A REBUS. BY VANESSA

Cut the name of the man [1] who his mistress denied,

And let the first of it be only applied

To join with the prophet[2] who David did chide;

Then say what a horse is that runs very fast;[3]

And that which deserves to be first put the last;

Spell all then, and put them together, to find

The name and the virtues of him I design'd.

Like the patriarch in Egypt, he's versed in the state;

Like the prophet in Jewry, he's free with the great;

Like a racer he flies, to succour with speed,

When his friends want his aid, or desert is in need.

[Footnote 1: Jo-seph.]

[Footnote 2: Nathan.]

[Footnote 3: Swift.]

The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2 · 第 15 / 310 题