Drinking Dirge
A thousand years ago I used to dineIn houses where they gave me such regaleOf dear companionship and comrades fineThat out I went alone beyond the pale;And riding, laughed and dared the skies malignTo show me all the undiscovered tale--But my philosophy’s no more divine,I put my pleasure in a pint of ale.
And you, my friends, oh! pleasant friends of mine,Who leave me now alone, without avail,On Californian hills you gave me wine,You gave me cider-drink in Longuevaille;If after many years you come to pineFor comradeship that is an ancient tale--You’ll find me drinking beer in Dead Man’s Chine.I put my pleasure in a pint of ale.
In many a briny boat I’ve tried the brine,From many a hidden harbour I’ve set sail,Steering towards the sunset where there shineThe distant amethystine islands pale.
There are no ports beyond the far sea-line,Nor any halloa to meet the mariner’s hail;I stand at home and slip the anchor-line.I put my pleasure in a pint of ale.
Words in this poem
- dine v. i.
- To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner. [F. dîner, OF. disner, LL. disnare, contr. fr. an assumed disjunare; dis- + an assumed junare (OF. juner) to fast, for L. jejunare, fr. jejunus fasting. See Jeju]
- regale n.
- A prerogative of royalty. Johnson. [LL. regale, pl. regalia, fr. L. regalis: cf. F. régale. See Regal.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- californian a.
- Of or pertaining to California.
- comradeship n.
- The state of being a comrade; intimate fellowship.
- briny a.
- Of or pertaining to brine, or to the sea; partaking of the nature of brine; salt; as, a briny taste; the briny flood. [From Brine.]
- harbour n.
- A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
- amethystine a.
- Resembling amethyst, especially in color; bluish violet.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Drinking Dirge 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, Drinking Dirge, in Sonnets and Verse (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/belloc-sonnets-verse/drinking-dirge.html, id L21685.
Form and metre
Drinking Dirge is 24 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 A-ABABAB dineA · regale · fineA · paleB · malignA · taleB · divineA · aleB
- 2 ABABAB-B mineA · availB · wineA · longuevailleB · pineA · taleB · chine · aleB
- 3 ABAB brineA · sailB · shineA · paleB
- 4 ABAB lineA · hailB · lineA · aleB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A thousand years ago I used to dine | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| In houses where they gave me such regale | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Of dear companionship and comrades fine | 10 | ··˘/˘··/·· |
| That out I went alone beyond the pale; | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And riding, laughed and dared the skies malign | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| To show me all the undiscovered tale-- | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| But my philosophy’s no more divine, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| I put my pleasure in a pint of ale. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And you, my friends, oh! pleasant friends of mine, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who leave me now alone, without avail, | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| On Californian hills you gave me wine, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| You gave me cider-drink in Longuevaille; | 10 | ···/······ |
| If after many years you come to pine | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For comradeship that is an ancient tale-- | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| You’ll find me drinking beer in Dead Man’s Chine. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I put my pleasure in a pint of ale. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| In many a briny boat I’ve tried the brine, | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| From many a hidden harbour I’ve set sail, | 10 | ·/·/˘/˘··· |
| Steering towards the sunset where there shine | 10 | /˘···/···· |
| The distant amethystine islands pale. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| There are no ports beyond the far sea-line, | 10 | ·········· |
| Nor any halloa to meet the mariner’s hail; | 11 | ·/˘˘/···/˘· |
| I stand at home and slip the anchor-line. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I put my pleasure in a pint of ale. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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.