The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift/Volume 7/A Ballad to the Tune of the Cut-purse

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The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 7
(1699)
by Jonathan Swift, edited by Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, John Boyle, Patrick Delany, John Hawkesworth, Deane Swift, William Bowyer, John Birch, and George Faulkner

A Ballad—To the tune of the Cut-purse

The Discovery

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See the previous poem, A Ballad on the Game of Traffick.

1560029The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 7
— A Ballad—To the tune of the Cut-purse1699Jonathan Swift

A BALLAD,

TO THE TUNE OF, THE CUT-PURSE^[1].

Written in 1699.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠I.

ONCE on a time, as old stories rehearse,
⁠A friar would need show his talent in Latin;
But was sorely put to 't in the midst of a verse,
⁠Because he could find no word to come pat in:
⁠⁠⁠⁠Then all in the place
⁠⁠⁠⁠He left a void space,
⁠⁠⁠And so went to bed in a desperate case:
When behold the next morning a wonderful riddle!
He found it was strangely filled up in the middle.

⁠Cho. Let censuring criticks then think what they list on 't;
⁠⁠⁠Who would not write verses with such an assistant?

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠II.

This put me the friar into an amazement:
⁠For he wisely consider'd it must be a sprite;
That he came through the keyhole, or in at the casement;
⁠And it needs must be one that could both read and write:
⁠⁠⁠⁠Yet he did not know
⁠⁠⁠⁠If it were friend or foe,
⁠Or whether it came from above or below:
However, 'twas civil, in angel or elf,
For he ne er could have fill'd it so well of himself.

⁠Chor. Let censuring, &c.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠III.

Even so master doctor had puzzled his brains
⁠In making a ballad, but was at a stand:
He had mixt little wit with a great deal of pains,
⁠When he found a new help from invisible hand.
⁠⁠⁠⁠Then, good doctor Swift,
⁠⁠⁠⁠Pay thanks for the gift,
⁠For you freely must own, you were at a dead lift:
And, though some malicious young spirit did do 't,
You may know by the hand it had no cloven foot.

⁠Cho. Let censuring, &c.

↑ Lady Betty Berkeley, finding the preceding verses in the author's room unfinished, wrote under them the concluding stanza; which gave occasion to this ballad, written by the author in a counterfeit hand, as if a third person had done it.

[1] Lady Betty Berkeley, finding the preceding verses in the author's room unfinished, wrote under them the concluding stanza; which gave occasion to this ballad, written by the author in a counterfeit hand, as if a third person had done it.

[1]