Ballade of the Unanswered Question
What dwelling hath Sir Harland PottThat died of drinking in Bungay?Nathaniel Goacher who was shotTowards the end of Malplaquet?The only thing that we can say,(The only thing that has been said)About these gentlemen is, “Nay!But where are the unanswering dead”
Lord Bumplepuppy, too, that gotThe knock from Messrs Dawkins’ dray?And Jonas, whom the CachalotBegulphed in Esdraelon Bay?The Calvinistic John McKay,Who argued till his nostrils bled,And dropped in apoplexy? Nay!But where are the unanswering dead?
And Heliodorus too, that hotDefender of the Roman sway;And He, the author of the “TotMercedes dant Victoriæ,”And all the armoured squadrons gayThat ever glory nourishèdIn all the world’s high charges? Nay!But where are the unanswering dead?
Words in this poem
- pott n.
- A size of paper. See under Paper.
- dray n.
- A squirrel's nest.
- calvinistic a.
- Of or pertaining to Calvin, or Calvinism; following Calvin; accepting or Teaching Calvinism.
- armoured a.
- Clad with armor.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballade of the Unanswered Question is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #60663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Hilaire Belloc, Ballade of the Unanswered Question, in Sonnets and Verse (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/belloc-sonnets-verse/ballade-of-the-unanswered-question.html, id L21699.
Form and metre
Ballade of the Unanswered Question is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABA-BCBC pottA · bungayB · shotA · malplaquet · sayB · saidC · nayB · deadC
- 2 -A-AABAB got · drayA · cachalot · bayA · mckayA · bledB · nayA · deadB
- 3 ABA-B-B- hotA · swayB · totA · victoriæ · gayB · nourishèd · nayB · dead
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What dwelling hath Sir Harland Pott | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That died of drinking in Bungay? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nathaniel Goacher who was shot | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Towards the end of Malplaquet? | 8 | ········ |
| The only thing that we can say, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| (The only thing that has been said) | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| About these gentlemen is, “Nay! | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| But where are the unanswering dead” | 9 | ········· |
| Lord Bumplepuppy, too, that got | 8 | ········ |
| The knock from Messrs Dawkins’ dray? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And Jonas, whom the Cachalot | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Begulphed in Esdraelon Bay? | 8 | ··˘····· |
| The Calvinistic John McKay, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Who argued till his nostrils bled, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And dropped in apoplexy? Nay! | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| But where are the unanswering dead? | 9 | ········· |
| And Heliodorus too, that hot | 8 | ········ |
| Defender of the Roman sway; | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| And He, the author of the “Tot | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Mercedes dant Victoriæ,” | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| And all the armoured squadrons gay | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That ever glory nourishèd | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| In all the world’s high charges? Nay! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But where are the unanswering dead? | 9 | ········· |
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.