A Serious Ballad
But a bold pheasantry, their country's prideWhen once destroyed can never be supplied.
Bill Blossom was a nice young man,And drove the Bury coach;But bad companions were his bane,And egg'd him on to poach.
They taught him how to net the birds,And how to noose the hare;And with a wiry terrier,He often set a snare.
Each "shiny night" the moon was bright,To park, preserve, and woodHe went, and kept the game alive,By killing all he could.
Land-owners, who had rabbits, sworeThat he had this demerit--Give him an inch of warren, heWould take a yard of ferret.
At partridges he was not nice;And many, large and small,Without Hall's powder, without lead,Were sent to Leaden Hall.
He did not fear to take a deerFrom forest, park, or lawn;And without courting lord or duke,Used frequently to fawn.
Folks who had hares discovered snares--His course they could not stop:No barber he, and yet he madeTheir hares a perfect crop.
To pheasant he was such a foe,He tried the keepers' nerves;They swore he never seem'd to haveJam satis of preserves.
The Shooter went to beat, and foundNo sporting worth a pin,Unless he tried the covers madeOf silver, plate, or tin.
In Kent the game was little worth,In Surrey not a button;The Speaker said he often triedThe Manors about Button.
No county from his tricks was safe;In each he tried his lucks,And when the keepers were in Beds,He often was at Bucks.
And when he went to Bucks, alas!They always came to Herts;And even Oxon used to wishThat he had his deserts.
But going to his usual Hants,Old Cheshire laid his plots:He got entrapp'd by legal Berks,And lost his life in Notts.
Words in this poem
- pheasantry n.
- A place for keeping and rearing pheasants. Gwilt. [Cf. F. faisanderie.]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- bane v. t.
- To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
- poach v. t.
- To stab; to pierce; to spear, \as fish. Carew. [Cf. OF. pocher to thrust or dig out with the fingers, to bruise (the eyes), F. pouce thumb, L. pollex, and also E. poach to cook eggs, to plunder, and poke to t]
- wiry a.
- Made of wire; like wire; drawn out like wire. [Written also wiery.]
- shiny a.
- Bright; luminous; clear; unclouded.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- demerit v. t.
- To deserve; -- said in reference to both praise and blame. [Cf. F. démériter to deserve ill. See Demerit, n.]
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- barber n.
- One whose occupation it is to shave or trim the beard, and to cut and dress the hair of his patrons. Barber's itch. See under Itch. [OE. barbour, OF. barbeor, F. barbier, as if fr. an assumed L. barbator, fr. barba beard. See 1st Barb.]
- shooter n.
- One who shoots, as an archer or a gunner.
- county n.
- An earldom; the domain of a count or earl. [F. comt, fr. LL. comitatus. See Count.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Serious 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 Serious 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-serious-ballad-2.html, id L20166.
Form and metre
A Serious Ballad is 54 lines in 14 stanzas. 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 AA prideA · suppliedA
- 2 -A-A man · coachA · bane · poachA
- 3 -A-A birds · hareA · terrier · snareA
- 4 -A-A bright · woodA · alive · couldA
- 5 -A-A swore · demeritA · he · ferretA
- 6 -A-A nice · smallA · lead · hallA
- 7 -A-A deer · lawnA · duke · fawnA
- 8 -A-A snares · stopA · made · cropA
- 9 -A-A foe · nervesA · have · preservesA
- 10 -A-A found · pinA · made · tinA
- 11 -A-A worth · buttonA · tried · buttonA
- 12 -A-A safe · lucksA · beds · bucksA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| But a bold pheasantry, their country's pride | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| When once destroyed can never be supplied. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Bill Blossom was a nice young man, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And drove the Bury coach; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But bad companions were his bane, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And egg'd him on to poach. | 6 | ······ |
| They taught him how to net the birds, | 8 | ········ |
| And how to noose the hare; | 6 | ······ |
| And with a wiry terrier, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| He often set a snare. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Each "shiny night" the moon was bright, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To park, preserve, and wood | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| He went, and kept the game alive, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| By killing all he could. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Land-owners, who had rabbits, swore | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That he had this demerit-- | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Give him an inch of warren, he | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Would take a yard of ferret. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| At partridges he was not nice; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And many, large and small, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Without Hall's powder, without lead, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Were sent to Leaden Hall. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He did not fear to take a deer | 8 | ········ |
| From forest, park, or lawn; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And without courting lord or duke, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Used frequently to fawn. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Folks who had hares discovered snares-- | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| His course they could not stop: | 6 | ······ |
| No barber he, and yet he made | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their hares a perfect crop. | 6 | ···˘/· |
| To pheasant he was such a foe, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He tried the keepers' nerves; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They swore he never seem'd to have | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Jam satis of preserves. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The Shooter went to beat, and found | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| No sporting worth a pin, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Unless he tried the covers made | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of silver, plate, or tin. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| In Kent the game was little worth, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In Surrey not a button; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| The Speaker said he often tried | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The Manors about Button. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| No county from his tricks was safe; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In each he tried his lucks, | 6 | ······ |
| And when the keepers were in Beds, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He often was at Bucks. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And when he went to Bucks, alas! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| They always came to Herts; | 6 | ·/···· |
| And even Oxon used to wish | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That he had his deserts. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| But going to his usual Hants, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| Old Cheshire laid his plots: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| He got entrapp'd by legal Berks, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And lost his life in Notts. | 6 | ······ |
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.