Ballad of Tailor Nils
If you were born before yesterday,Surely you've heard about Tailor Nils, who flaunts him so gay.
If it's more than a week that you've been here,Surely you've heard how Knut Storedragen got a lesson severe.
Up on the barn of Ola-Per Kviste after a punchin':"When Nils heaves you again, take with you some luncheon."
Hans Bugge, he was a man so renowned,Haunting ghosts of his name spread alarm all around.
"Tailor Nils, where you wish to lie, now declare!On that spot will I spit and lay your head right there."--
"Oh, just come up so near, that I know you by the scent!Think not that by your jaw to earth I shall be bent!"
When first they met, 't was scarce a bout at all,Neither man was ready yet to try to get a fall.
The second time Hans Bugge slipped his hold."Are you tired now, Hans Bugge? The dance will soon be bold."
The third time Hans fell headlong, and forth the blood did spurt."Why spit you now so much, man?" -- "Oh my, that fall did hurt!"--
Saw you a tree casting shadows on new-fallen snow?Saw you Nils on a maiden smiling glances bestow?
Have you seen Tailor Nils when the dance he commences?Are you a maiden, then go!--It's too late, when you've lost your senses.
Words in this poem
- heaves n.
- A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
- luncheon n.
- A lump of food. [Prov. E. luncheon, lunchion, lunshin, a large lump of food, fr. lunch. See Lunch.]
- bugge n.
- A bugbear; anything which terrifies. [OE. bugge, fr. W. bwg, bwgan, hobgoblin, scarecrow, bugbear. Cf. Bogey, Boggle.]
- 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,]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballad of Tailor Nils is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, the Arthur Hubbell Palmer translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Ballad of Tailor Nils, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/ballad-of-tailor-nils.html, id L29234.
Form and metre
Ballad of Tailor Nils is 22 lines in 11 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 82% of the lines.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 AA yesterdayA · gayA
- 2 AA hereA · severeA
- 4 AA renownedA · aroundA
- 5 AA declareA · thereA
- 6 AA scentA · bentA
- 7 AA allA · fallA
- 8 AA holdA · boldA
- 9 AA spurtA · hurtA
- 10 AA snowA · bestowA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| If you were born before yesterday, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Surely you've heard about Tailor Nils, who flaunts him so gay. | 14 | /˘····/˘······ |
| If it's more than a week that you've been here, | 10 | ·········· |
| Surely you've heard how Knut Storedragen got a lesson severe. | 16 | /˘··········/˘˘/ |
| Up on the barn of Ola-Per Kviste after a punchin': | 14 | ·····/˘·····/˘ |
| "When Nils heaves you again, take with you some luncheon." | 12 | ····˘/····/˘ |
| Hans Bugge, he was a man so renowned, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Haunting ghosts of his name spread alarm all around. | 12 | /˘·····˘/··· |
| "Tailor Nils, where you wish to lie, now declare! | 11 | /˘·······˘/ |
| On that spot will I spit and lay your head right there."-- | 12 | ············ |
| "Oh, just come up so near, that I know you by the scent! | 13 | ············· |
| Think not that by your jaw to earth I shall be bent!" | 12 | ············ |
| When first they met, 't was scarce a bout at all, | 11 | ··········· |
| Neither man was ready yet to try to get a fall. | 13 | /˘··/˘······· |
| The second time Hans Bugge slipped his hold. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| "Are you tired now, Hans Bugge? The dance will soon be bold." | 12 | ··/········· |
| The third time Hans fell headlong, and forth the blood did spurt. | 13 | ·····/······· |
| "Why spit you now so much, man?" -- "Oh my, that fall did hurt!"-- | 13 | ············· |
| Saw you a tree casting shadows on new-fallen snow? | 13 | ····/˘/···/˘· |
| Saw you Nils on a maiden smiling glances bestow? | 13 | ·····/˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| Have you seen Tailor Nils when the dance he commences? | 13 | ···/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Are you a maiden, then go!--It's too late, when you've lost your senses. | 16 | ···/˘·········/˘ |
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