Swift, Jonathan: - Poet, satirist, political pamphleteer and clergyman, Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) had a rich literary lineage that could boast of the likes of John Dryden and Sir Walter Raleigh. Early in his career, Swift published his works either anonymously or under pen-names. He wrote under his own name only after he had become an established author and commentator. He was a master of sarire, and employed this technique brilliantly in works such as A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, and Gulliver's Travels.