sestina
 
 
I saw my soul at rest upon a day
As a bird sleeping in the nest of night,
Among soft l... [read poem]
a sequence of sonnets on the death of robert browning
 
 
The clearest eyes in all the world they read
With sense more keen and spirit of sight more... [read poem]
a leave-taking
 
 
Let us go hence, my songs; she will not hear.
Let us go hence together without fear;
Keep ... [read poem]
ave atque vale
 
 
Nous devrions pourtant lui porter quelques fleurs;
Les morts, les pauvres morts, ont de grandes... [read poem]
to a cat
 
 
Stately, kindly, lordly friend,
Condescend
Here to sit by me, and turn
Glorious e... [read poem]
the garden of proserpine
 
 
Here, where the world is quiet;
Here, where all trouble seems
Dead winds' and spent ... [read poem]
in the bay
 
 
Beyond the hollow sunset, ere a star
Take heart in heaven from eastward, while the west,
F... [read poem]
hymn to proserpine
 
 
Vicisti, Galilæe.

I have lived long enough, having seen one thing, t... [read poem]
the pilgrims
 
 
Who is your lady of love, O ye that pass
Singing? and is it for sorrow of that which was
... [read poem]
cor cordium
 
 
O heart of hearts, the chalice of love's fire,
Hid round with flowers and all the bounty o... [read poem]
étude réaliste
 
 
A baby's feet, like sea-shells pink,
Might tempt, should heaven see meet,
An angel's l... [read poem]
march: an ode
 
 
1887

Ere frost-flower and snow-blossom faded and fell, and the splendour of winter had p... [read poem]
the epitaph in form of a ballad which villon made for himself and his comrades, expecting to be hanged along with them
 
 
Men, brother men, that after us yet live,
Let not your hearts too hard against us be;
... [read poem]
dolores (notre-dame des sept douleurs)
 
 
Cold eyelids that hide like a jewel
Hard eyes that grow soft for an hour;
The heavy wh... [read poem]
hertha
 
 
I am that which began;
Out of me the years roll;
Out of me God and man;... [read poem]
atalanta in calydon: a tragedy (complete text)
 
 
Tous zontas eu dran. katthanon de pas aner
Ge kai skia. to meden eis ouden repei

EU... [read poem]
a channel crossing
 
 
Forth from Calais, at dawn of night, when sunset summer on autumn shone,
Fared the steamer aler... [read poem]
a ballad of françois villon, prince of all ballad-makers
 
 
Bird of the bitter bright grey golden morn
Scarce risen upon the dusk of dolorous years,... [read poem]
choriambics
 
 
Love, what ailed thee to leave life that was made lovely, we thought, with love?
What sweet vis... [read poem]
itylus
 
 
Swallow, my sister, O sister swallow,
How can thine heart be full of the spring?
... [read poem]
laus veneris
 
 
Asleep or waking is it? for her neck,
Kissed over close, wears yet a purple speck
Wher... [read poem]
a forsaken garden
 
 
In a coign of the cliff between lowland and highland,
At the sea-down's edge between windw... [read poem]

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