The Sergeant’s Song
WHEN Lawyers strive to heal a breach,And Parsons practise what they preach;Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down,And march his men on London town!Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lorum,Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay!
When Justices hold equal scales,And Rogues are only found in jails;Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down,And march his men on London town!Rollicum-rorum, &c.
When Rich Men find their wealth a curse,And fill therewith the Poor Man’s purse;Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down,And march his men on London town!Rollicum-rorum, &c.
When Husbands with their Wives agree,And Maids won’t wed from modesty;Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down,And march his men on London town!Rollicum-rorum, tol-tol-lorum,Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay!
Words in this poem
- pounce n.
- A fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, -- formerly used to prevent ink from spreading on manuscript. [F. ponce pumice, pounce, fr. L. pumex, -icis, pumice. See Pumice.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- therewith adv.
- With that or this.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Sergeant’s Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Wessex Poems and Other Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #3167; 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 Hardy, The Sergeant’s Song, in Wessex Poems and Other Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3167, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-wessex-poems/the-sergeant-s-song.html, id L04452.
Form and metre
The Sergeant’s Song is 22 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 64% of the lines: heroic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABB-- breachA · preachA · downB · townB · lorum · lay
- 2 AABB- scalesA · jailsA · downB · townB · —
- 3 AABB- curseA · purseA · downB · townB · —
- 4 --AA-- agree · modesty · downA · townA · lorum · lay
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WHEN Lawyers strive to heal a breach, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And Parsons practise what they preach; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And march his men on London town! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lorum, | 9 | ········· |
| Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay! | 8 | ········ |
| When Justices hold equal scales, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| And Rogues are only found in jails; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And march his men on London town! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Rollicum-rorum, &c. | 6 | ······ |
| When Rich Men find their wealth a curse, | 8 | ········ |
| And fill therewith the Poor Man’s purse; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And march his men on London town! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Rollicum-rorum, &c. | 6 | ······ |
| When Husbands with their Wives agree, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And Maids won’t wed from modesty; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And march his men on London town! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Rollicum-rorum, tol-tol-lorum, | 9 | ········· |
| Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay! | 8 | ········ |
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.