Ballad
It was not in the WinterOur loving lot was cast;It was the Time of Roses,--We plucked them as we passed!
That churlish season never frown'dOn early lovers yet:--Oh, no--the world was newly crown'dWith flowers when first we met!
'Twas twilight, and I bade you go,But still you held me fast;It was the Time of Roses,--We pluck'd them as we pass'd.--
What else could peer thy glowing cheek,That tears began to stud?And when I ask'd the like of Love,You snatched a damask bud;
And oped it to the dainty core,Still glowing to the last.--It was the Time of Roses,--We plucked them as we pass'd!
Words in this poem
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
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, 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/ballad-2.html, id L26113.
Form and metre
Ballad is 20 lines in 5 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 winter · castA · roses · passedA
- 2 ABAB frown'dA · yetB · crown'dA · metB
- 3 -A-A go · fastA · roses · pass'dA
- 4 -A-A cheek · studA · love · budA
- 5 -A-A core · lastA · roses · pass'dA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It was not in the Winter | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Our loving lot was cast; | 6 | //˘··· |
| It was the Time of Roses,-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| We plucked them as we passed! | 6 | ······ |
| That churlish season never frown'd | 7 | ·/˘/˘/· |
| On early lovers yet:-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Oh, no--the world was newly crown'd | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With flowers when first we met! | 6 | ·/···· |
| 'Twas twilight, and I bade you go, | 8 | ·/······ |
| But still you held me fast; | 6 | ······ |
| It was the Time of Roses,-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| We pluck'd them as we pass'd.-- | 6 | ······ |
| What else could peer thy glowing cheek, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That tears began to stud? | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And when I ask'd the like of Love, | 8 | ········ |
| You snatched a damask bud; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And oped it to the dainty core, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Still glowing to the last.-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| It was the Time of Roses,-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| We plucked them as we pass'd! | 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.