A Very Serious Ballad
In Middle Row, some years ago,There lived one Mr. Brown;And many folks considered himThe stoutest man in town.
But Brown and stout will both wear out--One Friday he died hard,And left a widow'd wife to mourn,At twenty pence a yard.
Now widow B. in two short monthsThought mourning quite a tax;And wished, like Mr. Wilberforce,To manumit her blacks.
With Mr. Street she soon was sweet;The thing came thus about:She asked him in at home, and thenAt church, he asked her out!
Assurance such as this the manIn ashes could not stand;So like a Phoenix he rose upAgainst the Hand in Hand!
One dreary night the angry spriteAppeared before her view;It came a little after one,But she was after two!
"O Mrs. B., O Mrs. B.!Are these your sorrow's deeds,Already getting up a flame,To burn your widows' weeds?
"It's not so long since I have leftFor aye the mortal scene;My memory--like Rogers's--Should still be bound in green!
"Yet if my face you still retrace,I almost have a doubt--I'm like an old Forget-me-not,With all the leaves torn out!
"To think that on that finger jointAnother pledge should cling;O Bess! upon my very soulIt struck like 'Knock and Ring,'"
"A ton of marble on my breastCan't hinder my return;Your conduct, ma'am, has set my bloodA-boiling in my urn!"
"Remember, oh! remember, howThe marriage rite did run,--If ever we one flesh should be'Tis now--when I have none!
"And you, Sir--once a bosom friend--Of perjured faith convict,As ghostly toe can give no blow,Consider you are kick'd.
"A hollow voice is all I have,But this I tell you plain,Marry come up!--you marry, ma'am,And I'll come up again."
More he had said, but chanticleerThe spritely shade did shockWith sudden crow,--and off he went,Like fowling-piece at cock!
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- manumit v. t.
- To release from slavery; to liberate from personal bondage or servitude; to free, as a slave. [L. manumittere, manumissum; manus the hand + mittere to send, to send off. See Manual, and Missile.]
- blacks n.
- The name of a kind of in used in copperplate printing, prepared from the charred husks of the grape, and residue of the wine press.
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- sprite n.
- A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition. See Spright. [OE. sprit, F. esprit, fr. L. spiritus. See Spirit, and cf. Sprightly.]
- retrace v. t.
- To trace back, as a line. [Pref. re- + trace: cf. F. retracer. Cf. Retract.]
- perjured a.
- Guilty of perjury; having sworn falsely; forsworn.
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- chanticleer n.
- A cock, so called from the clearness or loundness of his voice in crowing. [F. Chanteclair, name of the cock in the Roman du Renart (Reynard the Fox); chanter to chant + clair clear. See Chant, and Clear.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Very 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 Very 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-very-serious-ballad.html, id L20158.
Form and metre
A Very Serious Ballad is 60 lines in 15 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 ago · brownA · him · townA
- 2 -A-A out · hardA · mourn · yardA
- 3 -A-A months · taxA · wilberforce · blacksA
- 4 -A-A sweet · aboutA · then · outA
- 5 -A-A man · standA · up · handA
- 6 -A-A sprite · viewA · one · twoA
- 7 -A-A b · deedsA · flame · weedsA
- 8 -A-A left · sceneA · rogers's · greenA
- 9 -A-A retrace · doubtA · not · outA
- 10 -A-A joint · clingA · soul · ringA
- 11 -A-A breast · returnA · blood · urnA
- 12 -A-A how · runA · be · noneA
- 13 -A-A friend · convictA · blow · kick'dA
- 14 -A-A have · plainA · ma'am · againA
- 15 -A-A chanticleer · shockA · went · cockA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In Middle Row, some years ago, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| There lived one Mr. Brown; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And many folks considered him | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The stoutest man in town. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But Brown and stout will both wear out-- | 8 | ········ |
| One Friday he died hard, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And left a widow'd wife to mourn, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| At twenty pence a yard. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Now widow B. in two short months | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thought mourning quite a tax; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And wished, like Mr. Wilberforce, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To manumit her blacks. | 6 | ······ |
| With Mr. Street she soon was sweet; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The thing came thus about: | 6 | ······ |
| She asked him in at home, and then | 8 | ········ |
| At church, he asked her out! | 6 | ······ |
| Assurance such as this the man | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| In ashes could not stand; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| So like a Phoenix he rose up | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Against the Hand in Hand! | 6 | ······ |
| One dreary night the angry sprite | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Appeared before her view; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| It came a little after one, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But she was after two! | 6 | ······ |
| "O Mrs. B., O Mrs. B.! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Are these your sorrow's deeds, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Already getting up a flame, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| To burn your widows' weeds? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "It's not so long since I have left | 8 | ········ |
| For aye the mortal scene; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| My memory--like Rogers's-- | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Should still be bound in green! | 6 | ······ |
| "Yet if my face you still retrace, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I almost have a doubt-- | 6 | ·/···· |
| I'm like an old Forget-me-not, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| With all the leaves torn out! | 6 | ······ |
| "To think that on that finger joint | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Another pledge should cling; | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| O Bess! upon my very soul | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It struck like 'Knock and Ring,'" | 6 | ······ |
| "A ton of marble on my breast | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Can't hinder my return; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Your conduct, ma'am, has set my blood | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| A-boiling in my urn!" | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "Remember, oh! remember, how | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| The marriage rite did run,-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| If ever we one flesh should be | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Tis now--when I have none! | 6 | ······ |
| "And you, Sir--once a bosom friend-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of perjured faith convict, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| As ghostly toe can give no blow, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Consider you are kick'd. | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| "A hollow voice is all I have, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But this I tell you plain, | 6 | ······ |
| Marry come up!--you marry, ma'am, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| And I'll come up again." | 6 | ····˘/ |
| More he had said, but chanticleer | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The spritely shade did shock | 7 | ······· |
| With sudden crow,--and off he went, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like fowling-piece at cock! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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