Lord Rochester's Song
"Hold, little blue-eyed page!"So cried the watchers surly,Stern to his pretty rageAnd golden hair so curly--"Methinks your satin cloakMasks something bulky under;I take this as no joke--Oh, thief with stolen plunder!"
"I am of high repute,And famed among the truthful:This silver-handled luteIs meet for one still youthfulWho goes to keep a trystWith her who is his dearest.I charge you to desist;My cause is of the clearest."
But guardsmen are so sharp,Their eyes are as the lynx's:"That's neither lute nor harp--Your mark is not the minxes.Your loving we dispute--That string of steel so cruelFor music does not suit--You go to fight a duel!"
Words in this poem
- surly a.
- Arrogant; haughty. Cotgrave. [Probably from sir, and originally meaning, sirlike, i.e., proud. See Sir, and Like, a.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- tryst v. i.
- To mutually agree to meet at a certain place.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lord Rochester's Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Victor Hugo, Lord Rochester's Song, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/lord-rochester-s-song.html, id L26866.
Form and metre
Lord Rochester's Song is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABABCDCD pageA · surlyB · rageA · curlyB · cloakC · underD · jokeC · plunderD
- 2 ABABCCCC reputeA · truthfulB · luteA · youthfulB · trystC · dearestC · desistC · clearestC
- 3 ABABCDCD sharpA · lynx'sB · harpA · minxesB · disputeC · cruelD · suitC · duelD
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 iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "Hold, little blue-eyed page!" | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| So cried the watchers surly, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Stern to his pretty rage | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And golden hair so curly-- | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| "Methinks your satin cloak | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Masks something bulky under; | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| I take this as no joke-- | 6 | ······ |
| Oh, thief with stolen plunder!" | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| "I am of high repute, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And famed among the truthful: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| This silver-handled lute | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Is meet for one still youthful | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Who goes to keep a tryst | 6 | ······ |
| With her who is his dearest. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I charge you to desist; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| My cause is of the clearest." | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But guardsmen are so sharp, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Their eyes are as the lynx's: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "That's neither lute nor harp-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Your mark is not the minxes. | 7 | ······· |
| Your loving we dispute-- | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| That string of steel so cruel | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For music does not suit-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| You go to fight a duel!" | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.