Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AYE AND NO: A FABLE, by JONATHAN SWIFT


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AYE AND NO: A FABLE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: In fable all things hold discourse
Last Line: And fight e'er since, for pay, like swisses.
Subject(s): Fables; Allegories


In fable all things hold discourse;
Then words, no doubt, must talk of course.
Once on a time, near Channel Row,
Two hostile adverbs, Aye and No,
Were hastening to the field of fight,
And front to front stood opposite.
Before each general joined the van,
Aye, the more courteous knight, began.
'Stop, peevish particle, beware!
I'm told you are not such a bear,
But sometimes yield, when offered fair.
Suffer yon folks awhile to tattle;
'Tis we who must decide the battle.
Whene'er we war on yonder stage,
With various fate, and equal rage,
The nation trembles at each blow
That No gives Aye, and Aye gives No;
Yet in expensive long contention,
We gain nor office, grant, nor pension.
Why then should kinsfolks quarrel thus?
(For, two of you make one of us.)
To some wise statesman let us go,
Where each his proper use may know.
He may admit two such commanders,
And make those wait, who served in Flanders.
Let's quarter on a great man's tongue,
A Treasury lord, not Maister Yonge.
Obsequious at his high command,
Aye shall march forth to tax the land:
Impeachments, No can best resist,
And Aye support the Civil List:
Aye quick as Caesar, wins the day;
And No, like Fabius, by delay.
Sometimes, in mutual sly disguise,
Let Ayes seem Noes, and Noes seem Ayes;
Ayes be in courts denials meant,
And Noes in bishops give consent.'
Thus Aye proposed -- and for reply,
No, for the first time, answered Aye.
They parted with a thousand kisses,
And fight e'er since, for pay, like Swisses.





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