François Villon: Arbor Amoris
I HAVE a tree, a graft of Love,That in my heart has taken root;Sad are the buds and blooms thereof,And bitter sorrow is its fruit;Yet, since it was a tender shoot,So greatly hath its shadow spread,That underneath all joy is dead,And all my pleasant days are flown,Nor can I slay it, nor insteadPlant any tree, save this alone.
Ah, yet, for long and long enoughMy tears were rain about its root,And though the fruit be harsh thereof,I scarcely looked for better fruitThan this, that carefully I putIn garner, for the bitter breadWhereon my weary life is fed:Ah, better were the soil unsownThat bears such growths; but Love insteadWill plant no tree, but this alone.
Ah, would that this new spring, whereofThe leaves and flowers flush into shoot,I might have succour and aid of Love,To prune these branches at the root,That long have borne such bitter fruit,And graft a new bough, comfortedWith happy blossoms white and red;So pleasure should for pain atone,Nor Love slay this tree, nor insteadPlant any tree, but this alone.
Princess, by whom my hope is fed,My heart thee prays in lowliheadTo prune the ill boughs overgrown,Nor slay Love’s tree, nor plant insteadAnother tree, save this alone.
Words in this poem
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- garner n.
- A granary; a building or place where grain is stored for preservation. [OE. garner, gerner, greiner, OF. gernier, grenier, F. grenier, fr. L. granarium, fr. granum. See 1st Grain, and cf. Granary.]
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- succour v. t.
- tiono run to, or run to support; hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want, or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; to relieve; as, to succor a besieged city. [OE. socouren, OF. sucurre, soucourre, secorre, F. secourir, L. succurrere, succursum, to run under, run to the aid of, help, succor; sub under + currere to run.]
- atone v. t.
- To set at one; to reduce to concord; to reconcile, as parties at variance; to appease.
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
François Villon: Arbor Amoris is in the public domain. This text is taken from Ballads and Lyrics of Old France, with Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #795, the Andrew Lang 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: Various, François Villon: Arbor Amoris, in Ballads and Lyrics of Old France (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #795, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lang-old-france/arbor-amoris.html, id L26888.
Form and metre
François Villon: Arbor Amoris is 35 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABBCCDCD, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABBCCDCD loveA · rootB · thereofA · fruitB · shootB · spreadC · deadC · flownD · insteadC · aloneD
- 2 ABABBCCDCD enoughA · rootB · thereofA · fruitB · putB · breadC · fedC · unsownD · insteadC · aloneD
- 3 ABABBCCDCD whereofA · shootB · loveA · rootB · fruitB · comfortedC · redC · atoneD · insteadC · aloneD
- 4 AABAB fedA · lowliheadA · overgrownB · insteadA · aloneB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I HAVE a tree, a graft of Love, | 8 | ········ |
| That in my heart has taken root; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sad are the buds and blooms thereof, | 8 | ········ |
| And bitter sorrow is its fruit; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Yet, since it was a tender shoot, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So greatly hath its shadow spread, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| That underneath all joy is dead, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And all my pleasant days are flown, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor can I slay it, nor instead | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Plant any tree, save this alone. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Ah, yet, for long and long enough | 8 | ······˘/ |
| My tears were rain about its root, | 8 | ········ |
| And though the fruit be harsh thereof, | 8 | ········ |
| I scarcely looked for better fruit | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Than this, that carefully I put | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| In garner, for the bitter bread | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whereon my weary life is fed: | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Ah, better were the soil unsown | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That bears such growths; but Love instead | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Will plant no tree, but this alone. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ah, would that this new spring, whereof | 8 | ········ |
| The leaves and flowers flush into shoot, | 8 | ···/···· |
| I might have succour and aid of Love, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| To prune these branches at the root, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That long have borne such bitter fruit, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And graft a new bough, comforted | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| With happy blossoms white and red; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| So pleasure should for pain atone, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Nor Love slay this tree, nor instead | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Plant any tree, but this alone. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Princess, by whom my hope is fed, | 8 | /˘······ |
| My heart thee prays in lowlihead | 8 | ········ |
| To prune the ill boughs overgrown, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Nor slay Love’s tree, nor plant instead | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Another tree, save this alone. | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
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