'They Love a Jest That Is Their Own'

Patrick Delany (1686-1768) was an eloquent Irish clergyman, renowned for his sermons in an age when sermons were judged popular literature, and a close friend of Swift, who called him “the most eminent preacher we have.” In her biography, Jonathan Swift (1998), Victoria Glendinning reminds us that those who dish it out ought to be prepared to take it – their own medicine, that is:

“Political satire at the expense of governments or institutions is one thing. Personal invective is another. Swift was an expert at both. He himself did not take kindly to being the butt of the wit or satire of others. Early in his close friendship with Dr. Patrick Delany, Delany made some sally at Swift’s expense, and laughed loudly at his own wit.”

As Glendenning puts it, Delany was “reproved by Swift in verse.” In 1718, Swift wrote “To Mr. Delany,” which includes these lines:

“If what you said I wish unspoke,

Twill not suffice it was a joke:

Reproach not, though in jest, a friend

For those defects he cannot mend;

His lineage, calling, shape, or sense,

If nam’d with scorn, gives just offence.”

According to Pat Rogers, editor of Swift's Complete Poems (1983), "To Mr. Delany" concerns the "rules of raillery" (Swift's phrase -- consider it in the context of Twitter), which he believed Thomas Sheridan, their mutual friend, had violated. An earlier couplet is worth considering: “Talents for conversation fit / Are humour, breeding, sense, and wit.” Doesn’t that remain true today? Swift distinguishes humor and wit in traditional eighteenth-century fashion: “Our conversation to refine, / Humour and wit must both combine.” Swift might be accused of hypocrisy when he reprimands Sheridan for his satirical jabs. But Swift was big enough to remain his friend and wise enough to grudgingly admire his chutzpah:  

“When jests are carried on too far,

And the loud laugh begins the war,

You keep your countenance for shame,

Yet still you think your friend to blame:

For, though men cry they love a jest,

’Tis but when others stand the test;

And (would you have their meaning known)

They love a jest that is their own.”