Saturday, April 20, 2024
Tyrant
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), "Ode to the King. On his Irish Expedition and the Success of his Arms in General," lines 119-129 (from Stanza VII):
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That Restless Tyrant, who of lateSwift meant Louis XIV, but I can think of some modern political figures who fit the bill equally well.
Is grown so impudently Great, 120
That Tennis-Ball of Fate;
This Gilded Meteor which flyes
As if it meant to touch the Skies;
For all its boasted height,
For all its Plagiary Light, 125
Took its first Growth and Birth
From the worst Excrements of Earth;
Stay but a little while and down again 'twill come,
And end as it began, in Vapour, Stink, and Scum.
