Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Is one of the greatest satirists of the English language. His power as a writer was born from the savage indignation he felt at what he saw to be man’s injustice to his fellow man. Of his many essays, poems and writings he is now best remembered for his novel Gulliver’s Travels.
Jonathan Swift, was born in Dublin in 1667 but never knew his father, who died in the same year. When he was about seven years old he attended Kilkenny Grammar School, where he was a contemporary of the future playwright William Congreve. In 1682 he entered Trinity College, Dublin, but graduated only by ‘special grace’ because of unknown offences against discipline. Swift’s own autobiographical notes, which he compiled much later in life, suggest that his proud spirit had made college life difficult to bear. The outbreak of the Catholic rebellion following James II’s abdication in 1688 meant that Swift, along with many other refugees, abandoned Ireland for the safety of England. He lived briefly with his mother in Leicestershire before being appointed secretary to Sir William Temple at Moor Park in Surrey.…