ON A CURATE'S COMPLAINT OF HARD DUTY

I marched three miles through scorching sand,

With zeal in heart, and notes in hand;

I rode four more to Great St. Mary,

Using four legs, when two were weary:

To three fair virgins I did tie men,

In the close bands of pleasing Hymen;

I dipp'd two babes in holy water,

And purified their mother after.

Within an hour and eke a half,

I preach'd three congregations deaf;

Where, thundering out, with lungs long-winded,

I chopp'd so fast, that few there minded.

My emblem, the laborious sun,

Saw all these mighty labours done

Before one race of his was run.

All this perform'd by Robert Hewit:

What mortal else could e'er go through it!

The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1 · 第 222 / 243 题