Reading Swift's poetry, 1967–2017

Abstract

This essay surveys major scholarship on Jonathan Swift's poetry published after 1967, the 300th anniversary of his birth up to the 350th, in 2017. What is the current status of Swift as a poet, as distinct from Swift the prose satirist or even Swift the Hibernian Patriot? Is he best placed in separate Irish or English traditions or in both? Was he a mere man of rhymes or an ambitious poet? How have scholars approached his verse? Which works have received the most attention? Which deserve more?