Bourtonne
Nowe bie Seyncte Marie, gyff onn all the fieldeYcrasedd speres and helmetts bee besprente,Gyff everyche knyghte dydd houlde a piercedd sheeld,Gyff all the feelde wythe champyonne blodde bee stente,Yett toe encounterr hymm I bee contente.Annodherr launce, Marshalle, anodherr launce.Albeytte hee wythe lowes of fyre ybrente,Yett Bourtonne woulde agenste hys val advance.Fyve haveth fallenn downe anethe hys speere,Botte hee schalle bee the next thatt falleth heere.
Bie thee, Seyncte Marie, and thy Sonne I sweare,Thatt ynn whatte place yonn doughtie knyghte shall fallAnethe the stronge push of mie straught out speere,There schalle aryse a hallie chyrches walle,The whyche, ynn honnoure, I wylle Marye calle,Wythe pillars large, and spyre full hyghe and rounde.And thys I faifullie wylle stonde to all,Gyff yonderr straungerr falleth to the grounde.Straungerr, bee boune; I champyonn you to warre.Sounde, sounde the flughornes, to bee hearde fromm farre.
Words in this poem
- piercedd a.
- Penetrated; entered; perforated.
- yett n.
- Any one of several species of large marine gastropods belonging to the genus Yetus, or Cymba; a boat shell.
- marshalle n.
- Originally, an officer who had the care of horses; a groom. [OE. mareschal, OF. mareschal, F. maréchal, LL. mariscalcus, from OHG. marah-scalc (G. marschall); marah horse + scalc servant (akin to AS. scealc, Goth. skalks)]
- fallenn a.
- Dropped; prostrate; degraded; ruined; decreased; dead.
- sonne n.
- A male child; the male issue, or offspring, of a parent, father or mother. [OE. sone, sune, AS. sunu; akin to D. zoon, OS., OFries., & OHG. sunu, G. sohn, Icel. sonr, Sw. son, Dan. sön, Goth. sunus, Lith. sunus, Russ. suin', Skr. sunu (]
- whatte n.
- Something; thing; stuff.
- yonn a.
- At a distance, but within view; yonder. [OE. yon, , AS. geon; akin to G. jener, OHG. jen, Icel. enn, inn; cf. Goth. jains. Beyond, Yond, Yonder.]
- 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,]
- straught v. t.
- To stretch; to make straight.
- calle n.
- A kind of head covering; a caul. [See Caul.]
- yonderr adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- farre n.
- A young pig, or a litter of pigs. [See Farrow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bourtonne is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Rowley Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #13037; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Chatterton, Bourtonne, in The Rowley Poems (1777), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13037, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/chatterton-rowley/bourtonne-2.html, id L12154.
Form and metre
Bourtonne is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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-BB-A-CC fielde · besprenteA · sheeld · stenteB · contenteB · launce · ybrenteA · advance · speereC · heereC
- 2 ABAB-CBC-- sweareA · fallB · speereA · walleB · calle · roundeC · allB · groundeC · warre · farre
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nowe bie Seyncte Marie, gyff onn all the fielde | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Ycrasedd speres and helmetts bee besprente, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Gyff everyche knyghte dydd houlde a piercedd sheeld, | 10 | ·········· |
| Gyff all the feelde wythe champyonne blodde bee stente, | 10 | ·········· |
| Yett toe encounterr hymm I bee contente. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Annodherr launce, Marshalle, anodherr launce. | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Albeytte hee wythe lowes of fyre ybrente, | 9 | ········· |
| Yett Bourtonne woulde agenste hys val advance. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Fyve haveth fallenn downe anethe hys speere, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Botte hee schalle bee the next thatt falleth heere. | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Bie thee, Seyncte Marie, and thy Sonne I sweare, | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Thatt ynn whatte place yonn doughtie knyghte shall fall | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Anethe the stronge push of mie straught out speere, | 10 | ·········· |
| There schalle aryse a hallie chyrches walle, | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| The whyche, ynn honnoure, I wylle Marye calle, | 11 | ··········· |
| Wythe pillars large, and spyre full hyghe and rounde. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And thys I faifullie wylle stonde to all, | 11 | ··········· |
| Gyff yonderr straungerr falleth to the grounde. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Straungerr, bee boune; I champyonn you to warre. | 10 | ·········· |
| Sounde, sounde the flughornes, to bee hearde fromm farre. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 14
The glosses and notes to the Rowley Poems, from Tyrwhitt's edition (Project Gutenberg #13037).
- Stanza 1, line 2 grievances.
- Stanza 1, line 2 branch.
- Stanza 1, line 3 wet, moist.
- Stanza 1, line 4 fen, moor.
- Stanza 1, line 7 drained.
- Stanza 1, line 7 swelling.
- Stanza 1, line 8 waves.
- Stanza 1, line 9 grievance.
- Stanza 2, line 3 assemble.
- Stanza 2, line 3 broad.
- Stanza 2, line 4 Horned.
- Stanza 2, line 7 white.
- Stanza 2, line 9 decks.
- Stanza 2, line 9 mightiest, most valiant.
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.