Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, poet, Tory pamphleteer and Anglican priest whose works were published in the first decades of the 18th century. He is generally regarded as the preeminent satirist in the English language. All of Swift's works were published under pseudonyms, to maintain distance between his day job as a priest and his [[HiddenDepths caustic, cynical wit]].
He is an example of VindicatedByHistory: while his works were reasonably well known at the time, he and fellow Tory Creator/AlexanderPope are nowadays much better known than their Whig rivals such as Joseph Addison and Dick Steele, whose party defeated the Tories so comprehensively that it forced Swift into exile.
[[folder: Of Swift's works, three are still well-known today: ]]
* ''Literature/GulliversTravels'', a satire of travelogues
* ''Literature/AModestProposal'', a satirical essay written to protest the suffering of the Irish under British rule
* ''A Tale of a Tub'', a satirical (noticing a trend?) novel