A Pathetic Ballad
'Twas in the middle of the night,To sleep young William tried,When Mary's ghost came stealing in,And stood at his bedside.
O William dear! O William dear!My rest eternal ceases;Alas! my everlasting peaceIs broken into pieces.
I thought the last of all my caresWould end with my last minute;But though I went to my long home,I didn't stay long in it.
The body-snatchers they have come,And made a snatch at me;It's very hard them kind of menWon't let a body be!
You thought that I was buried deep,Quite decent-like and chary,But from her grave in Mary-bone,They've come and boned your Mary.
The arm that used to take your armIs took to Dr. Vyse;And both my legs are gone to walkThe hospital at Guy's.
I vowed that you should have my hand,But fate gives us denial;You'll find it there, at Dr. Bell's,In spirits and a phial.
As for my feet, the little feetYou used to call so pretty,There's one, I know, in Bedford Row,The t'other's in the City.
I can't tell where my head is gone,But Doctor Carpue can;As for my trunk, it's all packed upTo go by Pickford's van.
I wish you'd go to Mr. P.And save me such a ride;I don't half like the outside place,They've took for my inside.
The cock it crows--I must be gone!My William, we must part!But I'll be yours in death, altho'Sir Astley has my heart.
Don't go to weep upon my grave,And think that there I be;They haven't left an atom thereOf my anatomie.
Words in this poem
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- bedside n.
- The side of a bed.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- chary a.
- Careful; wary; cautious; not rash, reckless, or spendthrift; saving; frugal. [AS. cearig careful, fr. cearu care. See Care.]
- boned a.
- Having (such) bones; -- used in composition; as, big-boned; strong-boned.
- 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]
- phial n.
- A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small bottle for medicines; a vial. [F. fiole, L. phiala a broad, flat, shallow cup or bowl, Gr. Vial.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Pathetic Ballad is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; 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 Hood, A Pathetic Ballad, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/a-pathetic-ballad-5.html, id L20213.
Form and metre
A Pathetic Ballad is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 night · triedA · in · bedsideA
- 2 -A-A dear · ceasesA · peace · piecesA
- 3 -A-A cares · minuteA · home · itA
- 4 -A-A come · meA · men · beA
- 7 -A-A hand · denialA · bell's · phialA
- 8 -A-A feet · prettyA · row · cityA
- 9 -A-A gone · canA · up · vanA
- 10 -A-A p · rideA · place · insideA
- 11 -A-A gone · partA · altho · heartA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Twas in the middle of the night, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To sleep young William tried, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| When Mary's ghost came stealing in, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And stood at his bedside. | 6 | ····/· |
| O William dear! O William dear! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| My rest eternal ceases; | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Alas! my everlasting peace | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| Is broken into pieces. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| I thought the last of all my cares | 8 | ········ |
| Would end with my last minute; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But though I went to my long home, | 8 | ········ |
| I didn't stay long in it. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The body-snatchers they have come, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And made a snatch at me; | 6 | ······ |
| It's very hard them kind of men | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Won't let a body be! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| You thought that I was buried deep, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Quite decent-like and chary, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| But from her grave in Mary-bone, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They've come and boned your Mary. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The arm that used to take your arm | 8 | ········ |
| Is took to Dr. Vyse; | 5 | ····· |
| And both my legs are gone to walk | 8 | ········ |
| The hospital at Guy's. | 6 | ·/·˘·· |
| I vowed that you should have my hand, | 8 | ········ |
| But fate gives us denial; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| You'll find it there, at Dr. Bell's, | 7 | ······· |
| In spirits and a phial. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| As for my feet, the little feet | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| You used to call so pretty, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| There's one, I know, in Bedford Row, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The t'other's in the City. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I can't tell where my head is gone, | 8 | ········ |
| But Doctor Carpue can; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| As for my trunk, it's all packed up | 8 | ········ |
| To go by Pickford's van. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I wish you'd go to Mr. P. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And save me such a ride; | 6 | ······ |
| I don't half like the outside place, | 8 | ·····//· |
| They've took for my inside. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The cock it crows--I must be gone! | 8 | ········ |
| My William, we must part! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But I'll be yours in death, altho' | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Sir Astley has my heart. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Don't go to weep upon my grave, | 8 | ········ |
| And think that there I be; | 6 | ······ |
| They haven't left an atom there | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of my anatomie. | 6 | ······ |
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