A Ballad of Ancient Oaths
Ther ben a knyght, Sir Hoten hight,That on a time did swereIn mighty store othes mickle sore,Whiche grieved his wiffe to here.
Soth, whenne she scoft, his wiffe did oftSwere as a lady may;"I'faith," "I'sooth," or "lawk" in truthBen alle that wiffe wold say.
Soe whenne her good man waxed him woodShe mervailed much to hereThe hejeous sound of othes full roundThe which her lord did swere.
"Now, pray thee, speke and tell me ekeWhat thing hath vexed thee soe?"The wiffe she cried; but he repliedBy swereing moe and moe.
Her sweren zounds which be Gog's wounds,By bricht Marie and Gis,By sweit Sanct Ann and holie TanAnd by Bryde's bell, ywis.
By holie grails, by 'slids and 'snails,By old Sanct Dunstan bauld,The virgin faire that him did beare,By him that Judas sauld;
By Arthure's sword, by Paynim horde,By holie modyr's teir,By Cokis breath, by Zooks and 's death,And by Sanct Swithen deir;
By divells alle, both greate and smalle,And in hell there be,By bread and salt, and by Gog's malt,And by the blody tree;
By Him that worn the crown of thornAnd by the sun and mone,By deir Sanct Blanc and Sanct Fillane,And three kings of Cologne;
By the gude Lord and His sweit word,By him that herryit hell,By blessed Jude, by holie rude,And eke be Gad himsell!
He sweren soe (and mickle moe)It made man's flesch to creepen,The air ben blue with his adoAnd sore his wiffe ben wepen.
Giff you wold know why sweren soeThe goodman high Sir Hoten,He ben full wroth, because, in soth,He leesed his coler boten.
Words in this poem
- hight v. t.
- To be called or named. [OE. heiten, highten, haten, hoten; also hight, hatte, hette, is called, was called, AS. hatan to call, name, be called, to command, promise; also hatte is calle]
- mickle a.
- Much; great. [Old Eng. & Scot.] [OE. mikel, muchel, mochel, mukel, AS. micel, mycel; akin to OS. mikil, OHG. mihil, mihhil, Icel. mikill, mykill, Goth. mikils, L. magnus, Gr. mahat. sq. root103]
- whenne adv.
- At what time; -- used interrogatively. [OE. when, whan, whenne, whanne, AS. hwænne, hwanne, hwonne; akin to OS. hwan, OD. wan, OHG. wanne, G. wann when, wenn if, when, Goth. hwan when, and to E. who. ]
- alle conj.
- Although; if. See All, conj.
- wold n.
- A wood; a forest. [OE. wold, wald, AS. weald, wald, a wood, forest; akin to OFries. & OS. wald, D. woud, G. wald, Icel. völlr, a field, and probably to Gr. va a garden, inclosure.]
- zounds interj.
- An exclamation formerly used as an oath, and an expression of anger or wonder. [Contracted from God's wounds.]
- ywis adv.
- Certainly; most likely; truly; probably. [OE. ywis, iwis, AS. gewis certain; akin to D. gewis, G. gewiss, and E. wit to know. See Wit to know, and Y-.]
- horde n.
- A wandering troop or gang; especially, a clan or tribe of a nomadic people migrating from place to place for the sake of pasturage, plunder, etc.; a predatory multitude. Thomson. [F. horde (cf. G. horde), fr. Turk. ord, ordi, camp; of Tartar origin.]
- blanc n.
- A white cosmetic.
- cologne n.
- A perfumed liquid, composed of alcohol and certain aromatic oils, used in the toilet; -- called also cologne water and eau de cologne. [Originally made in Cologne, the French name of Köln, a city in Germany.]
- goodman n.
- A familiar appellation of civility, equivalent to [Good + man]
- wroth a.
- Full of wrath; angry; incensed; much exasperated; wrathful. [OE. wroth, wrap, AS. wraedh wroth, crooked, bad; akin to wriedhan to writhe, and to OS. wreedhangry, D. wreed cruel, OHG. reid twisted, Icel. reiedhr angry, Dan]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Ballad of Ancient Oaths is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hoosier Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #36150; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, A Ballad of Ancient Oaths, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/a-ballad-of-ancient-oaths.html, id L11638.
Form and metre
A Ballad of Ancient Oaths is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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-A hight · swereA · sore · hereA
- 2 -A-A oft · mayA · truth · sayA
- 3 -A-A wood · hereA · round · swereA
- 5 -A-A wounds · gisA · tan · ywisA
- 6 -A-A snails · bauldA · beare · sauldA
- 7 -A-A horde · teirA · death · deirA
- 8 -A-A smalle · beA · malt · treeA
- 9 -A-A thorn · moneA · fillane · cologneA
- 10 -A-A word · hellA · rude · himsellA
- 11 -A-A moe · creepenA · ado · wepenA
- 12 -A-A soe · hotenA · soth · botenA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ther ben a knyght, Sir Hoten hight, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That on a time did swere | 6 | ······ |
| In mighty store othes mickle sore, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whiche grieved his wiffe to here. | 6 | ······ |
| Soth, whenne she scoft, his wiffe did oft | 8 | ········ |
| Swere as a lady may; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "I'faith," "I'sooth," or "lawk" in truth | 8 | ········ |
| Ben alle that wiffe wold say. | 6 | ······ |
| Soe whenne her good man waxed him wood | 8 | ········ |
| She mervailed much to here | 6 | ······ |
| The hejeous sound of othes full round | 8 | ········ |
| The which her lord did swere. | 6 | ······ |
| "Now, pray thee, speke and tell me eke | 8 | ········ |
| What thing hath vexed thee soe?" | 6 | ······ |
| The wiffe she cried; but he replied | 8 | ······˘/ |
| By swereing moe and moe. | 6 | ······ |
| Her sweren zounds which be Gog's wounds, | 8 | ········ |
| By bricht Marie and Gis, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| By sweit Sanct Ann and holie Tan | 8 | ········ |
| And by Bryde's bell, ywis. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| By holie grails, by 'slids and 'snails, | 8 | ········ |
| By old Sanct Dunstan bauld, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The virgin faire that him did beare, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By him that Judas sauld; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By Arthure's sword, by Paynim horde, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By holie modyr's teir, | 6 | ······ |
| By Cokis breath, by Zooks and 's death, | 9 | ········· |
| And by Sanct Swithen deir; | 6 | ······ |
| By divells alle, both greate and smalle, | 9 | ········· |
| And in hell there be, | 5 | ····· |
| By bread and salt, and by Gog's malt, | 8 | ········ |
| And by the blody tree; | 6 | ······ |
| By Him that worn the crown of thorn | 8 | ········ |
| And by the sun and mone, | 6 | ······ |
| By deir Sanct Blanc and Sanct Fillane, | 8 | ········ |
| And three kings of Cologne; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| By the gude Lord and His sweit word, | 8 | ········ |
| By him that herryit hell, | 6 | ······ |
| By blessed Jude, by holie rude, | 7 | ······· |
| And eke be Gad himsell! | 6 | ······ |
| He sweren soe (and mickle moe) | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It made man's flesch to creepen, | 7 | ······· |
| The air ben blue with his ado | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And sore his wiffe ben wepen. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Giff you wold know why sweren soe | 8 | ········ |
| The goodman high Sir Hoten, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| He ben full wroth, because, in soth, | 8 | ········ |
| He leesed his coler boten. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
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