Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Verses on The Death of Doctor Swift is a long satirical poetic eulogy that Swift wrote for himself in 1739. Though he continued to live till late 1745, he wrote about how people will feel at his death. The poem was inspired by a maxim by French moralist and author Francois de la Rochefoucauld. The maxim simply says “In the misfortune of our best friends we always find something that does not displease us.” Jonathan Swift begins his poem with this maxim and then he continues his 500 lines long take on the maxim in this poem. Jonathan Swift seems to agree with the maxim but at the end of the poem, he does offer contradiction. He didn’t write this poem as a confessional statement agreeing with the maxim, rather he wrote this poem to develop better human behavior and morals. Swift uses satire to criticize the follies and weaknesses of himself, his friends, and others as a cynical observer and this creates an irony because it appears as if Swift is enjoying the description of follies and weaknesses of his friends and others, and thus, is proving the maxim.
Structure of Verse on The Death of Doctor Swift:
It is a 500-line long poem that can be divided into seven parts. In the first part, Swift introduces the maxim by La Rochefoucauld and explains it with examples in common life. In the second part, the poet discusses his own life, friends, and acquaintances while relating to the maxim. In the third part, Swift implements the maxim to observe the behavior of onlookers of Swift’s last illness. In the fourth part, Swift imagines his death and discusses the public and political reaction it would entail. In the fifth part, he discusses how his friends and acquaintances will feel at his death; in the sixth part, the poet reflects on the fate of his work one year after his death. In the last part, Swift offers a eulogy for himself as a detached observer.
Summary of Verses on The Death of Doctor Swift:
Section 1 (lines 1-38)
Swift states the English translation of the French maxim by La Rochefoucauld above all and then he begins his poem while describing the essence of the maxim and says,
“In all distresses of our friends / We first consult our private ends,
While Nature, kindly bent to ease us, / Points out some circumstance to please us” Swift simply states that human by nature is selfish and to support this, the poet offers four hard-hitting facts from common life. Firstly, he mentions that no one in a crowded place where people have gathered to see an action wishes to have his view obstructed by another one, even a close friend, standing at a higher position. It fills us with a sense of loss. He then says that the competitiveness between close friends may instigate the friends of a hero to “wish his laurels cropped,” that is, the friends may wish to be a reduction of the hero’s accolades, or they may wish to get bigger accolades to out-compete him. The poet then says that it is always easy patiently bear the pain and illness of another one while it is always difficult to go through the same pain. That is, even though we may feel sympathetic towards the other one in distress, we can never feel the same pain that the other one is going through. In the fourth example, Swift brings up his profession and says that no poet would want to see others “write as well as he.” Swift then proclaims that selfishness and pride are implicit in human nature and says, “The strongest friendship yields to pride, / Unless the odds be on our side.”
Section 2 (Lines 39-72)
In the second section, Swift offers his misanthropic view and says, “Vain humankind! Fantastic race! / Thy various follies who can trace?” After establishing that selfishness and pride are implicit in human nature, Swift satirizes and impugns the honesty of those who claim that they are sympathetic and altruistic. Swift declares that the key characteristics of humankind are “Self-love, ambition, envy, pride.” He then brings focus on himself and his friends which include, Pope, Gay, Arbuthnot, St. John, and Pultney. He praises all of them and mentions the strength of each of them. But then he frankly admits his jealousy and mortification over their success and says, “When you sink, I seem the higher.” He admits that when his friends fail, he feels some sort of pleasure in it. He then admits that his friends are highly skilled and successful but claims that they are playing on his turf with tools of poetry, prose, wit, and irony, of which he was the original master. Thus, he suggests his superiority over his friends. He then offers a strong reference to the initial maxim and says, “To all my foes, dear Fortune, send / Thy gifts, but never to my friend: / I tamely can endure the first, / But this with envy makes me burst”.
Section 3 (Lines 73-143)
After exposing his own jealousy, envy, and selfishness, Swift targets his friends and imagines how his friends would react at the news of his last illness and wonder what profit would they gain by his death and says, “My special friends / Will try to find their private ends: / Though it is hardly understood / Which way my death can do them good.” He then imagines the good and says that after his death, his friends will discuss how his wit and sarcasm were getting weaker and weaker with his growing age and will exclaim that they are better than him as “themselves, and reason[ing] thus: / ‘it is not yet so bad with us’” He then proposes a hypothesis and says if some of his friends prophesy his death at his illness, then he would rather wish that he dies, otherwise, his prophecy would prove a lie that he wouldn’t like.
Section 4 and 5 (Lines 144-204 and Lines 205-242)
In these sections, Swift imagines the reaction of the public and close friends to the news of his death. In the fourth section, he describes the imaginative reaction of public and political offices to the news of his death; in the fifth section, he describes the reaction of his friends. Then he declares that just like strangers public, his close friends too will not be much affected by his death and says that like strangers, his friends too will remain apathetic at the news of his death and claims, “Indifference clad in wisdom’s guise / All fortitude of mind supplies.” He says that his friends will offer reasons not to worry much and remain indifferent because as wisdom suggests all good things must end, and all good people must die. Swift again reflects on the maxim of La Rochefoucauld and says “When we are lashed, they kiss the rod, / Resigning to the will of God.” That is, when we or someone suffers, our friends say that it is the will of God and then they praise God. Swift suggests that his friends will hardly be concerned by his death. While he mentions that he wishes no ill will to his friends, he certainly shows them in a bad light. The self-centeredness of his friends and humanity, in general, can make the reader feel bad for being a human.
Section 6 (Lines 243-298)
In this section, Swift imagines what would happen to his literary work after one year of his death. He then says that his death would be pleasing to the new emerging writers as their works will rise to the status of best-selling literature while the popularity of his work will reduce. He then imagines a squire visiting Lintot the bookseller to enquire about Swift’s work and says that the bookseller will probably answer, “Dean was famous in his time, / And had a kind of knack at rhyme. / His way of writing is now past: / The town has got a better taste.” In a way, he demeans the new writers who take the help of the scribe to take their place on the bookseller’s shelves.
Section 7 (Lines 299-484)
In this section, Swift offers a eulogy to himself and suggests that he lived a calm life “quite indifferent in the cause.” Swift says that when a successful person dies, even their minor acquaintances pretend to be close friends to the diseased and they do so to gain profits from such suggested connections with the person of reputation who just died. He then says that his death too will offer an opportunity to many such mad people and fools who will pretend to be his great friends so that they may gain something from these false connections with the dead man. Thus, even after his death, he will get some mad and fool friends. He further says that though selfishness is innate in human nature, he was different and selfless. He says, “Without regarding private ends / Spent all his Credits for his Friends./” He establishes that though the maxim of La Rochefucauld appears true, he is an exclusion. He then explains the nature of his literary work and says that "malice never was his aim; / He lash'd the vice, but spar'd the name."
The purpose of satire is to reduce the position of others while elevating one’s own position. Swift does the same by declaring that all others, including his friends, are selfish, self-centered, envious, and proud, he is an anomaly, a better and honorable scholar.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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