An Echo

by Jonathan Swift — a poem card from Justes Mots

A riddling poem describing an Echo personified as a responsive, sympathetic lady who repeats and amplifies all voices—from animals to war drums—but dies in silence. Swift creates an elegant conceit that transforms the acoustic phenomenon into a character with emotional range and social awareness, fearful of courtly irrelevance and deathly quiet. The witty personification appeals to those enjoying clever wordplay and philosophical riddles.

Never sleeping, still awake,
Pleasing most when most I speak;
The delight of old and young,
Though I speak without a tongue.
Nought but one thing can confound me,
Many voices joining round me;
Then I fret, and rave, and gabble,
Like the labourers of Babel.…

Themes: love · new-baby · wedding · friendship