Sonnet

Communicated by Miss Beslee

A Sonnet Written in the Favorite Chair of Dean Swift

Here seated — erstwhere Swift, oft musing sat
 And formed his Gulliver’s immortal tale,
Or entertained his friends in witty chat
 Or bade sublimer topics to prevail.

Here seated — deep reflection takes her range,
 And contemplates the altering hand of time,
With retrospective eye masks every change
 Since Swift here wrote his prose or sportive rhyme.

Here seated — while enamoured memory dwells
 On Genius — Talent — Learning most profound,
With mortified regret the bosom swells
 And proud humanity receives a wound.

That Swift endowed with gifts the wisest crave
Should sink a senseless madman to the grave.

Anonymous

Swift’s mind was violently deranged for some time previous to his death.