On Poetry: A Rapsody is one of Jonathan Swift's most complex and controversial poems. This
study presents for the first time a detailed analysis and interpretation of what on a
surface level has to be called a mock ars poetica but which on a deeper level is a highly
allusive political satire. The main emphasis has been placed on providing a commentary which
seeks to make this 18th-century text within its historical political and religious context
comprehensible to present-day readers.
