Alice Eulalie Coraline, Euphrosine Colombina Thérèse, Juliette Stephanie Celestine, Charlotte Russe De La Sauce Mayonnaise
She booked all the orders and tin,Accoutred in showy fal-lal,At a two-fifty Restaurant, inThe glittering Palais Royal.
He’d gaze in her orbit of blue,Her hand he would tenderly squeeze,But the words of her tongue that he knewWere limited strictly to these:
Houp là! Je vous aime, oui, mossoo,Combien donnez moi aujourd’huiBonjour, Mademoiselle, parlez voo.”
Was a witty and beautiful miss,Extremely correct in her ways,But her English consisted of this:
“Oh my! pretty man, if you please,Blom boodin, biftek, currie lamb,Bouldogue, two franc half, quite ze cheese,Rosbif, me spik Angleesh, godam.”
A waiter, for seasons before,Had basked in her beautiful gaze,And burnt to dismember MILOR,He loved DE LA SAUCE MAYONNAISE.
He said to her, “Méchante THÉRÈSE,Avec désespoir tu m’accables.Penses-tu, DE LA SAUCE MAYONNAISE,Ses intentions sont honorables?
“Flirtez toujours, ma belle, si tu ôses—Je me vengerai ainsi, ma chère,Je lui dirai de quoi l’on composeVol au vent à la Financière!”
LORD LARDY knew nothing of this—The waiter’s devotion ignored,But he gazed on the beautiful miss,And never seemed weary or bored.
The waiter would screw up his nerve,His fingers he’d snap and he’d dance—And LORD LARDY would smile and observe,“How strange are the customs of France!”
Well, after delaying a space,His tradesmen no longer would wait:Returning to England apace,He yielded himself to his fate.
LORD LARDY espoused, with a groan,MISS DARDY’S developing charms,And agreed to tag on to his own,Her name and her newly-found arms.
The waiter he knelt at the toesOf an ugly and thin coryphée,Who danced in the hindermost rowsAt the Théatre des Variétés.
Didn’t yield to a gnawing despairBut married a soldier, and playsAs a pretty and pert Vivandière.
Words in this poem
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- mademoiselle n.
- A French title of courtesy given to a girl or an unmarried lady, equivalent to the English Miss. Goldsmith. [F., fr. ma my, f. of mon + demoiselle young lady. See Damsel.]
- witty a.
- Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
- dismember v. t.
- To tear limb from limb; to dilacerate; to disjoin member from member; to tear or cut in pieces; to break up. [OF. desmembrer, F. démembrer; pref. des- (L. dis) + OF. & F. membre limb. See Member.]
- belle n.
- A young lady of superior beauty and attractions; a handsome lady, or one who attracts notice in society; a fair lady. [F. belle, fem. of bel, beau, beautiful, fine. See Beau.]
- lardy a.
- Containing, or resembling, lard; of the character or consistency of lard.
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- hindermost a.
- Furthest in or toward the rear; last. [The superlative of hind. See Hind, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Alice Eulalie Coraline, Euphrosine Colombina Thérèse, Juliette Stephanie Celestine, Charlotte Russe De La Sauce Mayonnaise is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Bab Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #931; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. S. Gilbert, Alice Eulalie Coraline, Euphrosine Colombina Thérèse, Juliette Stephanie Celestine, Charlotte Russe De La Sauce Mayonnaise, in The Bab Ballads (1869), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #931, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gilbert-bab-ballads/alice-eulalie-coraline-euphrosine-colombina-th-r-se-juliette.html, id L02373.
Form and metre
Alice Eulalie Coraline, Euphrosine Colombina Thérèse, Juliette Stephanie Celestine, Charlotte Russe De La Sauce Mayonnaise is 53 lines in 14 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 14 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 83% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
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 tinA · lalB · inA · royalB
- 2 ABAB blueA · squeezeB · knewA · theseB
- 3 A-A mossooA · aujourd'hui · vooA
- 4 A-A missA · ways · thisA
- 5 ABAB pleaseA · lambB · cheeseA · godamB
- 6 -A-A before · gazeA · milor · mayonnaiseA
- 9 ABAB thisA · ignoredB · missA · boredB
- 10 ABAB nerveA · danceB · observeA · franceB
- 11 ABAB spaceA · waitB · apaceA · fateB
- 12 ABAB groanA · charmsB · ownA · armsB
- 13 A-A- toesA · coryphée · rowsA · variétés
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| She booked all the orders and tin, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Accoutred in showy fal-lal, | 8 | ··˘·/˘·· |
| At a two-fifty Restaurant, in | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| The glittering Palais Royal. | 8 | ·/˘˘˘//˘ |
| He’d gaze in her orbit of blue, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Her hand he would tenderly squeeze, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| But the words of her tongue that he knew | 9 | ········· |
| Were limited strictly to these: | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| Houp là! Je vous aime, oui, mossoo, | 8 | ········ |
| Combien donnez moi aujourd’hui | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| Bonjour, Mademoiselle, parlez voo.” | 8 | ˘/·˘/··· |
| Was a witty and beautiful miss, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Extremely correct in her ways, | 8 | ˘/˘˘/··· |
| But her English consisted of this: | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘·· |
| “Oh my! pretty man, if you please, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Blom boodin, biftek, currie lamb, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Bouldogue, two franc half, quite ze cheese, | 8 | ········ |
| Rosbif, me spik Angleesh, godam.” | 8 | ········ |
| A waiter, for seasons before, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Had basked in her beautiful gaze, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And burnt to dismember MILOR, | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| He loved DE LA SAUCE MAYONNAISE. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He said to her, “Méchante THÉRÈSE, | 8 | ········ |
| Avec désespoir tu m’accables. | 8 | ········ |
| Penses-tu, DE LA SAUCE MAYONNAISE, | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| Ses intentions sont honorables? | 9 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘˘ |
| “Flirtez toujours, ma belle, si tu ôses— | 9 | ········· |
| Je me vengerai ainsi, ma chère, | 9 | ········· |
| Je lui dirai de quoi l’on compose | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Vol au vent à la Financière!” | 7 | ······· |
| LORD LARDY knew nothing of this— | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| The waiter’s devotion ignored, | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| But he gazed on the beautiful miss, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And never seemed weary or bored. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| The waiter would screw up his nerve, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His fingers he’d snap and he’d dance— | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And LORD LARDY would smile and observe, | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| “How strange are the customs of France!” | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Well, after delaying a space, | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| His tradesmen no longer would wait: | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Returning to England apace, | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| He yielded himself to his fate. | 8 | ·/˘˘/··· |
| LORD LARDY espoused, with a groan, | 8 | ·/˘˘/··· |
| MISS DARDY’S developing charms, | 8 | ···˘/˘˘· |
| And agreed to tag on to his own, | 9 | ·˘/······ |
| Her name and her newly-found arms. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| The waiter he knelt at the toes | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of an ugly and thin coryphée, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Who danced in the hindermost rows | 8 | ········ |
| At the Théatre des Variétés. | 6 | ······ |
| Didn’t yield to a gnawing despair | 9 | /˘···/˘˘/ |
| But married a soldier, and plays | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| As a pretty and pert Vivandière. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
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