... had written me a poem like Swift wrote Stella.
Stella this day is thirty-four,
(We shan’t dispute a year or more)
However, Stella, be not troubled,
Although thy size and years are doubled,
Since first I saw thee at sixteen,
The brightest virgin on the green;
So little is thy form declin’d;
Made up so largely in thy mind.
Oh, would it please the gods to split
Thy beauty, size, and years, and wit;
No age could furnish out a pairs
Of nymphs so graceful, wise, and fair;
With half the lustre of your eyes,
With half your wit, your years, and size.
And then, before it grew too late,
How should I beg of gentle Fate,
(That either nymph might have her swain,)
To split my worship too in twain.
It's funny, wicked and clearly a huge compliment to a girl who's not just some bimbo. Sigh, I love that poem.
Tuesday, June 26
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4 comments:
Very cool. Actually, inspiring. Where is this from?
Swift took up residence at Moor Park in England, in 1688 as PA to Sir William temple, where he met Esther Johnson, then 8 years old, the fatherless daughter of one of the household servants. Swift acted as her tutor and mentor, giving her the nickname "Stella" and the two maintained a close, (but ambiguous) relationship for the rest of Esther's life.
He has a book "A Journal to Stella" as well as "Gulliver's Travels".. I may need wine, I used my brain out of hours....
Thanks for info, I'd never even heard of Swift and Stella, and I'm glad I have. Awesome poem.
What roo said also, he wrote her a birthday poem every year until she died - I love Swift, he's the fellow who (atirically suggested that the Irish eat their children as a way out of the great potato famine. Caused quite the fracas!).
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