Jonathan Swift was a prolific writer in 14th century Britain. Originally from Dublin, his Irish influence seeps into both his poetic cadence and subject matter. Swift's poetry largely revolves around city life, as he observes the nuances, disadvantages, and complexities of such a lifestyle. "Advice to the Grub Street Verse-writers," "A Description of a City Shower," and "A Description of the Morning" all feature Swift's intimate knowledge of the city of London. He uses his poetry as a platform by which to proclaim his insider status as well as to establish credibility with his local readers.
In his poetry, Swift is various. He experiments with numerous styles. "A Description of the Morning" and "A Description of a City Shower" follow a strict rhyming scheme in couplets which is the most typical of Swift's poetic approaches, but "Advice to the Grub Street Verse-writers" prefers an alternating A-B cadence. Nevertheless, beyond rhyme, Swift chooses a variety of styles from strict stanzas to open verse to continuous couplets. He is most notorious for his lengthy poems. As the author of books like Gulliver's Travels, Swift can be expected to prefer length and detail to brevity and summary.
