"Cadenus and Vanessa" is a poem by
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
about one of his lovers,
Esther Vanhomrigh (Vanessa), written in 1713 and published as a book in 1726, three years after the death of Vanhomrigh.
It contains in its title an anagram and a neologism: ''Cadenus'' is an
anagram
An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...
of the Latin ''
decanus'', meaning 'dean': Swift was dean of
St Patrick's, and known as Dean Swift in the manner of the time. The
neologism
In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
is ''
Vanessa'', in secret reference to Esther Vanhomrigh. The name starts with the first three letters of her surname and the first two of her first name.
With this poem, Swift created the popular woman's name ''Vanessa''.
See also
*
Vanessa (name)
*
Esther Vanhomrigh
References
External links
e-text at Luminarium
{{Jonathan Swift
Works by Jonathan Swift