Double Ballade of Life and Fate
FOOLS may pine, and sots may swill,Cynics gibe, and prophets rail,Moralists may scourge and drill,Preachers prose, and fainthearts quail.Let them whine, or threat, or wail!Till the touch of CircumstanceDown to darkness sink the scale,Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.
What if skies be wan and chill?What if winds be harsh and stale?Presently the east will thrill,And the sad and shrunken sail,Bellying with a kindly gale,Bear you sunwards, while your chanceSends you back the hopeful hail:—‘Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.’
Idle shot or coming bill,Hapless love or broken bail,Gulp it (never chew your pill!),And, if Burgundy should fail,Try the humbler pot of ale!Over all is heaven’s expanse.Gold’s to find among the shale.Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.
Dull Sir Joskin sleeps his fill,Good Sir Galahad seeks the Grail,Proud Sir Pertinax flaunts his frill,Hard Sir Æger dints his mail;And the while by hill and daleTristram’s braveries gleam and glance,And his blithe horn tells its tale:—‘Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.’
Araminta’s grand and shrill,Delia’s passionate and frail,Doris drives an earnest quill,Athanasia takes the veil:Wiser Phyllis o’er her pail,At the heart of all romanceReading, sings to Strephon’s flail:—‘Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.’
Every Jack must have his Jill(Even Johnson had his Thrale!):Forward, couples—with a will!This, the world, is not a jail.Hear the music, sprat and whale!Hands across, retire, advance!Though the doomsman’s on your trail,Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.
Words in this poem
- swill v. t.
- To wash; to drench. [OE. swilen to wash, AS. swilian.]
- scourge n.
- A lash; a strap or cord; especially, a lash used to inflict pain or punishment; an instrument of punishment or discipline; a whip. [F. escourgée, fr. L. excoriata (sc. scutica) a stripped off (lash or whip), fr. excoriate to strip, to skin. See Excoriate.]
- fiddler n.
- One who plays on a fiddle or violin. [AS. fi.]
- presently adv.
- At present; at this time; now.
- hopeful a.
- Full of hope, or agreeable expectation; inclined to hope; expectant.
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- gulp v. t.
- To swallow eagerly, or in large draughts; to swallow up; to take down at one swallow. [D. gulpen, cf. OD. golpe gulf.]
- burgundy n.
- An old province of France (in the eastern central part).
- humbler n.
- One who, or that which, humbles some one.
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- athanasia n.
- The quality of being deathless; immortality.
- jill n.
- A young woman; a sweetheart. See Gill. Beau. & Fl. [See Gill sweetheart.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Double Ballade of Life and Fate is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1568; 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. E. Henley, Double Ballade of Life and Fate, in Poems (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1568, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/henley-poems/double-ballade-of-life-and-fate.html, id L12365.
Form and metre
Double Ballade of Life and Fate is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABBCBC, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 ABABBCBC swillA · railB · drillA · quailB · wailB · circumstanceC · scaleB · danceC
- 2 ABABBCBC chillA · staleB · thrillA · sailB · galeB · chanceC · hailB · danceC
- 3 ABABBCBC billA · bailB · pillA · failB · aleB · expanseC · shaleB · danceC
- 4 ABABBCBC fillA · grailB · frillA · mailB · daleB · glanceC · taleB · danceC
- 5 ABABBCBC shrillA · frailB · quillA · veilB · pailB · romanceC · flailB · danceC
- 6 A-ABBCBC jillA · thrale · willA · jailB · whaleB · advanceC · trailB · danceC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| FOOLS may pine, and sots may swill, | 7 | ······· |
| Cynics gibe, and prophets rail, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Moralists may scourge and drill, | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Preachers prose, and fainthearts quail. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Let them whine, or threat, or wail! | 7 | ······· |
| Till the touch of Circumstance | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Down to darkness sink the scale, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| What if skies be wan and chill? | 7 | ······· |
| What if winds be harsh and stale? | 7 | ······· |
| Presently the east will thrill, | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| And the sad and shrunken sail, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Bellying with a kindly gale, | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| Bear you sunwards, while your chance | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Sends you back the hopeful hail:— | 7 | ····/˘· |
| ‘Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.’ | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Idle shot or coming bill, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Hapless love or broken bail, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Gulp it (never chew your pill!), | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And, if Burgundy should fail, | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Try the humbler pot of ale! | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Over all is heaven’s expanse. | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| Gold’s to find among the shale. | 7 | ······· |
| Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Dull Sir Joskin sleeps his fill, | 7 | ······· |
| Good Sir Galahad seeks the Grail, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Proud Sir Pertinax flaunts his frill, | 8 | ········ |
| Hard Sir Æger dints his mail; | 6 | ······ |
| And the while by hill and dale | 7 | ······· |
| Tristram’s braveries gleam and glance, | 8 | /˘/˘˘··· |
| And his blithe horn tells its tale:— | 7 | ······· |
| ‘Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.’ | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Araminta’s grand and shrill, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Delia’s passionate and frail, | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| Doris drives an earnest quill, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Athanasia takes the veil: | 7 | ······· |
| Wiser Phyllis o’er her pail, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| At the heart of all romance | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Reading, sings to Strephon’s flail:— | 7 | /˘····· |
| ‘Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.’ | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Every Jack must have his Jill | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| (Even Johnson had his Thrale!): | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Forward, couples—with a will! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| This, the world, is not a jail. | 7 | ······· |
| Hear the music, sprat and whale! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Hands across, retire, advance! | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘/ |
| Though the doomsman’s on your trail, | 7 | ······· |
| Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
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