1. Short-response prompt (15 points)
Read the following passage from Lady Mary Montagu's 1734 poem "The Dean's
Provocation for Writing The Dressing Room." The poem is Montagu's response to
Jonathan Swift's poem "The Lady's Dressing Room."
The Doctor, in a clean starch'd band,
His golden snuff box in his hand,
With care his diamond ring displays
And artful shows its various Rays,
While grave he stalks down-Street
His dearest to meet.
Long had he waited for this hour,
Nor gained admittance to the bower;
Had joked and punned, and swore and writ,
Tried all his gallantry and wit;
But bawdy, politics nor satire
Could move this dull hard-hearted creature.
Jenny her maid could taste a rhyme
And, grieved to see him lose his time,
Had kindly whispered in his ear,
"For twice two pound you enter here:
My lady vows that without that sum
It is in vain you write or come."
The destined offering now he brought
And in a paradise of thought
With a low bow approached the dame,
Who smiling heard him preach his flame.
What is Montagu's view of Swift in the passage, and how does she use sarcasm,
satire, or irony to convey that point of view? Use specific details from the passage to
support your ideas.