Laurel · W. S. Gilbert · The Bab Ballads

The Story of Prince Agib

W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) · 1869

iambic pentameter · limerick · 85 lines · from The Bab Ballads

STRIKE the concertina’s melancholy string!Blow the spirit-stirring harp like anything!Let the piano’s martial blastRouse the Echoes of the Past,For of AGIB, Prince of Tartary, I sing!

Of AGIB, who, amid Tartaric scenes,Wrote a lot of ballet music in his teens:His gentle spirit rollsIn the melody of souls—Which is pretty, but I don’t know what it means.

Of AGIB, who could readily, at sight,Strum a march upon the loud Theodolite.He would diligently playOn the Zoetrope all day,And blow the gay Pantechnicon all night.

One winter—I am shaky in my dates—Came two starving Tartar minstrels to his gates;Oh, ALLAH be obeyed,How infernally they played!I remember that they called themselves the “Oüaits.”

Oh! that day of sorrow, misery, and rage,I shall carry to the Catacombs of Age,Photographically linedOn the tablet of my mind,When a yesterday has faded from its page!

Alas! PRINCE AGIB went and asked them in;Gave them beer, and eggs, and sweets, and scent, and tin.And when (as snobs would say)They had “put it all away,”He requested them to tune up and begin.

Though its icy horror chill you to the core,I will tell you what I never told before,—The consequences trueOf that awful interview,For I listened at the keyhole in the door!

They played him a sonata—let me see!“Medulla oblongata”—key of G.Then they began to singThat extremely lovely thing,“Scherzando! ma non troppo, ppp.”

He gave them money, more than they could count,Scent from a most ingenious little fount,More beer, in little kegs,Many dozen hard-boiled eggs,And goodies to a fabulous amount.

Now follows the dim horror of my tale,And I feel I’m growing gradually pale,For, even at this day,Though its sting has passed away,When I venture to remember it, I quail!

The elder of the brothers gave a squeal,All-overish it made me for to feel;“Oh, PRINCE,” he says, says he,“If a Prince indeed you be,I’ve a mystery I’m going to reveal!

“Oh, listen, if you’d shun a horrid death,To what the gent who’s speaking to you saith:No ‘Oüaits’ in truth are we,As you fancy that we be,For (ter-remble!) I am ALECK—this is BETH!”

Said AGIB, “Oh! accursed of your kind,I have heard that ye are men of evil mind!”BETH gave a dreadful shriek—But before he’d time to speakI was mercilessly collared from behind.

In number ten or twelve, or even more,They fastened me full length upon the floor.On my face extended flat,I was walloped with a catFor listening at the keyhole of a door.

Oh! the horror of that agonizing thrill!(I can feel the place in frosty weather still).For a week from ten to fourI was fastened to the floor,While a mercenary wopped me with a will

They branded me and broke me on a wheel,And they left me in an hospital to heal;And, upon my solemn word,I have never never heardWhat those Tartars had determined to reveal.

But that day of sorrow, misery, and rage,I shall carry to the Catacombs of Age,Photographically linedOn the tablet of my mind,When a yesterday has faded from its page

Words in this poem 22

amid prep.: In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
wrote v. i.: To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
ballet n.: An artistic dance performed as a theatrical entertainment, or an interlude, by a number of persons, usually women. Sometimes, a scene accompanied by pantomime and dancing. [F., a dim. of bal dance. See 2d Ball, n.]
teens n.: The years of one's age having the termination -teen, beginning with thirteen and ending with nineteen; as, a girl in her teens. [See Ten.]
strum v. t.: To play on an instrument of music, or as on an instrument, in an unskillful or noisy way; to thrum; as, to strum a piano. [Probably of imitative origin. Cf. Thrum.]
pantechnicon n.: A depository or place where all sorts of manufactured articles are collected for sale. [NL. See Pan-, and Technic.]
allah n.: The name of the Supreme Being, in use among the Arabs and the Mohammedans generally. [contr. fr. the article al the + ilah God.]
infernally adv.: In an infernal manner; diabolically.
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,]
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
keyhole n.: A hole or apertupe in a door or lock, for receiving a key.
sonata n.: An extended composition for one or two instruments, consisting usually of three or four movements; as, Beethoven's sonatas for the piano, for the violin and piano, etc. [It., fr. It. & L. sonare to sound. See Sound a noise.]
medulla n.: Marrow; pith; hence, essence. [L.]
scherzando adv.: In a playful or sportive manner. [It.]
troppo adv.: Too much; as, allegro ma non troppo, brisk but not too much so.
squeal v. i.: To cry with a sharp, shrill, prolonged sound, as certain animals do, indicating want, displeasure, or pain. [Of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. sqväla, Norw. skvella. Cf. Squeak, Squall.]
horrid a.: Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
gent a.: Gentle; noble; of gentle birth. [OF. gent, fr. L. genitus born, or (less prob.) fr. gentilis. See Genteel.]
saith: 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
dreadful a.: Full of dread or terror; fearful.
broke v. i.: To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
hospital n.: A place for shelter or entertainment; an inn. [OF. hospital, ospital, F. hôpital, LL. hospitale (or perh. E. hospital is directly from the Late Latin), from L. hospitalis relating to a guest, hospitalia apar]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Story of Prince Agib 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, The Story of Prince Agib, in The Bab Ballads (1869), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #931, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gilbert-bab-ballads/the-story-of-prince-agib.html, id L02400.

Form and metre

The Story of Prince Agib is 85 lines in 17 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBA, complete in 16 of its 17 stanzas; the stanza is the Limerick. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other limericks, 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 AABBA string^A · anything^A · blast^B · past^B · sing^A
2 AABBA scenes^A · teens^A · rolls^B · souls^B · means^A
3 AABBA sight^A · theodolite^A · play^B · day^B · night^A
4 AABBA dates^A · gates^A · obeyed^B · played^B · oüaits^A
5 AABBA rage^A · age^A · lined^B · mind^B · page^A
6 AABBA in^A · tin^A · say^B · away^B · begin^A
7 AABBA core^A · before^A · true^B · interview^B · door^A
8 AABB- see^A · g^A · sing^B · thing^B · —
9 AABBA count^A · fount^A · kegs^B · eggs^B · amount^A
10 AABBA tale^A · pale^A · day^B · away^B · quail^A
11 AABBA squeal^A · feel^A · he^B · be^B · reveal^A
12 AABBA death^A · saith^A · we^B · be^B · beth^A
13 AABBA kind^A · mind^A · shriek^B · speak^B · behind^A
14 AABBA more^A · floor^A · flat^B · cat^B · door^A
15 AABBA thrill^A · still^A · four^B · floor^B · will^A
16 AABBA wheel^A · heal^A · word^B · heard^B · reveal^A
17 AABBA rage^A · age^A · lined^B · mind^B · page^A

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
STRIKE the concertina’s melancholy string!	10	··˘/˘/˘·˘·
Blow the spirit-stirring harp like anything!	10	··//˘··/˘·
Let the piano’s martial blast	8	··˘/˘/˘·
Rouse the Echoes of the Past,	7	··/˘···
For of AGIB, Prince of Tartary, I sing!	11	······/˘˘··
Of AGIB, who, amid Tartaric scenes,	10	····˘/˘/˘·
Wrote a lot of ballet music in his teens:	11	····˘//˘···
His gentle spirit rolls	6	·/˘/˘·
In the melody of souls—	7	··/˘˘··
Which is pretty, but I don’t know what it means.	11	··/˘·······
Of AGIB, who could readily, at sight,	9	·····/˘··
Strum a march upon the loud Theodolite.	11	·······˘/˘˘
He would diligently play	7	··/˘˘˘·
On the Zoetrope all day,	7	··/˘˘··
And blow the gay Pantechnicon all night.	10	····˘/˘˘··
One winter—I am shaky in my dates—	10	·/˘··/˘···
Came two starving Tartar minstrels to his gates;	11	··/˘/˘/˘···
Oh, ALLAH be obeyed,	7	·/˘·˘/˘
How infernally they played!	8	·˘/˘˘··˘
I remember that they called themselves the “Oüaits.”	11	·˘/˘···˘/··
Oh! that day of sorrow, misery, and rage,	10	····/˘/˘··
I shall carry to the Catacombs of Age,	11	··/˘··/˘···
Photographically lined	8	·······˘
On the tablet of my mind,	7	··/˘···
When a yesterday has faded from its page!	11	··/˘··/˘···
Alas! PRINCE AGIB went and asked them in;	10	˘/········
Gave them beer, and eggs, and sweets, and scent, and tin.	11	···········
And when (as snobs would say)	6	······
They had “put it all away,”	7	·····˘/
He requested them to tune up and begin.	11	·˘/˘·····˘/
Though its icy horror chill you to the core,	11	··/˘/˘·····
I will tell you what I never told before,—	10	······/···
The consequences true	6	·/˘·˘·
Of that awful interview,	7	··/˘/˘·
For I listened at the keyhole in the door!	11	··/˘··/····
They played him a sonata—let me see!	10	····˘/˘···
“Medulla oblongata”—key of G.	10	˘/˘·······
Then they began to sing	6	··˘/··
That extremely lovely thing,	7	·˘/˘/˘·
“Scherzando! ma non troppo, ppp.”	8	˘/˘··/˘·
He gave them money, more than they could count,	10	···/˘·····
Scent from a most ingenious little fount,	10	····˘/˘/˘·
More beer, in little kegs,	6	···/˘·
Many dozen hard-boiled eggs,	8	/˘/˘··˘·
And goodies to a fabulous amount.	9	·/˘··/˘˘/
Now follows the dim horror of my tale,	10	·/˘··/˘···
And I feel I’m growing gradually pale,	8	····//˘·
For, even at this day,	6	·/˘···
Though its sting has passed away,	8	·····˘˘/
When I venture to remember it, I quail!	11	··/˘·˘/˘···
The elder of the brothers gave a squeal,	10	·/˘··/˘···
All-overish it made me for to feel;	10	··········
“Oh, PRINCE,” he says, says he,	6	······
“If a Prince indeed you be,	7	···˘/··
I’ve a mystery I’m going to reveal!	9	··/˘·/·˘/
“Oh, listen, if you’d shun a horrid death,	10	·/˘····/˘·
To what the gent who’s speaking to you saith:	10	·····/˘···
No ‘Oüaits’ in truth are we,	6	······
As you fancy that we be,	7	··/˘···
For (ter-remble!) I am ALECK—this is BETH!”	11	··/˘·······
Said AGIB, “Oh! accursed of your kind,	9	·········
I have heard that ye are men of evil mind!”	10	········/·
BETH gave a dreadful shriek—	6	···/˘·
But before he’d time to speak	7	·······
I was mercilessly collared from behind.	9	··/˘/˘···
In number ten or twelve, or even more,	9	·/˘····/·
They fastened me full length upon the floor.	10	·/˘·······
On my face extended flat,	7	···˘/˘·
I was walloped with a cat	8	··/˘˘···
For listening at the keyhole of a door.	10	·/˘··/····
Oh! the horror of that agonizing thrill!	9	··/˘··/˘·
(I can feel the place in frosty weather still).	11	······/˘/˘·
For a week from ten to four	7	·······
I was fastened to the floor,	8	··/˘˘···
While a mercenary wopped me with a will	11	··/˘·˘·····
They branded me and broke me on a wheel,	10	·/˘·······
And they left me in an hospital to heal;	11	······/·˘··
And, upon my solemn word,	7	····/˘·
I have never never heard	7	··/˘/˘·
What those Tartars had determined to reveal.	11	··/˘·˘/˘·˘/
But that day of sorrow, misery, and rage,	10	····/˘/˘··
I shall carry to the Catacombs of Age,	11	··/˘··/˘···
Photographically lined	8	·······˘
On the tablet of my mind,	7	··/˘···
When a yesterday has faded from its page	11	··/˘··/˘···

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