Jonathan Swift played the misanthrope; that is, such was his complete delight in moralizing those practices which he perceived as symptomatic of the rancid condition of human nature, that this vehemence became as much a part of his poetry as the derision itself. In many of his poems, Swift combined the slippery irony and parody of youthful satire with scabrous detail, the cumulative effect being a poem clearly fascinated on some level by the objects of his poetic and satirical contempt. Yet, in "The Lords of Limit", Geoffrey Hill seems to create a lucid dichotomy between Swift as "moralist" and Swift as "artist", and although Hill admits that Swift in his poetry "is at once resistant and reciprocal". to human corruption, he seems reluctant to acknowledge Swift's ability to hold both his contempt and his stylistic indulgence in tension in the details of what he despises. The undertones of hypocrisy present in "scale down" and "be on guard" seem to imply Hill's surprise that Swift could focus on the objects of her satire to such an intense level. However, by examining the so-called "scatological" poems, it is possible to deduce that this palpable fascination (and perhaps even strange pleasure) evident in Swift's description of all things sordid is in fact an essential component of his pontifical contempt. Say no to plagiarism . Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay As the work of a seemingly devout clergyman, Swift's invective generally attacks the corruption he discerns in contemporary political and social spheres, as well as mocking “individual” sins such as pride and sexual perversion. And it is on this general fornication and idealization of sex (and particularly of sex with beautiful women) that his criticisms focused in A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed, The Lady's Dressing Room, and Strephon and Chloe. In these poems, Swift's close associations between sex and sordidness (particularly excretion) seem to imply not only that fornication is sinful, but also that sex itself is condemnable simply for its impurity. Furthermore, it is possible to argue that Swift's connection between women in her poems and the corruption of sex highlights femininity as a cause of depravity and idealization, not as something laudable or desirable. The depiction of a decosmeticising prostitute in A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed, Presumably After a Night's Work, is terrifyingly precise in its detail: Now, choosing a crystal eye, she cleans it and sets it aside. (ll. 11-12) In his meticulous attention to detail, it is almost as if Swift himself is "deconstructing" the idealized image of woman's beauty. Indeed, Swift's use of numerous manual verbs and adverbs—“Pulls off,” “Dexterously,” “Untwists,” and “Unlaces”—not only vividly describes the scene in which Corinna undresses, but also serves as metaphor for Swift's poetic process. . It is not only Corinna who is physically deconstructing herself, but Swift himself is demolishing the image of female beauty. His iconoclasm becomes increasingly dramatic in his parallels: And then between two blankets he creeps. With love pains tormented lies; Or if he has the chance to close his eyes, Of Bridewell and the compter dreams, And feels the lash, and cries faintly (ll. 38-42) The poem becomes more and more internal, and so does the parallelism in Swift's metaphor. As the woman slips into bed, into the most intimate of spaces, not only has the mask been removed, but the reader is now able to peer directly into her mind, into what she "dreams" and "feels." Mirroring this, theSwift's way of undressing the perfect image of femininity becomes even more subversive as it implicates the church in supporting the commerce of womanhood. Swift's use of defilement as a means of destroying any idealization of the human body and sex also appears in The Lady'sDressing Room, another anatomical poem. His cutting, invective approach takes on a form of parody, as Strephon sneaks in to look at what he expects to be beauty, and instead is confronted with an "inventory" of "waste." Parodying the routine of conventional love poetry - a man's infatuation with a woman, and his subsequent courtship and conquest of her - it is possible to argue that Swift also employs a mock-heroic style, offset by his light wit and playful octosyllabic measure. , to enhance its satirical treatment of blinded lovers. It incorporates classical references such as Epimetus lifting the lid of Pandora's box (though in this case not to let out all the evils of the world, but instead to inhale the vapors of Celia's excrement!), and also appears to parody epic poets. "Those secrets of the hoary deep" (ll. 98) imitates and reverses Milton's "dark/boundless ocean" (Paradise Lost, II, 890-91), and also compares Celia to Venus, who rose from the sea: Should the queen of love refuse, because she has risen from the stinking slime? (ll. 131-32) The burlesque of Milton's ocean being reduced to a chamber pot, and the ocean from which the goddess Venus emerged presented as a vessel of 'stinking slime' undermines the traditional consideration of such heroic spectacles, precisely how Swift subverts traditional idealization of love and women. However, one of the most significant and effective ways in which Swift channels our attention towards the deception of beauty and sex is that we see the entire episode through the eyes of Strephon, who sneaks into Celia's room and experiments with him. 'enumeration of disgusting articles. 'Sweat, dandruff, dust, lead and hair' (ll. 24) increase in intense repugnance as the line continues, and the combination of the triple phrase, the repetitive 'be' and 'and' and the onomatopoeic rhyme in 'Begummed , muddied and smeared;/ With dirt, sweat and wax smeared' (ll. 45-6) almost single-handedly imitates the way offensive substances stick to dirty towels. The explosive “Why here he spits, and here he vomits” (ll. 42) highlights the shock of both Strephon and (the moralist Swift hopes) the reader, in discovering the unfictionalized truth about women, just as when “Corinna wakes . A terrible sight! » (A Beautiful Young Nymph, ll. 57) Here the only creatures waiting to greet her, far from the romance of a handsome male, are parasites and fleas intent on destroying her further! and the grotesque reality not only destroys every idealization of the female body, but also seems to destroy eroticism itself, considering them almost synonymous. It is not the one who "shits" who is mocked, but the one who in his naivety could not believe in reality - a reality that, in addition to eclipsing any hint of sexual romance for the characters, further destroys any illusion of erotic impulse the reader might hold dear. Just as he does with these two poems, Swift uses Strephon and Chloe to expose the idealistic notions of Petrarchan love, and frustrated love and courtship acquire new intensity and meaning as corporeal realities are posited as the complete negation of convention. of classical romanticism. The poem's structure is similar to that of a traditional courtly love poem, with the glorification of the woman, marriage, and eventual consummation (after the woman's necessary resistance). However, right from the start, Swifthe subverts this form, skilfully parodying it, at first elusively and then more scandalously. Although he describes Chloe as "flawless," he subtly undermines this concept by describing many of the disgusting things that she is not: No vulgar humors, or fizzing streams, No foul breaths or sweaty streams (ll. 11-12) Enlighten the reader that "her armpits would not have stained her dress" (ll. 22) and that she was never found "squatting on her loins, to make the maid water" (ll. 18) actually draws attention to rather repugnant thingsglasses, and there immediately leads one to imagine exactly the opposite: that Chloe actually participates in such activities! Traditionally, medieval and Romantic poets who attempted to summarize a woman's beauty could write on the subject, making use of similes and metaphors, rather than laconically highlighting a negative image! Furthermore, the numerous classical references give the impression of a classic courtly romance, such as "Ye gods, what sound is this? / Can Chloe, heavenly Chloe piss?" (ll. 177-9) all the more railing. The humorous idea that the bride's consumption of an excessive amount of tea and pudding during the wedding party has ruined any hopes of the groom of consummating the marriage strikes the reader as exemplary fabliau, with Chloe's urination prompting the poem towards the bathroom. , Swift then begins to present this extravagant situation precisely in the idealized manner of the beginning of the poem, when the two "learn to call the spade, the spade" (ll. 204). Medieval romance is overlooked, as indicated by the traditionally medieval personifications of Decency, Beauty, Desire, etc. dissolving. And so Swift offers another, more unique and intelligent example of idealization, only to overturn this illusion with what appears to be his belief in a properly balanced view of women. – that they should be “decent,” though not idealized. In the stanza that extends from lines 271 – 282, Swift's multiple half-rhymes twist the verse even as the poet draws out the reader's preconceptions of femininity, all the while implying that women and sex will never meet expectations: Why will you make a bubble To build on the sand with hay and stubble? (ll. 305-6) Swift seems to direct his derision not only at fornication, for Strephon and Chloe are already married, but, more broadly, to the idealization and perhaps obsession with sex in general. However, not only 'No the object Strephon's eye escape[s]' (ll. 47), but the reader's eye also scans every rancid object Swift inserts into his verse. However, it is not only Strephon and the reader's eyes that are drawn to the fascinating and detailed unraveling of the narrative, but, as Nokes observes, "Swift takes a forensic pleasure in lifting the silken petticoats to expose what lies beneath." It is this "delight" present in Swift's visual processing that prompts critics such as Geoffrey Hill to raise doubts about Swift's true morality; that, despite Swift's deliberate youthful invective, his poetry was somehow able to "free itself" from the debunked moralistic attitude of its self-deceived author. It is certainly true that Swift has a sensitive awareness of the human condition. In A Beautiful Young Nymph, when the true Corinna is revealed, the bodily details already examined may reveal a kind of morbid fascination reflected even in the few most delicate, traditionally feminine details. The 'gentler touch' and the striking repetition of 'smooth' both in this poem and in The Lady's Dressing Room, may serve to indicate a special intensity of feeling and concern for the woman herself, but these are held firmly in check by.