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"Cadenus and Vanessa" is a poem by Jonathan Swift 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 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 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

1. Stephen, Leslie (1898). "Swift, Jonathan" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 55. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 215.
2. DeGategno, Paul J.; R. Jay Stubblefield (2006). Critical Companion to Jonathan Swift. p. 42.

External links

• e-text at Luminarium

v t e Jonathan Swift
Sermons	Sermons of Jonathan Swift
Satires	Meditation Upon a Broomstick (1701) A Tale of a Tub (1704) The Battle of the Books (1704) Gulliver's Travels (1726–1727, 1735) A Modest Proposal (1729)
Essays	Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting (1706) An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1708) The Conduct of the Allies (1711) Drapier's Letters (1724/25) Directions to Servants (published 1745)
Miscellany	Isaac Bickerstaff writings (1708) The Examiner newspaper (1710–1714) "Cadenus and Vanessa" (1713 poem) "The Lady's Dressing Room" (1732 poem) A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation (1738) A Journal to Stella (published posthumously – 1766)
Related	Esther Johnson Esther Vanhomrigh Scriblerus Club Swift crater The House That Swift Built (1982 film) "The Reasons that Induced Dr. S. to Write a Poem Call'd the Lady's Dressing Room" (1734 poem)

• Works by Jonathan Swift