ON DR. SWIFT'S LEAVING HIS ESTATE TO IDIOTS

Swift, wondrous genius, bright intelligence,

Pities the orphan's, idiot's want of sense;

And rich in supernumerary pelf,

Adopts posterity unlike himself.

To one great individual wit's confined!

Such eunuchs never propagate their kind.

Thus nature's prodigies bestow the gifts

Of fortune, their descendants are no Swifts.

When did prime statesman, for a sceptre fit

His ministerial successor beget?

No age, no state, no world, can hope to see

Two SWIFTS or WALPOLES in one family.

The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 2 · 第 301 / 310 题