A Ballad
A nymph of every charm possess'd,That native virtue gives,Within my bosom all confess'd,In bright idea lives.For her my trembling numbers playAlong the pathless deep,While, sadly social with my lay,The winds in concert weep.
If beauty's sacred influence charmsThe rage of adverse fate;Say why the pleasing soft alarmsSuch cruel pangs create?Since all her thoughts by sense refined,Unartful truth express;Say wherefore sense and truth are join'dTo give my soul distress?
If when her blooming lips I press,Which vernal fragrance fills,Through all my veins the sweet excessIn trembling motion thrills;Say whence this secret anguish grows,Congenial with my joy?And why the touch, where pleasure glows,Should vital peace destroy?
If, when my fair, in melting song,Awakes the vocal lay,Not all your notes, ye Phocian throng,Such pleasing sounds convey;Thus wrapt all o'er with fondest love,Why heaves this broken sigh?For then my blood forgets to move,I gaze, adore, and die.
Accept, my charming maid, the strainWhich you alone inspire;To thee the dying strings complainThat quiver on my lyre.O give this bleeding bosom ease,That knows no joy but thee;Teach me thy happy art to please,Or deign to love like me.
Words in this poem
- pathless a.
- Having no beaten path or way; untrodden; impenetrable; as, pathless woods.
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- unartful a.
- Lacking art or skill; artless. Congreve.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- heaves n.
- A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- deign v. t.
- To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. [OE. deinen, deignen, OF. degner, deigner, daigner, F. daigner, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy, deign, fr. dignus worthy; akin to decere to be fitting. See Decent]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Ballad is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer With Lives, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes, Project Gutenberg ebook #8695; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Beattie, A Ballad, in The Minstrel and Other Poems (1771–1774), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8695, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/beattie-minstrel/a-ballad.html, id L09627.
Form and metre
A Ballad is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCD possess'dA · givesB · confess'dA · livesB · playC · deepD · layC · weepD
- 2 ABABCDCD charmsA · fateB · alarmsA · createB · refinedC · expressD · join'dC · distressD
- 3 ABABCDCD pressA · fillsB · excessA · thrillsB · growsC · joyD · glowsC · destroyD
- 4 ABABCDCD songA · layB · throngA · conveyB · loveC · sighD · moveC · dieD
- 5 ABABCDCD strainA · inspireB · complainA · lyreB · easeC · theeD · pleaseC · meD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A nymph of every charm possess'd, | 9 | ···/˘˘·˘/ |
| That native virtue gives, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Within my bosom all confess'd, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| In bright idea lives. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| For her my trembling numbers play | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| Along the pathless deep, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| While, sadly social with my lay, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The winds in concert weep. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| If beauty's sacred influence charms | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘˘· |
| The rage of adverse fate; | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Say why the pleasing soft alarms | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Such cruel pangs create? | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Since all her thoughts by sense refined, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Unartful truth express; | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| Say wherefore sense and truth are join'd | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To give my soul distress? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| If when her blooming lips I press, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which vernal fragrance fills, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Through all my veins the sweet excess | 8 | ······/· |
| In trembling motion thrills; | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Say whence this secret anguish grows, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Congenial with my joy? | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| And why the touch, where pleasure glows, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Should vital peace destroy? | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| If, when my fair, in melting song, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Awakes the vocal lay, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Not all your notes, ye Phocian throng, | 8 | ········ |
| Such pleasing sounds convey; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Thus wrapt all o'er with fondest love, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Why heaves this broken sigh? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For then my blood forgets to move, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| I gaze, adore, and die. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Accept, my charming maid, the strain | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Which you alone inspire; | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| To thee the dying strings complain | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That quiver on my lyre. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O give this bleeding bosom ease, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That knows no joy but thee; | 6 | ······ |
| Teach me thy happy art to please, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or deign to love like me. | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.