Ballad of Low-Lie-Down
John-A-Dreams and Harum-ScarumCame a-riding into town:At the Sign o' the Jug-and-JorumThere they met with Low-lie-down.
Brave in shoes of Romany leather,Bodice blue and gypsy gown,And a cap of fur and feather,In the inn sat Low-lie-down.
Harum-Scarum kissed her lightly;Smiled into her eyes of brown:Clasped her waist and held her tightly,Laughing, "Love me, Low-lie-down!"
Then with many an oath and swagger,As a man of great renown,On the board he clapped his dagger,Called for sack and sat him down.
So a while they laughed together;Then he rose and with a frownSighed, "While still 'tis pleasant weather,I must leave thee, Low-lie-down."
So away rode Harum-Scarum;With a song rode out of town;At the Sign o' the Jug-and-JorumWeeping tarried Low-lie-down.
Then this John-a-dreams, in tatters,In his pocket ne'er a crown,Touched her, saying, "Wench, what matters!Dry your eyes and, come, sit down.
"Here's my hand: we'll roam together,Far away from thorp and town.Here's my heart,--for any weather,--And my dreams, too, Low-lie-down.
"Some men call me dreamer, poet:Some men call me fool and clown--What I am but you shall know it,Only you, sweet Low-lie-down."
For a little while she pondered:Smiled: then said, "Let care go drown!"Up and kissed him.... Forth they wandered,John-a-dreams and Low-lie-down.
Words in this poem
- bodice n.
- A kind of under waist stiffened with whalebone, etc., worn esp. by women; a corset; stays. [This is properly the plural of body, Oe. bodise a pair of bodies, equiv. to a bodice. Cf. Corset, and see Body.]
- swagger v. i.
- To walk with a swaying motion; hence, to walk and act in a pompous, consequential manner. [Freq. of swag.]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- thorp n.
- A group of houses in the country; a small village; a hamlet; a dorp; -- now chiefly occurring in names of places and persons; as, Althorp, Mablethorpe. [AS. þorp; akin to OS. & OFries. thorp, D. dorp, G. dorf, Icel. þorp, Dan. torp, Sw. torp a cottage, a little farm, Goth. þaúrp a field, and probably to Lith. tr]
- dreamer n.
- One who dreams.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballad of Low-Lie-Down is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, Ballad of Low-Lie-Down, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/ballad-of-low-lie-down.html, id L10945.
Form and metre
Ballad of Low-Lie-Down is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 17 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 trochaic 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 scarumA · townB · jorumA · downB
- 2 ABAB leatherA · gownB · featherA · downB
- 3 ABAB lightlyA · brownB · tightlyA · downB
- 4 ABAB swaggerA · renownB · daggerA · downB
- 5 ABAB togetherA · frownB · weatherA · downB
- 6 ABAB scarumA · townB · jorumA · downB
- 7 ABAB tattersA · crownB · mattersA · downB
- 8 ABAB togetherA · townB · weatherA · downB
- 9 ABAB poetA · clownB · itA · downB
- 10 ABAB ponderedA · drownB · wanderedA · downB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| John-A-Dreams and Harum-Scarum | 8 | ········ |
| Came a-riding into town: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| At the Sign o' the Jug-and-Jorum | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| There they met with Low-lie-down. | 7 | ······· |
| Brave in shoes of Romany leather, | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Bodice blue and gypsy gown, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And a cap of fur and feather, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In the inn sat Low-lie-down. | 7 | ······· |
| Harum-Scarum kissed her lightly; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Smiled into her eyes of brown: | 8 | ·˘······ |
| Clasped her waist and held her tightly, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Laughing, "Love me, Low-lie-down!" | 7 | /˘····· |
| Then with many an oath and swagger, | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| As a man of great renown, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| On the board he clapped his dagger, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Called for sack and sat him down. | 8 | ·˘······ |
| So a while they laughed together; | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Then he rose and with a frown | 7 | ······· |
| Sighed, "While still 'tis pleasant weather, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| I must leave thee, Low-lie-down." | 7 | ······· |
| So away rode Harum-Scarum; | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| With a song rode out of town; | 7 | ······· |
| At the Sign o' the Jug-and-Jorum | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Weeping tarried Low-lie-down. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Then this John-a-dreams, in tatters, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In his pocket ne'er a crown, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Touched her, saying, "Wench, what matters! | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Dry your eyes and, come, sit down. | 7 | ······· |
| "Here's my hand: we'll roam together, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Far away from thorp and town. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Here's my heart,--for any weather,-- | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| And my dreams, too, Low-lie-down. | 7 | ······· |
| "Some men call me dreamer, poet: | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Some men call me fool and clown-- | 7 | ······· |
| What I am but you shall know it, | 8 | ········ |
| Only you, sweet Low-lie-down." | 7 | /˘····· |
| For a little while she pondered: | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Smiled: then said, "Let care go drown!" | 8 | ·˘······ |
| Up and kissed him.... Forth they wandered, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| John-a-dreams and Low-lie-down. | 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.