Description

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was an Irish cleric, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for Tories), and poet. He is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. Swift published all of his works under pseudonyms - such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier - or anonymously. He is known for being a master of two styles of satire; the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. Among his most famous works are: The Battle of the Books (1704), A Tale of a Tub (1704), The Journal to Stella (1710-13), The Drapier's Letters (1724), Gulliver's Travels (1726) and A Modest Proposal (1729).