A Description of "A Description of the Morning"

In “A Description of the Morning”, Jonathan Swift very nearly describes a morning. There is no great immediate metaphor running throughout the poem and no obvious structure to which he adheres. Swift’s trademark satire is even more subtle than we expect. The poem is far from the obvious satire of his “Modest Proposal” and structurally resembles nothing in particular. It is Swift’s mix of satirical and completely serious characters and events in the poem that mislead us.

In the poem, we encounter mischievous or immoral characters engaging in the last moments of their inappropriate behaviors. Betty steals away from her master’s bed (presumably after some inappropriate and risqué behavior), and the corrupt Turnkey sees his flock of prisoners returning with the loot. Swift obviously satires these unfavorable characters, although he passes no obvious judgment on their actions. We also see a range of characters that might be just lazy inattentive such as Moll whirling her mop, but not having actually done work. However, Swift mixes favorable characters in with the unfavorable ones as well. The apprentice who has already cleaned up around the door and the “youth with the broomy stumps” who has began to sweep the cart tracks have already began their work and are contributing to the preparation of the city for a day’s work. The positioning of these unfavorable or bad characters in comparison to good ones in one of the methods that Swift uses to satire the occupants of the city. The melding of the bad characters with the rest of the poem suggests a way in which the city overlooks this behavior in its attempt to function.

His irony is most immediately present in his portrayal of the lower social class characters as the more hardworking, honest and productive section of society. He presents the official and higher class characters as lazy, dishonest and oblivious (or maybe corrupt). The youth and the apprentice are already at work in the morning, as are the other lower class characters. However, the lord is in debt, the turnkey is corrupt and the bailiffs seem to be lazy and oblivious to the previous line's events. Swift is well known for opposing upper society and this poem perhaps reflects his attitude.

The structure of the poem is even more hazy. It does not resemble any common structure that we have seen. It is more a collection of couplets than anything. However, it does follow certain patterns. The poem generally leads from inside to outside. It begins in a bedroom, with Betty, progresses to the door, and then out into the street with the Duns and the Schoolboys, This sequence of events leads us from the private inner sanctum of the master, where he may do anything he so chooses, out into the real world of official rather than personal moral corruption. Swift leads us from the personal world of secrets, she does steal away after all, to the official world of corruption and greed represented quite plainly as the jailkeeper. This sequence is also very much like waking up, preparing and leaving the house in the morning. The reader makes his or her way to the outside street after being initially left in the bedroom.

Swift also presents a pattern in his use of tense within the poem. Early in the poem, most of the character had done what he described. For example, Betty had flown and Moll had twirled. After the twirling incident, the tense of the verbs changes to more recent past. In the middle section, the youth began, the man was heard, and the Duns began to meet. In the last section of the poem, the actions enter the present. The turnkey sees his flock, the bailiffs take their stands and the schoolboys lag. Initially, all the action seems distant and removed from the reader. However, by the end of the poem, we can see action in the street as the morning progresses. We can see movement directly, such as the flock returning or the schoolboys lagging.