The Death and Last Confession of Wandering Peter
When Peter Wanderwide was youngHe wandered everywhere he would:And all that he approved was sung,And most of what he saw was good.
When Peter Wanderwide was thrownBy Death himself beyond Auxerre,He chanted in heroic toneTo priests and people gathered there:
“If all that I have loved and seenBe with me on the Judgment Day,I shall be saved the crowd betweenFrom Satan and his foul array.
“Almighty God will surely cry,‘St Michael! Who is this that standsWith Ireland in his dubious eye,And Perigord between his hands,
“‘And on his arm the stirrup-thongs,And in his gait the narrow seas,And in his mouth Burgundian songs,But in his heart the Pyrenees?’
“St Michael then will answer right(And not without angelic shame),‘I seem to know his face by sight:I cannot recollect his name ...?’
“St Peter will befriend me then,Because my name is Peter too:‘I know him for the best of menThat ever wallopped barley brew.
“‘And though I did not know him wellAnd though his soul were clogged with sin,I hold the keys of Heaven and Hell.Be welcome, noble Peterkin.’
“Then shall I spread my native wingsAnd tread secure the heavenly floor,And tell the Blessed doubtful thingsOf Val d’Aran and Perigord.”
This was the last and solemn jestOf weary Peter Wanderwide.He spoke it with a failing zest,And having spoken it, he died.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- dubious a.
- Doubtful or not settled in opinion; being in doubt; wavering or fluctuating; undetermined. [L. dubius, dubiosus, fr. duo two. See Two, and cf. Doubt.]
- recollect v. t.
- To recover or recall the knowledge of; to bring back to the mind or memory; to remember. [Pref. re- + collect: cf. L. recolligere, recollectum, to collect. Cf. Recollet.]
- befriend v. t.
- To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
- brew v. t.
- To boil or seethe; to cook. [OE. brewen, AS. breówan; akin to D. brouwen, OHG. priuwan, MHG. briuwen, br, G. brauen, Icel. brugga, Sw. brygga, Dan. brygge, and perh. to L. defrutum must boi]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- zest n.
- A piece of orange or lemon peel, or the aromatic oil which may be squeezed from such peel, used to give flavor to liquor, etc. [F. zeste, probably fr. L. schistos split, cleft, divided, Gr. Schism.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Death and Last Confession of Wandering Peter 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, The Death and Last Confession of Wandering Peter, in Sonnets and Verse (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/belloc-sonnets-verse/the-death-and-last-confession-of-wandering-peter.html, id L21661.
Form and metre
The Death and Last Confession of Wandering Peter is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 9 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABAB youngA · wouldB · sungA · goodB
- 2 ABAB thrownA · auxerreB · toneA · thereB
- 3 ABAB seenA · dayB · betweenA · arrayB
- 4 ABAB cryA · standsB · eyeA · handsB
- 5 ABAB thongsA · seasB · songsA · pyreneesB
- 6 ABAB rightA · shameB · sightA · nameB
- 7 ABAB thenA · tooB · menA · brewB
- 8 ABAB wellA · sinB · hellA · peterkinB
- 9 A-A- wingsA · floor · thingsA · perigord
- 10 ABAB jestA · wanderwideB · zestA · diedB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When Peter Wanderwide was young | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He wandered everywhere he would: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And all that he approved was sung, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And most of what he saw was good. | 8 | ········ |
| When Peter Wanderwide was thrown | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By Death himself beyond Auxerre, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| He chanted in heroic tone | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| To priests and people gathered there: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| “If all that I have loved and seen | 8 | ········ |
| Be with me on the Judgment Day, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I shall be saved the crowd between | 8 | ········ |
| From Satan and his foul array. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| “Almighty God will surely cry, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| ‘St Michael! Who is this that stands | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With Ireland in his dubious eye, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And Perigord between his hands, | 8 | ········ |
| “‘And on his arm the stirrup-thongs, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And in his gait the narrow seas, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And in his mouth Burgundian songs, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| But in his heart the Pyrenees?’ | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| “St Michael then will answer right | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| (And not without angelic shame), | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| ‘I seem to know his face by sight: | 8 | ········ |
| I cannot recollect his name ...?’ | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| “St Peter will befriend me then, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Because my name is Peter too: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| ‘I know him for the best of men | 8 | ········ |
| That ever wallopped barley brew. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| “‘And though I did not know him well | 8 | ········ |
| And though his soul were clogged with sin, | 8 | ········ |
| I hold the keys of Heaven and Hell. | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Be welcome, noble Peterkin.’ | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| “Then shall I spread my native wings | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And tread secure the heavenly floor, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And tell the Blessed doubtful things | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Of Val d’Aran and Perigord.” | 8 | ········ |
| This was the last and solemn jest | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of weary Peter Wanderwide. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| He spoke it with a failing zest, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And having spoken it, he died. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
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.