Mynstrelles
Whann Battayle, smethynge wythe new quickenn'd gore,Bendynge wythe spoiles, and bloddie droppynge hedde,Dydd the merke woode of ethe and rest explore,Seekeynge to lie onn Pleasures downie bedde,Pleasure, dauncyng fromm her wode,Wreathedd wythe floures of aiglintine,Fromm hys vysage washedd the bloude,Hylte hys swerde and gaberdyne.
Wythe syke an eyne shee swotelie hymm dydd view,Dydd foe ycorvenn everrie shape to joie,Hys spryte dydd chaunge untoe anodherr hue,Hys armes, ne spoyles, mote anie thoughts emploie.All delyghtsomme and contente,Fyre enshotynge fromm hys eyne,Ynn hys arms hee dydd herr hente,Lyche the merk-plante doe entwyne.Soe, gyff thou lovest Pleasure and herr trayne,Onknowlachynge ynn whatt place herr to fynde,Thys rule yspende, and ynn thie mynde retayne;Seeke Honnoure fyrste, and Pleasaunce lies behynde.
Words in this poem
- merke a.
- Murky. Piers Plowman.
- explore v. t.
- To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
- bedde v. t.
- To place in a bed.
- wode a.
- Mad. See Wood, a. [AS. wod.]
- washedd a.
- Appearing as if overlaid with a thin layer of different color; -- said of the colors of certain birds and insects.
- eyne n.
- Plural of eye; obsolete, or used only in poetry.
- mote n.
- A meeting of persons for discussion; as, a wardmote in the city of London. [See Moot, a meeting.]
- herr n.
- A title of respect given to gentlemen in Germany, equivalent to the English Mister.
- merk n.
- A mark; a sign.
- whatt n.
- Something; thing; stuff.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mynstrelles 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, Mynstrelles, in The Rowley Poems (1777), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13037, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/chatterton-rowley/mynstrelles-2.html, id L12156.
Form and metre
Mynstrelles is 20 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABB--- goreA · heddeB · exploreA · beddeB · wodeB · aiglintine · bloude · gaberdyne
- 2 ABABCDC-DEDE viewA · joieB · hueA · emploieB · contenteC · eyneD · henteC · entwyne · trayneD · fyndeE · retayneD · behyndeE
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Whann Battayle, smethynge wythe new quickenn'd gore, | 11 | ··········· |
| Bendynge wythe spoiles, and bloddie droppynge hedde, | 10 | ·········· |
| Dydd the merke woode of ethe and rest explore, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Seekeynge to lie onn Pleasures downie bedde, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Pleasure, dauncyng fromm her wode, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Wreathedd wythe floures of aiglintine, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Fromm hys vysage washedd the bloude, | 7 | ······· |
| Hylte hys swerde and gaberdyne. | 7 | ······· |
| Wythe syke an eyne shee swotelie hymm dydd view, | 11 | ··········· |
| Dydd foe ycorvenn everrie shape to joie, | 11 | ··········· |
| Hys spryte dydd chaunge untoe anodherr hue, | 10 | ·········· |
| Hys armes, ne spoyles, mote anie thoughts emploie. | 10 | ·········· |
| All delyghtsomme and contente, | 7 | ······· |
| Fyre enshotynge fromm hys eyne, | 7 | ······· |
| Ynn hys arms hee dydd herr hente, | 7 | ······· |
| Lyche the merk-plante doe entwyne. | 7 | ······· |
| Soe, gyff thou lovest Pleasure and herr trayne, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Onknowlachynge ynn whatt place herr to fynde, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thys rule yspende, and ynn thie mynde retayne; | 10 | ·········· |
| Seeke Honnoure fyrste, and Pleasaunce lies behynde. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 11
The glosses and notes to the Rowley Poems, from Tyrwhitt's edition (Project Gutenberg #13037).
- Stanza 1, line 1 cause.
- Stanza 1, line 3 at once.
- Stanza 1, line 3 One who takes up the cross in order to fight against the Saracens.
- Stanza 1, line 8 holy.
- Stanza 2, line 1 rare, extraordinary, strange.
- Stanza 2, line 2 run, shot up.
- Stanza 2, line 6 assembling, gathering.
- Stanza 2, line 7 bursteth.
- Stanza 2, line 8 dry, barren.
- Stanza 2, line 10 Mighty.
- Stanza 2, line 11 slain.
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.