taken from: 'thoughts on various subjects'

about the quoted person:

Anglo-Irish writer, one of the premiere prose satirists of the English language. He resided in both Ireland and England and graduated from Trinity College, Dublin. Swift acted as secretary for a distant relative, Sir William Temple for many years and lived at his Surrey estate, Moorpark. Swift was ordained as an Anglican minister and although he was a staunch supporter of the church he spent most of his time writing. Swift's erratic behavior in later life might have been caused by Meniere's disease, which effects the inner ear. He suffered a stroke in 1742 and died in 1745.

Swift published a number of poems including "Verses on the Death of Doctor Swift" but his true calling was both political and religious satire like "A Tale of a Tub" (1704). His bitterness regarding the economic disparity of Irish and English life is illustrated in a "Modest Proposal" (1729). He advocated that babies of the Irish poor be sold for consumption as a delicacy by the rich to alleviate the twin problems of overpopulation and hunger. Some work seems solely for his own amusement. Using the pen name Isaac Bikerstaff, he ended the career of John Partridge, a self-promoting astrologer. A series of "Bikerstaff Pamphlets" (1708-1708) predicted Partridge's death and then described it in detail. Despite several attempts by Partridge to reclaim his name, the public continued to believe him deceased. "Gulliver's Travels" (1726) (first published as "Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World") has always been popular with children but it is a satire intended for adults. Swift uses the travels of protagonist Lemuel Gulliver to illustrate many of the failings and frailties of man. Gulliver has adventures in four countries: he meets the six-inch tall Lilliputians; the gigantic Brobdingnags; the high-minded inhabitants of the Isle Laputa and the senile immortals Struldbruggs; and the utopian land of rational horses, Houyhnhnms and human-like Yahoos. All of the peoples and lands Gulliver visits represent the flaws and delusions of man.