A New Ballad Tune—“The Dragon of Wantley”
Dire was the hate at old Harlaw,That Scot to Scot did carry;And dire the discord Langside sawFor beauteous, hapless Mary:But Scot to Scot ne’er met so hot,Or were more in fury seen, Sir,Than ’twixt Hal and Bob for the famous job,Who should be the Faculty’s Dean, Sir.
This Hal for genius, wit and lore,Among the first was number’d;But pious Bob, ’mid learning’s store,Commandment the tenth remember’d:Yet simple Bob the victory got,And wan his heart’s desire,Which shews that heaven can boil the pot,Tho’ the devil piss in the fire.
Squire Hal, besides, had in this casePretensions rather brassy;For talents, to deserve a place,Are qualifications saucy.So their worships of the Faculty,Quite sick of merit’s rudeness,Chose one who should owe it all, d’ye see,To their gratis grace and goodness.
As once on Pisgah purg’d was the sightOf a son of Circumcision,So may be, on this Pisgah height,Bob’s purblind mental vision—Nay, Bobby’s mouth may be opened yet,Till for eloquence you hail him,And swear that he has the angel metThat met the ass of Balaam.
In your heretic sins may you live and die,Ye heretic Eight-and-Tairty!But accept, ye sublime Majority,My congratulations hearty.With your honours, as with a certain king,In your servants this is striking,The more incapacity they bring,The more they’re to your liking.
Words in this poem
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- commandment n.
- An order or injunction given by authority; a command; a charge; a precept; a mandate. [OF. commandement, F. commandement.]
- piss v. t.
- To discharge urine, to urinate. [OE. pissen, F. pisser; akin to It. pisciare, D. & G. pissen, Dan. pisse, Icel. pissa.]
- brassy a.
- Of or pertaining to brass; having the nature, appearance, or hardness, of brass.
- gratis adv.
- For nothing; without fee or recompense; freely; gratuitously. [L., contr. fr. gratiis out of favor or kindness, without recompense, for nothing, fr. gratia favor. See Grace.]
- circumcision n.
- The act of cutting off the prepuce or foreskin of males, or the internal labia of females. [L. circumcisio.]
- heretic n.
- One who holds to a heresy; one who believes some doctrine contrary to the established faith or prevailing religion. [L. haereticus, Gr. hérétique. See Heresy.]
- majority n.
- The quality or condition of being major or greater; superiority. [F. majorité. See Major.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A New Ballad Tune—“The Dragon of Wantley” is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Project Gutenberg ebook #1279; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Burns, A New Ballad Tune—“The Dragon of Wantley”, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/a-new-ballad-tune-the-dragon-of-wantley.html, id L03447.
Form and metre
A New Ballad Tune—“The Dragon of Wantley” is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 18 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% 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 ABAB-C-C harlawA · carryB · sawA · maryB · hot · sirC · job · sirC
- 2 A-A-BCBC loreA · number'd · storeA · remember'd · gotB · desireC · potB · fireC
- 3 A-A--A-- caseA · brassy · placeA · saucy · faculty · rudenessA · see · goodness
- 4 ABABC-C- sightA · circumcisionB · heightA · visionB · yetC · him · metC · balaam
- 5 ----ABAB die · tairty · majority · hearty · kingA · strikingB · bringA · likingB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dire was the hate at old Harlaw, | 8 | ········ |
| That Scot to Scot did carry; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And dire the discord Langside saw | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For beauteous, hapless Mary: | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| But Scot to Scot ne’er met so hot, | 8 | ········ |
| Or were more in fury seen, Sir, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Than ’twixt Hal and Bob for the famous job, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Who should be the Faculty’s Dean, Sir. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| This Hal for genius, wit and lore, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Among the first was number’d; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But pious Bob, ’mid learning’s store, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Commandment the tenth remember’d: | 8 | ˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| Yet simple Bob the victory got, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And wan his heart’s desire, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Which shews that heaven can boil the pot, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Tho’ the devil piss in the fire. | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Squire Hal, besides, had in this case | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Pretensions rather brassy; | 7 | ˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| For talents, to deserve a place, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Are qualifications saucy. | 8 | ··˘˘/˘/˘ |
| So their worships of the Faculty, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘˘ |
| Quite sick of merit’s rudeness, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Chose one who should owe it all, d’ye see, | 9 | ········· |
| To their gratis grace and goodness. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| As once on Pisgah purg’d was the sight | 9 | ········· |
| Of a son of Circumcision, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| So may be, on this Pisgah height, | 8 | ········ |
| Bob’s purblind mental vision— | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Nay, Bobby’s mouth may be opened yet, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Till for eloquence you hail him, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| And swear that he has the angel met | 9 | ······/˘· |
| That met the ass of Balaam. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| In your heretic sins may you live and die, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Ye heretic Eight-and-Tairty! | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| But accept, ye sublime Majority, | 9 | ·˘/·˘/˘/˘ |
| My congratulations hearty. | 8 | ·˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| With your honours, as with a certain king, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| In your servants this is striking, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| The more incapacity they bring, | 8 | ··˘˘/˘·· |
| The more they’re to your liking. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.