Jonathan Swift, Robert Burns, and Charles Dickens

Jonathan Swift was a writer born in Dublin in the 17th century. He wrote a famous essay entitled, “A Modest Proposal For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being A Burden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public” in 1729. Swift’s essay was a vicious satire on how to deal with overpopulation and poverty in Ireland. Swift’s “punch-line” comes far into the essay when he asserts that “I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled” (Swift). Swift goes on to describe how Irish families could raise and sell their own children for a profit, and thus solve the problems of overpopulation and poverty in Ireland. His detestable solutions should be taken in jest, but in this witty essay, Swift raises some important concerns about the treatment of the Irish during his time. For example, Swift dismisses claims against the injustice of his cannibalistic methods, by saying “I am not in the least pain upon that matter, because it is very well known that they are every day dying and rotting by cold and famine, and filth and vermin, as fast as can be reasonably expected” (Swift). In this sentence, Swift cleverly states that the Irish are already dealing with vast amounts of pain and suffering, that raising their children for slaughter can’t be that much worse. Swift was an early voice for justice in Ireland.

Robert Burns hailed from Scotland, but he gathered native songs from his homeland. The most famous example of these is Auld Lang Syne. This song is now sung around the world on New Year’s Eve, but its core message is about long-lost friendship and memories. The opening lines of this poem/song refer to friendships long ago: “Should auld acquaintance be forgot / And never brought to mind?” (Burns 137, ll. 1-2). Although there are not distinct calls for Scottish nationalism in this poem, the pure action of glorifying native Scottish songs was rebellious at the time. Burns provided a voice for Scottish heritage, and the Irish were no doubt compelled to value their own heritage more after seeing the Scots follow and appreciate Burns.

Charles Dickens was not calling for Irish independence, but his writings illuminated poverty in England – thus calling attention to poverty throughout the British Isles. His story “ A Visit to Newgate” described England’s most famous prison at the time in a detailed, sobering fashion. Dickens describes the situations of these men, and asks his readers to empathize with them. For example, he describes the men on “death row” and asks his readers to “conceive the situation of a man, spending his last night on earth in this cell” (Dickens 1246). When English readers began sympathizing more with the poor, they were more likely to sympathize with the plight of the Irish too. Dickens’ descriptions of injustice foreshadowed the later Irish writers and their pleas for justice and independence in their homeland. Swift, Burns, and Dickens all created work and a reading audience that would eventually sympathize enough with the Irish to lead to Irish independence in the early 20th century.